Note to students sitting NAPLAN

To Our Dear Students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9,

Next week you will sit the NAPLAN test along with every other student in Australia who is in Year 3, 5, 7 and 9. Before you take this test I wanted to remind you of something very important.

NAPLAN does not assess all the wonderful things that God designed and used to make each of you uniquely YOU. The people who mark the NAPLAN test do not know that some of you love to sing, or that others are exceptional at drawing or have amazing IT skills. They don’t know that some of you excel at athletics or swimming or how others are skilled at playing different sports like hockey, soccer, basketball or netball. They have not heard you speak in public with confidence and clarity or heard the skillful way you play a musical instrument. They don’t see the way you help your parents with chores around the house and spend time with your little brother or sister. They don’t know that you are kind and considerate of others or that you are a good friend or how you come to school with a positive attitude every day, upholding our College values. They will never know these things because these attributes cannot be tested by the NAPLAN test.

The NAPLAN scores will tell you how you did on that particular day at that particular test, but the scores will not tell you everything. These results won’t tell you that you have improved in some area you once struggled with. They can’t tell you how glad your teachers are that you are in his/her class and they certainly can’t tell you how incredibly special you are.

God created each of us with different talents and abilities and no two people are the same. If you spend your time focusing on what you aren’t so good at, you will miss the chance to celebrate the amazing person YOU are! God does not make mistakes; He created you just the way you are for a unique purpose and finding out what that purpose is, takes many years.

That is not to say you can’t improve in some area, it just means you shouldn’t try to compare yourself to others. So, please come to school next week ready to put your best foot forward in the NAPLAN test and always remember there is no test that can measure all the wonderful things that make you uniquely YOU!