OLNA: (Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessments)

The OLNA can be taken twice each year, in the March and September rounds. All students who did not achieve Band 8, 9 or 10 in Year 9 NAPLAN are required to sit the OLNA until they achieve Category 3 in all components. We have recently received results for Round 1 OLNA 2019, with over half of our Year 10 students now meeting the Category 3 Standard in Literacy and Numeracy. A decreasing number of students are yet to meet the standard in one or more of the Numeracy, Reading or Writing assessments, and will need to re-sit the OLNA in September.  Students have been notified if they need to re-sit any assessments. 

NAPLAN Online: (National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy)

As this newsletter is published, we will have just completed NAPLAN Online tests in Writing, Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy. Although we, along with many schools, experienced some connectivity problems with the first (writing) assessment, the online tests with interactive features have proved engaging, with many students commenting on how much they enjoyed the online tests. Any student who felt their performance was adversely affected by connectivity or browser issues was offered the opportunity to re-sit the test, with only fifteen students taking up the opportunity. Our English and Maths teachers deserve a vote of thanks for the extra professional learning required to act as a test administrator, which they completed in their own time, and for their professionalism in managing computer glitches while tests were underway.

VET (Vocational Education and Training) and ADWPL (Authority Developed Workplace Learning)

Our senior school VET students have now completed Semester 1, and are mostly participating in a two week block of ADWPL with a large variety of employers, while the ATAR students complete their exams. Mrs Fuhrmann, our VET Co-ordinator, and Mrs Dastlik, School Officer, have worked incredibly hard to ensure over 120 of our VET students have the opportunity to participate in the upcoming work placement. This year has seen an increased requirement to visit all employers pre-placement, develop a ‘risk management plan’ for each student placement and discuss this with employers prior to the student starting in the work place. Our VET and General course teachers are also to be thanked for their support in contacting and visiting employers during the placement.

In VET, we have successfully negotiated with North Metropolitan TAFE to auspice our qualifications (previously delivered with VETIS) in Automotive, Business, Construction and Engineering. We have now signed a memorandum of agreement with NMTAFE, ensuring all Year 12 students meeting the requirements will be awarded their certificate by NMTAFE in November of this year. Again, a vote of thanks to the staff involved in this transition, as they had to produce a number of complex documents outlining their vocational knowledge and industry currency prior to being accepted as NMTAFE third party trainers.

Carlos Notarpietro
Associate Principal