Literacy News

In Week 3, on Monday 13th February, our Year 7 and 9 students will undertake a whole cohort "cold writing" task during their timetabled English lesson. Cold writing involves students writing without preparation or coaching to reveal writing skills and assess student abilities. The purpose of this task is to acquire some student writing data, which will be used to create a literacy focus for these year groups and will then result in explicit strategies targeting literacy improvement.

Following this, in Week 4, Year 7 students will undertake internal ACER PAT Assessments in nominated English, Mathematics and rounds classes. These are a series of online digital tests that the students will complete on their device for; Reading, Mathematics and Science.

Lastly, the National Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (NAPLAN) will take place in Week 7 and Week 8 for our Year 7 and 9 students; in order to observe student progression against national standards. These will begin with the Writing test on Thursday 16th March.

Why do we complete PAT assessments?

PAT results give your child’s teachers the evidence to help them to grow and succeed in their subject. It provides them with crucial learning data, which they use to adjust lesson content or learning activities so that students are able to participate and learn to the best of their ability. PAT measures what your child knows, understands and is capable of and how to best support their progress.

Why is PAT important?

Individual student data is vital for teachers to monitor their student progress and to identify any areas in which they might need more support. It aids them in pinpointing their learning journey and provides an accurate picture of their knowledge, skills and understanding in their subject area. Learning data is essential for student progression and may also be used to determine the need for adjustments within or between classes.

What does this mean for your child?

This means it is important for your child to try their best in your PAT tests, in order to give their teachers, the most accurate and relevant data.
When discussing the upcoming Cold Write, PAT and NAPLAN assessments with your child, please encourage them to; listen carefully to the teacher instructions, read the questions of the tests carefully and most importantly take their time and answer the questions as accurately as possible. We encourage all students to make the most of their designated test times, and to respond concisely and accurately.

We thank you for your ongoing support of our literacy initiatives.

If you have any concerns at all, please contact Sarah McLeod, Literacy Coach.

Sarah McLeod
Literacy Coach