Year three and five students completed the writing assessment on Monday (day one) and year seven and nine started with reading.

This year is the first that all schools Australia-wide are facilitating NAPLAN (National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy) online, the only exception being the year three writing assessment, which was completed on paper.

Principal at Holy Spirit Primary School in Kurri Kurri, Paul O'Heir said the online format is tailored to better understand student's abilities.

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"What happens now, especially with numeracy is depending on how they answer a question, it takes them to a different level," he said.

"Therefore that tailored approach is far more useful for what we teach, what students are doing and what they're capable of."

Mr O'Heir said the NAPLAN assessment is one of many tools that can help determine student's progress and needs.

"We can then use that information to identify where children need assistance," he said.

"We are data informed, as opposed to data driven."

In 2021, year five students at Holy Spirit Kurri Kurri achieved above average results in numeracy and writing.

"We have been focusing on numeracy for a number of years, and the strategies we've implemented has shown growth in students," Mr O'Heir said.

"We've also done well in writing, however there are elements of writing that we want to improve. Writing has become our focus in terms of school improvement."

The 2022 year five students missed out on the year three assessment in 2020 because of COVID-19, so this is their first time taking the assessment.

"We will have information that will identify areas where children need assistance, but we won't get that growth figure we were able to get this year [from the 2021 results].

Mr O'Heir's advice to students who might be anxious or worried about the assessment is that whilst it's significant, it's not everything.

"Doing your best is what's important," he said.

"There are other measures that we use to determine how children are progressing, so whilst it's important it's not everything.

"It really is for teachers, it's the diagnostic information that tells the teachers to put something in place to target trouble areas."

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