I always found the result reassuring that my child was not falling behind in specific areas.

I think its adding unnecessary pressure to Students & teachers!

It is a snapshot and not the overall picture for a child. There are so many other important factors involved with teaching and education.

Our school also plays it down as not a big deal. It just shows a bit how they perform and might give the teachers an indication where to work on. I make sure I never make it to heavy myself.

Children are all different. They learn in many different ways and express themselves in many different forms. Naplan is only one standardised test. It doesn’t allow for differences.

I’m not a fan of NAPLAN nor do I base research on schools based solely on NAPLAN results or rankings – for the 2 reasons you’ve given above. That it is only a snapshot of one day and that I know schools who train up kids, do mock exams and lots of practice and exclude certain kids. (It happens more than most people would like to know). I think it’s unfair to put pressure on kids to study extra and do well. For me – it’s just another day and my focus is making sure my child isn’t stressed or nervous. It means little to me. Her results I track over the year and are more indicative of her progress. And when it comes to looking at schools and choosing schools – I much prefer to research and visit the schools and see what the environment is like and their values and if they practice what they say. There’s so much more to a child and their schooling than ‘standard academic testing’ that takes place on one day.

It is one test one day and should only be used as a guide so the school can see how they are doing. It is also really good exam experience for later on at school.

I think the Naplan is great in finding how your child copes with exams as it is only testing if they are doing well with the basics. If say they don’t do well in certain subjects , then it might give you an idea if they are struggling with a particular subject (s) . I don’t think any school should play it down as it is still an important test no matter how basic , and when I was growing up we were always told you must pass the core subjects ( eng , maths science ) at least to get even a satisfactory . Now they have so many choices it is confusing .

I love the idea of NAPLAN. I push my kids to exceed at all they attempt. I don’t think of naplan as a tool to compare students or to rate the schools…..I solely use naplan as a tool of comparison for my own children as in how they WILL continue to improve year after year

I don’t mind them. I think it’s a good way to see how our kids and our schools compare to others around Australia. But I think it also depends on the school, and on how much stress they put on Napaln. My daughter sat for Naplan tests in different schools and she was always fine. But she’s a girl that doesn’t get nervous during written tests. And the teachers spent some time the weeks before to prepare them and to be relaxed on the day.
Without preparation from the school and with a child that is anxious.. I can imagine that the experience can be very different.