The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), an independent authority responsible for collecting and reporting data on Australia’s schools, has recently released their results from the 2024 NAPLAN testing, with some surprising results.
Rocky River Public School, on the outskirts of Uralla, has topped the primary school section in the New England region, outranking many prestigious private schools, Catholic schools and other government schools.
“This outstanding result is a credit to our phenomenal teaching team, incorporating years of hard work in laying the foundations for success in the early years, as well as the commitment, dedication and investment of our students towards learning and improving,” said Principal of Rocky River Public School, Ms Dani Clyde-Smith.
Students at Rocky River achieved an average score of 533.6 across all testing areas, including reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.
The small school outranked more prestigious Independent primary schools including The Armidale School (TAS), which achieved the second highest average score of 524.8, while St Patrick’s Primary School in Walcha achieved an average of 523.2 to rank third in the New England.
“NAPLAN is not our sole determiner of success, but it highlights the academic excellence and high-performing students we have at our school,” said Ms Clyde-Smith.
“Rocky River Public School is a special and unique place for students to learn and thrive. We are the oldest school in the New England, and we are focused on continual growth.”
“Our school is an integral part of the Rocky River community and broader Uralla township, and the staff work hard to ensure our students are well-rounded, capable citizens, who take pride in contributing to the world around them.”
“We value and prioritise a rigorous professional learning schedule and collaborate with the Thunderbolt Learning Alliance of small schools to moderate, engage and apply continuous improvement in teacher professional development.”
What is NAPLAN?
The NAPLAN assessment measures whether young Australians are developing the essential literacy and numeracy skills that provide the foundation for other learning, and for their productive and rewarding participation in the community.
By testing the literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning through the school curriculum, the assessments allow parents and carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards over time.
High School NAPLAN results were heavily weighted towards the Independent and non-Government Schools, with PLC Armidale (605.2), TAS (590.0) and Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School (582.0) rounding out the top three.
“As a small School, we can strategically target each individual student at their point of need through stage-based literacy and numeracy programs,” said Ms Clyde-Smith.
“With proactive teachers, school administration staff, parents and families, our students have the support they need to succeed. Our students truly embody the Rocky River motto ‘Strive to Succeed’.”
“Rocky River Public School has educated generations of local families and has developed a reputation over time for fostering a culture of high performing students and we celebrate our successes as a whole school community.”
Don’t miss any of the important stories from around the region. Subscribe to our email list.