Term 1 at MSJ has again been busy…..
NAPLAN
During weeks 7 and 8, years 7 and 9 students participated in NAPLAN. Attendance and participation by students in these nationally standardised assessments. The tests were invigilated by external supervisors who all commented on the exceptional conduct of our students. We congratulate students for their achievements in this test and the maturity which was demonstrated in its completion.
NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national proficiency standards.
NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with more information about students’ educational progress.
NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working, and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.
NAPLAN 2025 Information Brochure: /https://www.nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/naplan-information-brochure-for-parents-and-carers.pdf Accessed: 1 April 2025.
Assessment and Reporting
Congratulations to all students for the effort they have put into their studies in recent weeks. As Term 1 comes to an end, students have been involved in a number of assessments of student learning.
Assessment and reporting are vital processes which provide information about what students know and can do, and to make recommendations for their future learning. Assessment is an integral part of the teaching and learning program at Mount St. Joseph Girls' College.
Student assessment may take a variety of formats depending on the nature of the subject. Students receive feedback through rubrics outlining the criteria assessing the task or unit of work.
Formative assessment is used to monitor learning progress during a learning sequence. It provides continuous feedback to teachers and students, which enables them to monitor progress and identify and address needs in learning.
Summative assessment seeks to establish the level of achievement attained by a student, and typically occurs at the end of a learning sequence, course or unit. The main purpose of summative assessment is to establish levels of achievement for reporting.
We encourage families to continue to monitor school based assessment on PAM which is reported to families in real time.
Parents will have an opportunity to meet teachers to discuss these outcomes in Term 2. Details of these interviews and booking protocols have been provided to families with the interim reports and interview booking correspondence.
Learning and Teaching Focus
Lifelong learning is a focus for the staff at MSJ. It is imperative that the opportunities for development are provided to staff to ensure that students are equipped with the up to date practices which support their educational development and goal attainment.
At the commencement of Term 2 - April 24 (Student Free Day) staff will be involved in professional learning presented by Shane Crawford from the company EduPoint. Specifically, staff will be auditing and refining their practice around feedback & retrieval. Staff will also be working through the implementation of a MSJ Learning and Teaching Framework which will provide consistency as well as direction for development in this space.
Parent Teacher Student Conferences
Parent Teacher Student Conferences will be held in the first week of Term 2:
Tuesday, 22 April – 12.00pm to 8:00 pm – Onsite - Student Free Day
Wednesday, 23 April – 11.00am to 7:00pm – Online - Student Free Day
Parents will receive notifications relating to teachers who may be requesting an interview with their children through the PAM Portal and the interim reports
Bookings for these Interviews will also take place through the PAM Portal.
We encourage families to take the time to meet some of their children's teachers. We encourage these meetings to ensure that the relationship between families and their child's education continues to flourish, so that we may be able to work together to enhance growth and improve outcomes.
Chantelle Gauci - Deputy Principal Learning & Staff
