‘A waste of time’: Parents boycott NAPLAN test
Parents from a southeast Queensland school are boycotting NAPLAN exams because the principal believes the tests are a “waste of time” and “cruel”.
About 260,000 Queensland kids will take the literacy and numeracy tests in years 3, 5 and 7 but of Kimberley College’s 343 students in Carbrook who could be sitting the exam, only 10 will.
The school’s principal Paul Thomson said the tests are “poor quality”, “a waste of time” and give students unnecessary stress.
“I’ve had a look at them and I shake my head in disbelief that they’re supposed to measure something worthwhile,” Mr Thompson said.
Mr Thompson isn’t alone. A Queensland Teacher’s Union [QTU] survey of teachers and principals found 78 per cent think the test hasn’t improved outcomes for students, 66 per cent found the test harmful and 93 per cent want the testing process reviewed.
The union’s Sam Pidgeon said the QTU believes there are “many other things” that can measure the quality of a school “other than NAPLAN results”.
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Nundah State School’s principal Deb Cox said a lot of parents of students at her school “value things NAPLAN can’t measure” including giving kids the skills to build “resilience and optimism”.
Education Minister Grace Grace said the test and what it achieves will be reviewed this year.
