In the last few weeks we have been busy with the nitty gritty of exams and credentials. Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sat their NAPLAN tests. Our Year 10 girls were joined in the Astra Theatre by students from many other schools for a highly informative Information Evening from the University of Sydney designed to get them thinking about university options, understanding admissions processes and how to identify a further course of study (and prepare for it). Year 12 have been getting detailed feedback from their half-yearly exams and applying that to their study plans – and so on.
At the same time, it is important that we don’t lose sight of the bigger issues. We had strong interest from parents from Kindergarten upwards in the presentation on Monday evening which outlined the HSC and IB Pathways at Queenwood. It was good to have an opportunity to explore and compare these two credentials without the pressure of an immediate decision looming for any particular girl, and we were able to outline for parents the various features and upcoming changes relating to each pathway.
The introduction of a minimum literacy and numeracy standard for the HSC has also caused some vigorous debate. We have some concerns about the decision to link NAPLAN to this process but in itself it is a manageable reform. (If you want to understand the issues, please refer to my recent comment in the Sydney Morning Herald.) Of more concern, in my view, is the question of whether Australia is drifting towards a system of frequent, centralised testing. This is always justified on the basis of diagnosis and accountability but it inevitably injects a great deal of pressure into children’s lives and, despite the apparent logic, we see from international examples that there is no correlation between educational quality and frequent testing. One of the wonderful features of the Australian system is that children can be children for much longer than elsewhere, and we need to protect this as far as possible.
Ms Elizabeth Stone
Principal