The National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests are conducted in May each year for all students across Australia in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. All students in the same year level are assessed on the same test items in the areas of Reading, Writing, Language (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation) and Numeracy.
Each year, over one million students nationally sit the NAPLAN tests, providing students, parents, teachers, schools and school systems with important information about the literacy and numeracy achievements of students.
It is with the greatest of pleasure that the College can announce the outstanding results of our students. Nationally, we performed extremely well and credit is due to our hardworking team of teachers and our students who are dedicated to their education.
Testing was completed in a total of 20 areas, and in 17 of these, Cornerstone is at or above the National Averages.
In some cases, half of the students within a year group have fallen in the top 20% of students in the Nation. For instance, our Year 5 class in the areas of Reading, Grammar and Punctuation, has 48% of the class being in the top 20% of the country.
In most year groups, 50% of students have results in the top 20% of Australia in at least one subject area. This is an outstanding achievement.
Principal, Graeme Cross recently stated in the College Newsletter about the College’s value on achievement. ‘’We are absolutely committed to seeing students achieving academic excellence, which includes the development of sound literacy and numeracy skills. These skills are foundational to learning in so many other areas of education.’’
Mr Cross has recently reported to having concerns about the public reporting of national testing because of the ability for the data to be misused. ‘It is important that any data made public is both reliable and valid’. He has stated: ‘If the aim of public reporting is to identify the best and worst performing schools, using the NAPLAN achievement of specific year groups is is not a valid measure. We all know that the results of our year 3 students will vary from year to year, not because of changes in the quality of our teaching and learning, but simply because of the variation in the number of students who are either extremely capable or experience difficulties. That is, the variation is the result of enrolment trends, over which schools have no control. To measure the quality of teaching and learning, is is better to calculate and compare the improvement in achievement of students across a 2-3 year span. For example, from Pre-Primary to Year 3 or Year 3 to Year 5. This is a much better way of measuring the quality of schools and holding them accountable’.
Clearly, the results of Cornerstone students show that the College is not trying to hide data from the public arena, but our concerns are about valid measures and the protection of individuals involved in the process.
As for Cornerstone’s recent results, students who have achieved a result in the top 20% of Australia have been acknowledged by the school with a certificate. These students are;
Year 3: Robert Englert-Reekie, Taesha Lane, Dominic Dijkstra, Caitlin Lucas, Jaslyn Tumilty, Toby Wallace, Lachlan Ismail. Daniel Rainey, Anna Cross, Kristian Hoyle-Johnson & Joanna Sheedy.
Year 5: Kirsten Dijkstra, Jack Ellery, Bronnen Lucas, Fraeya Evans, Sian Carroll, Chloe Hurij, Shaelyn Lane, Lauren Alcorn, Megan Anderson, Elizabeth Stinton, Gabrielle Stinton, Ashra Carroll, Joshua Riches, Mitchell Gibbons, Shaun Simpson & Michael Shepherd.
Year 7: Gemma Begley, Eilidh Lucas, Indigo Atwood, Kate Craig, Rebecca Mott, Kaylee Glew, Jamin Saw, Samuel Hunt & Xavier Rice.
Year 9: Shenae Mazure, Bruce Dykstra, Kaleb Saw, Natasha Cross, Joshua Jones, Samantha Ivey, Johanna Mathewson, Kristin Cramer, Kerry-Anne Brough, Jamie Bosveld, Sheree Shepherd, Shanae Dykstra, Rebecca Lickel and Hendrik Enslin.
On the College’s results, Mr Cross stated; ‘Achieving academic excellence is only possible when schools have dedicated and capable teachers who are prepared to work in close partnership with parents. The results achieved in this year’s NAPLAN testing program are just another indicator of the strength of the partnerships that have been established here at Cornerstone’’.

Some of the Year 9 students who performed well in NAPLAN testing

Some of the Year 5's who are leading the Nation