On the other side of their first NAPLAN test - a creative writing assignment in which they had to create a story from an image of a boat at sea - six of Newcastle East Public School's best and brightest were feeling quietly confident.
Most of the estimated 400,000 NSW students who began the series of standardised basic skills tests on Wednesday, March 13, sat the exam digitally, doing away with the traditional pen-and-paper method that their parents likely remember. But the digital revolution is par for the course in the modern classroom.
The Year 5 students who took the NAPLAN on Wednesday have been exposed to laptops in the classroom since Year 1. Lily Nicholas and Matilda Amico have taken typing lessons, and Lily's parents tell her it's an essential skill in the modern world.
"I feel like the teachers trust us to use the laptops," Taj Saleh said. Taj, also in Year 5, is looking forward to attending Newcastle High School in the next 18 months with his friend Jimmy Hay, but many of his classmates are already preparing for applications to the region's selective schools.
While their teachers have worked hard to prepare the students for the NAPLAN and depressurise the exam environment, the students know that their performance can influence their future education.
"A lot of our kids go to three of the main selective high schools [Merewether, Hunter Sports High and Hunter School of Performing Arts], a couple will go to Newcastle Grammar, and some will go into the Catholic system as well," principal Mick McCann explained.
"Our students go everywhere; we don't have a big group of students going to (one high school)."
Behind the scenes, Newcastle East Public teachers have helped shape an ambitious overhaul of the teaching curriculum in the past year. While the course content remains largely the same, Mr McCann explained the teaching delivery has changed significantly and become more comprehensive.
"We're making sure that the students have every step before we move on," he explained, adding that 2024 was the first time his fifth - and sixth-form students had been exposed to the new teaching style. Teachers in the younger classrooms - Kindergarten through Year 2 - have spent the last three years fine-tuning the overhauled curriculum, as the East End school was one of the first in the state to adopt it.
Mr McCann praised his staff for the ambitious undertaking, which he described as a "complete retooling", as they prepared the students to sit the traditional standardised basic skills test.
In the wake of the COVID pandemic, standardised testing like the NAPLAN has become increasingly spotlighted, as some schools adopted more streamlined testing that delivered more efficient feedback to cope with the pandemic disruption. By contrast, NAPLAN results from tests taken this week aren't expected to return to the school until September, a crucial window as teachers look to intervene early and address their student's learning needs as the year progresses.
Having completed the creative writing task on Wednesday, Taj, Lily, Matilda, Jimmy, and their classmates Flynn Yazbeck and Georgia Barnett were preparing for the mathematics and reading comprehension tests next. While each felt they knew their strengths, all felt confident and prepared.
"I'm not the guy you would say, 'Wow, he can do maths!'" Taj said, "Any other test, I'm pretty confident."
"I'm told I can, but apparently, I just don't have the confidence," Lily said.
"I can do maths pretty well," interjected Jimmy.
The test results collected over the next several days at Newcastle East Public are collated and compared against state schools that generally align with the East End's cohort. Socioeconomics, the schools' population of First Nations students and those from non-English speaking backgrounds, among other key indicators, are considered when collating the data. Most test scores from Newcastle East Public will be compared with schools in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.
In helping his students prepare, Mr McCann said the school had worked hard to depressurise the exam environment so that students had the best chance to succeed.
"Every kid is a unique person," he said, "The hardest part of NAPLAN is the actual mechanics of (the tests); it's not the knowledge. The students have the knowledge; it's just getting it out.
"Even, as the kids indicated, the typing and all those sorts of things - it's getting that part done. So, we lean into that heavily throughout the year. The kids have access to technology right from kindergarten, so jumping onto a laptop to create a written piece is not something outside of what they have done before.
"We try to take the stress and the steam out of it. Because the data can be used in selective schools and all sorts of other situations, it can become a high-pressure situation, but we deliberately keep it low-key. This is a point-in-time test - it's what the kids are able to demonstrate today - but we make sure that we have different assessment points throughout the year to make sure that we are targeting any adjustments that we might need."
Education Minister Prue Car said in a statement on Wednesday that this year marks the second time that NSW schools will sit the NAPLAN tests in Term 1 instead of Term 2 and are expected to be assessed against more robust literacy and numeracy standards.
The updated standards were implemented for the first time in 2023, and NSW schools adapted well to earlier testing and continued the trend of strong participation across the state.
"NAPLAN helps to build an understanding of where our students are, and I know our teachers use this information alongside other assessments and reports to achieve the best student outcomes," Ms Car said.
"We need to ensure our students have the skills they need, which is why we're committed to delivering a world-leading curriculum."
