✔️ What does NAPLAN include?
NAPLAN assesses students' skills in Literacy and Numeracy across four main parts: Writing, Reading, Language Conventions, and Numeracy. The format varies by year level:
- Literacy: Divided into Writing, Reading, and Language Conventions.
- Numeracy: Includes No-Calculator sections for Years 3 and 5, and both Calculator and No-Calculator sections for Years 7 and 9.
✍️ NAPLAN Writing
Evaluates a student's ability to express ideas clearly and effectively.
Year 7 Sample Writing Question:
Years 3 & 5: Students will write a story or a persuasive piece based on a prompt. Think of it as their chance to be creative or argue their viewpoint!
Years 7 & 9: Still the same overall format, but students are expected to use advanced writing techniques and demonstrate a deeper understanding of their texts.
📌 Creative Writing Tips
- Encourage your child to create short stories or create alternate endings to their favourite books! Exploring their imagination and making their character come alive with the power of words will put your child in good stead come NAPLAN season.
📌 Persuasive Writing Tips
- Engaging in fun debates at home. Ask them to argue, with many reasons - Which season is better - Summer or Winter? Which superhero is more supreme - Batman or Superman?
- It’s a playful way to develop their reasoning.
📚 NAPLAN Reading
Identifies the ability to understand, interpret and analyse various texts.
Year 7 Reading Sample Question:
Q. The information enclosed in brackets in paragraph 3 is included to:
a) Provide specific examples
b) Explain the preceding phrase
c) Simplify the sentence structure
d) Show useful alternative terms.
Years 3 & 5: Focus is on basic comprehension and identifying main ideas.
Years 7 & 9: Questions look at more complex texts, asking students to analyse the author’s tone and use of language.
📌 Reading Tips:
- Make reading a daily habit. Make it easy by combining it with another habit (e.g., 15 minutes of reading before brushing their teeth at night). Include genres they like, plus other articles and stories!
- Afterwards, chat about the plot, characters and messages they took away.
- Expand vocabulary by researching the meanings of new words and practising writing them in a sentence. This can be done in a dedicated vocabulary book to revisit what they learnt in one convenient place!
📝 NAPLAN Language Conventions
Assessing grammar, punctuation and spelling understanding.
Year 7 Language Conventions Sample Question:
Q. Which sentence contains an apostrophe of contraction?
a) We spent the day at my friend Phil’s house.
b) Our neighbour’s dog is in the garden.
c) The television’s hard to hear with all the noise.
d) Penny’s parents let her stay up late.
Across all year levels, the aim is to ensure proficient grammar and understanding of when to (and when not to!) use particular punctuation and spelling, with more sophistication and nuance in conventions as your child advances.
📌 Language Conventions Tips:
- Play grammar and spelling games to make practice enjoyable. Anything from a mini spelling bee or Scrabble nights as a family activity!
- Daily reading compounds into more excellent vocabulary and understanding of how language works!
🧮 NAPLAN Numeracy
Identifying application of mathematical skills to problem solve with numbers.
Year 3 Numeracy Sample Question:
Q. A teacher gives 5 of her students 10 blocks each. Which of the following can be used to find how many blocks the teacher gave her students?
a) 5 + 10
b). 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5
c) 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10
d) 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10
Years 3 & 5: Focuses on basic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and fractions.
Years 7 & 9: Students tackle more complex problems, including algebra, geometry, and data interpretation, and have both Calculator and No-Calculator sections.
📌 Years 3 and 5 Numeracy Tips:
- Regularly practising 10 minutes daily with interactive math games will keep your child engaged!
📌 Years 7 and 9 Numeracy Tips:
- Dedicating time weekly to complete 3-4 summary + extended-response textbook questions to get in the habit of approaching complex questions.
📖 Practise Tests
- Getting familiar with the format can ease stress. The NAPLAN website offers many practice questions and ‘Demonstration Tests’ that exactly match the online nature of the exam!
- Familiarity sparks confidence, and confidence drives success!
🧑🏫 Tutoring
If you feel your child may need directed support going into NAPLAN, private tutoring is a valid solution! Experienced tutors can help strengthen their skills and boost their confidence! KIS Academics has an esteemed set of experienced tutors who can make learning engaging and effective.
Good luck with NAPLAN, and remember, a little prep can go a long way. You’ve got this!
FAQs
Does my child need to study a lot for the NAPLAN?
The NAPLAN is designed to allow parents and schools to see the learning progress of individual students and for the government to assess the quality of their education system. It is not designed to rank or grade your child in any way. As such, you do not need to go overboard with exam preparations. However, some practice throughout the year and leading up to the exam will help develop your child's numeracy and literacy skills to ensure their learning is progressing. It will also make the exam appear less daunting for them and get them comfortable with the setting early on.
How much should my child prepare for the NAPLAN?
No two children are the same and everyone will have different strengths and weaknesses. To see the most improvement, identify areas of weakness in their learning and find support for your child to turn those weaknesses into strengths! The focus should be on improving their numeracy and literacy skills from their last NAPLAN result to ensure that their learning is progressing.
What is the best result my child can get in the NAPLAN?
- Since 2023, NAPLAN results have been published regarding 4 proficiency standards, replacing the previous numerical NAPLAN bands.
- The highest result attainable is ‘Exceeding’, which means your child’s result greatly exceeds expectations at the time of testing.
For more FAQs, please have a look at the official NAPLAN page.
Want more personalized study guidance to help support your child's learning? A private tutor can make the biggest difference!
Let us find the perfect match for you and your child.
Written by KIS Academics Tutor for Year 5-10 Maths and English + Year 11-12 Geography, Vatsal Ved. Vatsal is a medical student from Monash University who enjoys tutoring students! You can view Vatsal's profile here and request him as a tutor.
