April 2024

Successful NAPLAN test period ends

The NAPLAN test period ended on 25 March 2024 with a record 4.48 million online tests successfully completed by more than 1.2 million students in 9,411 campuses and schools across Australia. 

ACARA’s Acting CEO Stephen Gniel thanked students, teachers, schools and jurisdictions for their combined efforts in ensuring this year’s NAPLAN tests ran as smoothly and seamlessly as possible.

“I’d like to give a big thank you to our fantastic teachers, principals and school staff for their hard work in getting their individual schools and students ready for these important assessments. “I’d also like to thank our state and territory colleagues for their close collaboration and support in making NAPLAN 2024 such a successful test event,” said Mr Gniel.

Read our media release and here’s just a handful of some of the great photos taken during NAPLAN that schools have shared with us on social media from Blacktown North Public School, Our Lady of the Angels' School, Barunga School, Adelaide Botanic High School and Warwick Christian College.

New Artificial Intelligence resource

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to provide enormous benefits, but we also need to educate children in how to stay safe as they use these technologies. That’s why we have recently released a new resource to help our teachers to equip our young people with the skills and knowledge they need to understand the challenges, opportunities and risks of AI.

Working with academic and teaching specialists in the AI field, we have developed a new Curriculum Connection resource on this important topic. It means teachers will now have a framework to identify and structure information on AI to support the practical application of the curriculum. It connects a range of subjects and a progression of learning from Foundation – Year 10.

Read our media release and find out more about our new Curriculum Connection – Artificial Intelligence.

Updated Curriculum Connection resources 

Outdoor learning resource

Helping our young people develop the skills and knowledge they need to safely engage with the natural world is so important.

We have recently released our updated Curriculum Connection Outdoor learning resource, so it is now aligned to the Australian Curriculum, Version 9.0. It provides teachers with a framework to identify content that provides opportunities for students from Foundation to Year 10 to experience guided, integrated learning across the curriculum in natural environments.

Find out more about our updated Curriculum Connection - Outdoor learning.

Food and fibre resource

We want young Australians to understand and value where their food and fibre comes from, so we’ve recently refreshed our Curriculum Connection resource on food and fibre.

It’s now aligned to Version 9.0 of the Australian Curriculum and provides teachers with a framework to identify and structure information on food and fibre to support the practical application of the curriculum. Students gain knowledge and understanding about the production of the food they eat, fibres they use and the environment they live in.

Find out more about our updated Curriculum Connection - Food and fibre.