ACARA news, March 2019

NAPLAN Online practice testing in schools


28 March 2019

Schools preparing to undertake NAPLAN online in May 2019 are conducting practice testing from 25 March to 26 April. Practice testing is designed to detect any issues before the real test event in May.

Some schools attempting the practice test this morning had issues with the connection between the locked-down browser and the platform. The issue was resolved within an hour. The issue was not a failure of the NAPLAN online platform and many schools were unaffected by the issue, with over 95,000 students completing practice testing today. States and territories are continuing to support schools with practice testing. Practice testing allows students the opportunity to become familiar with the online question formats and general functionality, and provides opportunity for school test administrators to test procedures. Detailed procedures are in place to ensure that any incidents that arise can be managed.

Over 15 per cent of students nationally did NAPLAN online in 2018. The platform performed well and feedback from schools was that students found the online format engaging.


New work samples available: Languages (German) and HASS


19 March 2019

New work samples for Foundation – Year 10: Languages (German) and Foundation – Year 4: HASS are now available on the Australian Curriculum website.

The work sample portfolios have been selected, annotated and reviewed by classroom teachers and curriculum experts. The portfolio for German provides teachers with work samples that are at satisfactory level, and HASS work samples are provided at and above satisfactory level.

The portfolios support teachers and schools to make balanced judgements of student performance over time, in relation to the relevant achievement standards in the Australian Curriculum.


Teaching two-way science


19 March 2019

ACARA and the CSIRO have developed together illustrations of practice, showing students learning Aboriginal traditional ecological knowledge through the Australian Curriculum: Science, through on Country and classroom projects (also known as 'two-way science').

The four illustrations of practice videos featuring primary and middle school students in remote Aboriginal communities have been published on the Australian Curriculum website. 

Read the Teaching two-way science in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities media release (PDF 144 kb).