NAPLAN Testing
Across the College NAPLAN was a focus last week. NAPLAN seems to get a range of opinions and press on any given day however it fills a number of valuable functions for us. The data we gather from the testing is measured against School, State and National cohorts and this gives us an invaluable view on how our programmes are being delivered and received. Is our content and teaching where it should be? NAPLAN is a good window to that answer. Analysis of NAPLAN then helps us support boys by focussing attention on where they can get to next. It is important to remember though, that it is one of a range of mechanisms that feed back to us on the progress of our students and the quality of our programmes.
NAPLAN gained additional focus last year when the state government body SCASA - School Curriculum and Standards Authority determined that to achieve WACE qualification students must achieve a Level 3 of the Australian Core Skills Framework. This is an equivalent to a Band 8 on NAPLAN in both Literacy and Numeracy. Students will have at least six opportunities through Year 10 to Year 12 to reach these levels before successfully departing school with a WACE graduation.
The Lost Art of Lego Construction
Do you have an old box of Lego, accumulated over years and via various models, themes and kits that is now becoming less used and increasingly unloved? Is Robotics now the first thought when you mention Lego to your son? Middle School has recently bought two sets of architectural Lego to use in Lego Club on a Wednesday morning. This is a mechanism to entice boys back into the world of hands on 3D construction and the associated collaborative and fine motor skills that go with it.
A group of boys are currently working on building a working replica of the Tower Bridge of London that when finished will stand approximately a metre high. Once completed the Sydney Opera House is their next mission.
There are multiple aspects that are developed in a hands-on activity such as Lego; following and interpreting instruction manuals, working in pairs or construction teams, managing resources so they don't disappear into a vacuum cleaner pipe, and spatial awareness to grow a model amid its' resources, in shared space and over time. Increasingly important though is the fine motor skills developed through the manipulation of a range of pieces and the opportunity to work in three dimensions. When so much of a young boy's entrainment can now be accessed via a flat screen, through a key board strike or the rolling of a mouse, it is little wonder that fine motor control skills such as writing with a pen, using a screw driver or hammer and chisel or tying a knot are becoming more problematic for our students.
Richard Ledger
Head of Middle School
