How girls learn best – why St Catherine’s students continue to achieve NAPLAN results higher than national averages.

In 2024, St Catherine’s School has again obtained exceptional NAPLAN results.  

In every test, in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students have achieved strong NAPLAN results.  

Our strengths across the School are seen in our Reading, Writing and Numeracy results. These NAPLAN results reflect our academic care approach to learning, through our teaching frameworks, and individualised learning pathways for all students. 

NAPLAN Online is now a tailored (or adaptive) test, in which the test individually presents questions of higher or lower complexity depending on a student’s performance as they complete the test. It is important to note, NAPLAN provides parents with a snapshot of your daughter’s performance at a single point and, as such, provides a simple but worthwhile measure of information.    

Student achievement in NAPLAN is reported using proficiency standards for each assessment area at each Year level. The standards are set at a challenging but reasonable expectation of what students know and can do at the time of testing. There are four proficiency levels:   

• Exceeding: the student’s result exceeds expectations at the time of testing.  

• Strong: the student’s result meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing.  

• Developing: the student’s result indicates that they are working towards expectations at the time of testing. 

• Needs additional support: the student’s result indicates that they are not achieving the learning outcomes that are expected at the time of testing. They are likely to need additional support to progress satisfactorily. 

Years 3 and 5 NAPLAN Results

Students in NAPLAN testing Years 3 and 5 achieved very well this year, during the testing in March. As you will recall, the tests were brought forward to March from May, and as such, the results are more reflective of the girls’ learning in Years 2, 4, 6 and 8 given the early Term 1 testing period. 

Across all Year levels tested, the girls achieved highly across the top two band ratings: Strong and Exceeding. The percentage of girls scoring in these two bands is shown in the table below. 

Year Level	% of girls in the Strong and Exceeding Levels across all five tests
3	85
5	87.7
7	94.24
9	85.82

Students in both Year 3 and Year 5 achieved highly in this year’s NAPLAN assessments. The Year 3 results showed 92.9% of students achieved in the Strong and Exceeding proficiency levels across all assessment areas, while in Year 5, 87.7% achieved at these levels as well. 

When considering the three key learning areas, Year 3 achieved an average of 94.56% and Year 5 achieved an average 90.3% respectively.   

Years 7 and 9 NAPLAN Results

It was really pleasing to see strong achievement in both Years 7 and 9 NAPLAN results.  

• At Year 7 across all tests 90% or more of students achieved in the Exceeding and Strong proficiency levels.  

• At Year 9 across all tests 80% or more of students achieved in the Exceeding and Strong proficiency levels.  

Of note are the consistent results at the School for Reading, Writing and Numeracy.  

• In Year 9 Numeracy – 93.2% of students achieved in the Exceeding and Strong levels.  

Students in our Year 9 Cohort also received NAPLAN Certificates for Exceeding in one or two of the tests. Of note: 

• 52% of Year 9 students were awarded a NAPLAN Certificate for Exceeding Standards in 2024 

Fifteen of these students were at St Catherine’s in Barbreck, our Junior School – a strong testament to the wonderful teaching and individualised programs that our students engage with in Junior School.   

Year Level	% of girls in the Strong and Exceeding Levels across the key learning areas of Reading, Writing and Numeracy
3	95%
5	90.3%
7	95.2%
9	86.5%

These results are a testament to the skilled teaching of our staff across all Year levels and the work and enthusiasm of our students. Our high NAPLAN scores support our view that St Catherine’s academic program, the methodology of how we teach, and the diagnostic assessment tasks we set within our School, are of the highest standards.  

Across Australia, media outlets are reporting a decline in literacy and numeracy rates. The ABC reported one in three students are failing to meet basic requirements. However, at St Catherine’s our students continue to achieve NAPLAN results higher than national averages.  

In fact, at St Catherine’s our Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 students are close to, or exceeding the national averages for Year levels two years above their actual grade.  

Year 3	Reading	Writing	Spelling	Grammar & Punctuation	Numeracy
STC	490	471	455	485	473
Victoria	417.7	422.9	407.9	417.4	413.4
Australia	404.1	415.9	401.4	408.8	403.8

 

Year 5	Reading	Writing	Spelling	Grammar & Punctuation	Numeracy
STC	562	533	522	583	568
Victoria	504.8	496.1	491.6	504.1	497.3
Australia	492.1	484.8	486.5	498.4	489.1

 

Year 7	Reading	Writing	Spelling	Grammar & Punctuation	Numeracy
STC	594	612	574	601	603
Victoria	545.3	552.3	541.3	541.1	545.5
Australia	535	540.2	540	536.7	539.8

  

Year 9	Reading	Writing	Spelling	Grammar & Punctuation	Numeracy
STC	616	642	592	645	626
Victoria	573.2	584.7	568.5	558.4	571.1
Australia	565	573.9	566.9	555.3	565.3

These results are incredibly pleasing but not surprising. At St Catherine’s we know how girls learn best. These results are a testament to our robust educational programs and the expertise of our staff.  

Every Year level that advances through our School is different, with different strengths and areas of interest. The consistency of our NAPLAN results from Year level to Year level demonstrates the impact our Teaching for Thinking approach has on our students. All our girls are taught to think deeply and be curious within their learning, rather than only rote learning large amounts of content. Our Barbreck girls are taught how to apply their knowledge and skills to complex tasks. While quick recall of information is a skill, it is the ability to transfer and apply knowledge to new situations that develops a highly skilled learner capable of achieving personal best results. 

Our parents know their girls are in good hands when they enrol at St Catherine’s! We congratulate the girls and their teachers on these exceptional results.