A flipped learning approach to literacy is paying off big time at Corpus Christi Catholic High School.
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But that's not the only reason teacher Chris Dyson reckons the Oak Flats-based school has bucked the statewide NAPLAN trend this year and performed exceptionally well.
The school's literacy coordinator is especially pleased that for the first time Corpus Christi's results are above the state mean in every domain in Year 7 and Year 9, with the Year 9 results significantly higher than the state mean.
"In Year 9 we have seen growth in our mean scores in every domain (reading, writing, grammar and punctuation, spelling and numeracy)," Mr Dyson said.
"In Year 9, the school has achieved the highest results it's ever had in grammar and punctuation, spelling and numeracy.
"The results haven't been great across NSW. It seems we are bucking the trend.
"It is pleasing to see we are above the state means for the first time and we just need to keep maintaining this growth."
Mr Dyson said there were a number of reasons Corpus Christi did so well in NAPLAN this year.
The introduction of a school-wide flipped learning approach to literacy two years ago - using videos created in the school's flipped learning studio - has been especially popular.
"These feature on the YouTube channel, Grammar and Thongs," Mr Dyson said.
"Each grammar lesson targets an area of spelling, grammar or punctuation. Each video has a worksheet that accompanies it and then there are also answer videos, all housed on the school's literacy website.
"We have also used NAPLAN data to inform the design of a schoolwide literacy approach using a web-based program called Literacy Planet, which students complete once per week during home room.
"We have also rolled out Silent Sustained Reading at the start of every English class in Stage 4 and a consistent approach to paragraph writing across all years.
"All these initiatives combined have made a big difference."
Meantime, the Australian Education Union welcomed today's announcement of the terms of reference for a NAPLAN review across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
The review will determine the broader objectives of standardised testing and assess how well NAPLAN is meeting those objectives, as well as looking at alternatives.
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
