New Research: Parents unclear about NAPLAN

Close to one in three Australian parents admit they do not know why their child is doing NAPLAN or are unsure, according to new research from Cluey Learning. Plus, two thirds do not know what NAPLAN stands for. 

Designed as a benchmarking assessment, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy is a nationwide, standardised test for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

AUSSIE PARENTS SAY “NO WORRIES” TO NAPLAN

More than 70 per cent of Australian parents agree they do not worry or barely worry about NAPLAN, according to the new national research. Despite this, students are unnerved by NAPLAN, with close to one third recently admitting it’s their most stressful school experience. 

GETTING NAPLAN READY

When it comes to test preparation, most Australian parents (55 per cent) leave all NAPLAN prep to their child’s teacher. Conversely, 80 per cent of parents agree children need to do further study for exams beyond the homework they are given.

Chief Learning Officer at Cluey Learning, Dr Selina Samuels, encourages parents to get to the bottom of how their children are feeling about NAPLAN and better understand the test they are about to embark on.

“If parents are in the dark about NAPLAN and how their children are responding to it, it’s hard for them to provide meaningful support and guidance. A good place to start is getting across the basics of NAPLAN: the purpose, key dates and the various exams your child will face. And when raising NAPLAN with children it’s a good idea to keep the conversation casual. Try bringing up the topic shoulder-to-shoulder, such as when you are driving them to sport.”

“Understanding your school’s attitude and approach to NAPLAN is also valuable intel. It can shed light on what your child may be hearing about NAPLAN and how they’re feeling about the upcoming tests. This knowledge empowers parents to make their own call about how they want to address NAPLAN in the home and prepare for it,” she explains. 

To help parents navigate NAPLAN, Cluey has created the ‘Complete guide to NAPLAN’ which is available to download for free. Download the ‘Complete guide to NAPLAN’ at https://clueylearning.com.au/naplan-guide/. 

Dive into additional data from Cluey Learning:

COULD PARENTS PASS NAPLAN?

• 13% of parents are not confident they could pass NAPLAN, while 46% agree they could “maybe pass” and 41% confirm they could “confidently pass”
• Over 60% of parents agree they have been unable to help their child with homework in the past

NAPLAN AND NERVES

• Only 7% of parents would let their child feign sickness on a NAPLAN testing day. A further 23% may allow their child to do so if they were “really nervous or overwhelmed”

KEY SKILLS AND STUDY

• 85 per cent of parents agree literacy is essential to jobs of the future
• 77 per cent of parents agree numeracy is essential to jobs of the future
• 95 per cent of parents agree it’s important to build a child’s resilience 
• Over 90 per cent of parents agree it’s important for children to study for exams to some extent

Visit https://clueylearning.com.au/naplan-tutoring/ or follow Cluey Learning on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter for more NAPLAN insights.   

-ENDS-



 

For interviews with Dr Samuels and NAPLAN preparation tips please contact: 

Candice Meisels | candice@candicepr.com | 0481 369 484

NOTES TO EDITORS: 

The Online Research Unit supplied the sample for this survey conducted by Cluey Learning among 526 parents. The data has been weighted by gender, state and school type to represent ABS statistics.

About Cluey Learning:

Cluey Learning delivers personalised online tutoring support for students in Years 2 -12, across Maths, English and Chemistry. All content is mapped to the Australian National Curriculum and is based on the unique learning needs of each individual student. Cluey has supported over 5,000 Australian families, run over 25,000 sessions and has been rated 4.7/5 by parents and students.