This will come as no surprise to most of you, but I never did the NAPLAN testing in year 3, and looking back I am wondering what the results might have looked like, for a very confused student.
In year 5 this young student was less confused and undertook NAPLAN with some pleasing results. It is important to remember that I had been recently diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia and was starting to unravel some of the confusion that was part of my existence.
As I moved to high school in the first part of year 7 things weren’t going so well but thankfully, I again had good results that gave me some confidence.
By year 9 things at school were going well and I was not so phased with NAPLAN. So, I had my extra time organised and did it online – luckily there were no IT computer crashes!
This was the moment I had been waiting for, like magic, a narrative written assessment appeared in NAPLAN. Most of the years I had done NAPLAN, our year level had to do the other option, a persuasive piece, which I didn’t enjoy very much.
The result for this part of the assessment was a band 10 (the highest level) and I was so proud. It was really good to see myself doing well at something, when I often felt behind the others in my year level.
When I work with educators or schools, I often reflect on my NAPLAN journey and the positive journey it took me on. I often wonder why some of those wonderful teachers invested so much into this confused kid.
Looking back, it would have been good to see those year 3 NAPLAN results, and perhaps it wouldn’t have been pretty, but despite this journey, I am now at Uni and going well!