[peking homunculu...]

This study is all over the press today:

http://www.essentialkids.com.au/older-kids...1126-2a2b5.html

I think that perhaps we underestimate the stress associated with NAPLAN on kids.

At the annual Gala concert, one 3/4 class did an interpretation of the painting The Scream. When the kids first viewed the painting and were asked what this made them think of, the majority of kids in the class nominated NAPLAN! The act they did at the concert based on The Scream and NAPLAN was quite enlightening. It shows that even kids who seem to be coping well actually feel quite a bit of stress about the test.

And I need to add that this is a school that does NOT teach to the test. They do a bit of work over the weeks approaching the test to make sure kids are familiar with format and style of the test, but they are not dropping art/music/drama to prepare for NAPLAN and they don't do endless past papers.

You have to wonder if the results are worth it? WDYT

Reason for edit: Changing link to EK link.

[Ianthe]

I have three kids who have done NAPLAN-one three times, one twice and one once and they weren't stressed out by it.

[idignantlyright]

DD 8yrs keeps asking when she can do NAPLAN. DD13did her Yr7 one this year.

[Jenno]

All depends as well as how the parents react to it.

I was nervous for DD1 who is in year three this year, but more cause I didnt know what it was about and how she would respond.

They did several test papers in class which helped her know what to expect.

I tried to play it down, even offered not to look at the results.

On the morning of the first one she had even forgotton about it so I didnt mention it. She was quietly confident even in maths which is her least fav subject.

As soon as they are over, she forgot about them, and I forgot about them to til she arrived home with the results.

Some schools and teachers put a lot of pressure on the kids, I heard of one local school asking one child to stay home on the day f the test. And this is a school which is on the higher end of private.

[peking homunculu...]

DD sat the test last year. She has a tendency towards anxiety, but she seemed OK about it all and said she was fine.

When I talked to her about the performance of The Scream at her school concert she said:

"I know that it was all OK Mum, but it was still scary sitting the test".

We placed no pressure on her and her teacher was also keeping it very low key. Even in this no pressure environment, she felt intimidated and scared. Not overwhelming so, but she felt it.

[Carmen02]

DD sat naplan last year and wasnt bothered at all by it...her teacher was keeping things low key, DD does tend to be very laid back sometimes. DS will sit it next year he does suffer from terrible anxiety but we will see how things go

[ZombieMum]

I guess it depends on the parent's and the school's attitude.

With actual NAPLAN results, I tend to take them with a grain of salt, because it really is just a snapshot of one day, and can be easily influenced by how the child is feeling on that day. (I say this as I have a child that scored quite high, but didn't do school work - so it wasn't a reflection on her school experience as such), so I tend to be quite relaxed about the test and don't really care if my kids sit it or not - I already know most of their academic ability.

On the other hand, I think the experience of sitting the tests can be beneficial - for my child that has ASD, she has high anxiety, and the NAPLAN test has been a good way to introduce her to sitting tests as it's helped to build up to that exam experience.

My 3rd child sat NAPLAN for the first time this year, and she was quite anxious leading up to it. She was sick the week before, so didn't get to sit many practise tests at school. Once she did the first real NAPLAN, she realised she was anxious over nothing serious, and she was able to relax and enjoy doing the other tests.

[sophiasmum]

I don't think my DD (year 3) was overly stressed by the Naplan, the class had done a lot of preparation with their teacher in the lead up. It was on her mind a bit the week before, but I think it's normal to have a bit of nerves before a test or any performance for that matter. When it came to the actual tests, she said they were boring & finished ahead of time.

[Alina0210]

My son is in year 1 and, has a speech problem, as well as learning issues and ive already had teachers saying that year 2 is so much harder and DS will struggle as its all in preparation for NAPLAN in year 3 etc.... I could believe it, putting the pressure on him already

[No girls here]

Definitely no stress at our place but the school doesn't place a big emphasis on it either. DS1 did his first NAPLAN this year and they only did 1 practise test in each subject area.

It's probably a combination of school and parental pressure and general personality, as some kids seem to stress out at any type of test.