NAPLAN Results

Over the past fortnight, parents of students in Years 3, 5, 7 & 9 will have received their child’s individual NAPLAN report showing their child’s results from the assessment for 2025. As shared with staff and the College Advisory Council, our results in 2025 in many areas are excellent. On a daily basis, our teachers and school officers strive to support the learning needs of every student at the College. This is a significant challenge as we have a broad range of student capability in every class in every year level. The quality of the work done by the OLSCC staff shines through in our results from NAPLAN, which are classified in 4 areas: Exceeding, Strong, Developing, and Needs Additional Support.

It continues to be the case that data trends positively each year. Compared to state averages, the amount of OLSCC students in “Needs Additional Support” across areas is significantly better, and in many cases, we simply don’t have any students in this category, despite the state means being between 10 and 20% of all students across the state achieving in this bracket. Our OLSCC results showcase the excellent work of teachers in providing excellent support for learners in their classes. At the other end of the scale, we also have considerable gaps over state averages in the volume of students achieving the upper two categories of “Exceeding” and “Strong”. While our target for this is greater than 70% of students, in 10 of the 20 tested year level/ areas, we have achieved over 80%. In one test, Year 3 Writing, the result was 98.3% of students achieving to this standard.

While NAPLAN is not the be all and end all of a student’s educational journey, it does provide students and parents with quality feedback regarding individual performance against the curriculum from the year prior, compared to other students across the state and country. It is the only assessment that is comparable and quality assured to this level. As a College, we use this data to verify and improve our curriculum programs and pedagogical approaches as a means for continual improvement in delivering the best education possible for the students in our care.

I ask all parents to discuss their child’s NAPLAN report with them. Discuss the results, what challenged them in the test, the effort that was expended in undertaking the test, and what areas they will focus on to ensure they are doing their best in creating opportunities for themselves in the future. 

Back at the College, our staff spent all day on the 14 July delving into this data to inform their practice and guide their ongoing work with their classes, and they will continue to do so in the future. A massive heartfelt thanks to our teachers and school officers who put their best foot forward in the education and pastoral care of the students in their classes each and every day at OLSCC!

Hearing Screening for UQ Audiology

This week we have been blessed with Associate Professor Joseph Kei, Associate Professor Wayne Wilson, and postgraduate students from the University of Queensland Centre for Hearing Research complete testing with Prep and Year 1 students as well as other students by invitation. This testing occurs whenever the University and College can gather adequate funding to support the program that both benefits the professional development of Queensland’s newest wave of audiologists, as well as proactively identifying students that require ongoing testing to support their hearing health. This week, 207 students were tested with 32 students (15.5%) failing their hearing screening. This is a higher rate than previous years, possibly aligned with the illnesses that are currently in our community. All students who failed their assessment will receive a report from the team in coming weeks so that this report can be used by families to follow up on the individual child’s hearing health into the future.

Thanks to the wonderful team from UQ, as well our Student Services team for providing this wonderful service to support the hearing health of all our young people at the College. We will continue to work together to deliver these services in the future, as well as applying for significant funding for this service to be permanently based in Dalby for the benefit of our entire community. 

UniSQ visit

It isn’t everyday that the Vice-Chancellor as well as Pro Vice-Chancellors, Heads of Schools, Deans and Executive Directors of a University come to your College to chat about what they can offer our students and enquire about the tertiary education requirements of our community into the future. However, on Wednesday we were extremely grateful for the opportunity to engage in that exact conversation with many of the Executive Leadership Team from UniSQ. We look forward to our ongoing work with UniSQ as a partner school and providing greater opportunities to normalise engagement in higher education for our students in the future. Of particular interest is the UniSQ and University of Queensland partnership in delivering a Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences (Medicine Pathway) and Doctor of Medicine right here on the Darling Downs. We have had two students discuss this pathway with the Head of School and Dean of Health and Medical Sciences, Professor Libby Cardell, and we are arranging for an information session at the College later in the year for all students considering a medicine pathway in the future. 

Expectation of Attendance

We provide many opportunities for students to engage in incursions, excursions, sport, culture, and extra-curricular offerings at the College. We do this intentionally and in the best interest of the wholistic development of the students of our College. I recognise and highly value the volume of additional offerings that are available to students at OLSCC. We have heard the voice of the community through feedback such as School Reviews, Principal Reviews, Shaping our Future surveys and consultation through our Strategic Plan development. Accordingly, we have responded to this feedback and our teachers continually go above and beyond to ensure that our students have equal (and often more) opportunities than those in metropolitan schools.

It is disappointing when these wonderful opportunities are provided and then students do not attend. While I understand there are valid reasons for absence and external commitments that cannot be ignored, there are still many opportunities where considerable numbers of students “opt out”. Opting out without a valid reason creates poor habits and work ethic in our children. It is also detrimental to their wellbeing and is setting them up for failure when they begin work and independent living. Being engaged in the life of the College prepares students to be a great contributor to both society, their further study, and their workplaces in the future. Positively engaging in what is provided to you, taking chances when they arise, and making the most of life is all a part of “growing great people” – something that I am very passionate about. 

As a collective staff, much of the extras we provide are entirely voluntary and outside of what is expected of staff in their role. They engage in camps, sports, musicals, opti-minds, retreats, and numerous other opportunities available due to passion, professionalism, and a personal investment in the students of OLSCC.

These co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities are formational for our students. Please encourage your child to get onboard, get engaged, and “show up” whenever possible. Contrary to common belief, this becomes more important as students grow older and closer to full time working age – in fact, every one of our senior years’ students should be treating their schooling the same way they should be approaching work. This means turning up, getting the job done as well as possible, engaging positively with colleagues (that’s everyone at their “work”), and striving to achieve the best they can in the work they do. This is independent of pathways and the difference between what makes a good employee and a bad employee, and it is remarkably closely linked to our learning dispositions.

Mr Peter Cuskelly