A crucial aspect of any student across WA graduating and obtaining a Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) is their achievement in the Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA).

The OLNA is a series of standardised tests consisting of three categories – Reading, Writing and Numeracy. One requirement in order to achieve your WACE is the demonstration of competency in the three areas tested in OLNA – this is the government mandated requirement to show that a graduating student has sufficient skills in literacy and numeracy by the time they leave school.

To achieve a ‘pass’ in OLNA, there are two ways this can be done:

•    Complete OLNA in Year 10, 11 or 12 and achieve a ‘3’ in each assessment (results are scaled from 1-3, where a 3 represents the required competency level).
•    Achieve a Band 8 in NAPLAN during Year 9 in the corresponding assessment.

In 2013, Clarkson CHS had 28.10% of Year 9 students demonstrate proficiency in all three areas required due to achieving NAPLAN Band 8. By the end of 2016, the same cohort had 93.85% of students achieving the required standard. This is an impressive 65.75% of growth in cohort literacy & numeracy proficiency!

We were delighted this week to receive a letter from the Chair and CEO of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA), Mr Patrick Garnett and Mr Allan Blagaich respectively, congratulating Clarkson CHS on being placed in the top 50 schools for improvement across WA. This means that Clarkson CHS is a state-wide leader in accelerating improvement for students.

This achievement is a testament to the positive strategies we are putting in place, such as strategies based on William Purkey’s Invitational Learning Theory and John Hattie’s Visible Learning. Congratulations go out to the staff, parents and leadership that put in the time to make these achievements possible.