HRS’s NAPLAN results — exceeding the NT average

Each year, Haileybury Rendall School students achieve some of the best NAPLAN results in the Northern Territory. This year, while just 6.8% of Northern Territory primary school students achieved the top NAPLAN band of ‘exceeding’, 34.2% of HRS’s youngest students were placed in this top category — nearly five over times the NT average.

NAPLAN results in Year 7 were also strong, with 83% of HRS students placing in the ‘exceeding’ or ‘strong’ bands for numeracy and literacy. Year 7 Indigenous students at HRS are an average two to three years ahead in numeracy and literacy skills compared to other Indigenous students across the Territory, while Indigenous students in Year 9 are an impressive three to four years ahead of the NT average for Indigenous students.

Proud Haileybury Rendall School Principal, Andrew McGregor, puts these impressive results down to a number of factors, including Haileybury’s extensive and proven expertise in Explicit Instruction. The School’s evidence-based literacy and numeracy programs include phonics and an Explicit Instruction Model that is based on an ‘I Do, We Do, You Do’ approach.

First of all, the teacher demonstrates what is being learned – I Do, then teacher and students perform that learning activity together – We Do, and then the student does the activity alone to illustrate and embed what they have learnt – You Do.

“Add to this the comprehensive and ongoing professional development of our staff and their passion and enthusiasm. We take pride in our learning and classroom culture where high expectations and positive behaviours are expected and enjoyed. Great parent support and wonderful students are also key to our success.”

Evidence-based teaching — which includes explicit instruction to build literacy and numeracy skills — is based on a significant body of research from renowned organisations like the Australian Education Research Organisation and the Grattan Institute.

This research shows that explicit teaching or explicit instruction works best for the largest number of students, and is particularly effective at capturing and supporting students who may be struggling.

Haileybury has been delivering evidence-based literacy and numeracy programs, including phonics and explicit instruction, for the past 18 years and teachers from Darwin and Melbourne collaborate closely to develop classroom lessons, learning resources and to constantly review student literacy and numeracy progress.

Grenville Green, Haileybury Deputy Principal (Junior School), says the explicit instruction of phonics is vital for early readers, helping them ‘crack the code’. Spending a week every term in HRS to support teachers delivering phonics and numeracy using explicit instruction, Grenville has witnessed the effectiveness of explicit instruction for the School’s youngest learners, particularly the positive impacts of a structured phonics program.

Phonics exposure is constant and bite-sized. From the moment they start school, students learn single letter sounds and then move to two letter sounds and consolidate what they learn with songs, actions and activities that help embed their learning.

Explicit instruction is also part of the early numeracy program at HRS — again, using an evidence-based approach of what education experts know works. Each numeracy lesson is based on ‘I Do, We Do, You Do’ and begins with a maths warm-up where students revise maths concepts that they have already learnt. This builds confidence and the application of key knowledge and skills. The same method is used for sounds and reading. Students review one letter for a day and then move on to a new letter the next day, but during warm-up sessions, they come back to previous letters and sounds for review.

These early foundations lead to a range of successes at Haileybury Rendall School. Recently, three student teams from Years 5 to 9 qualified for the international Tournament of Minds (TOM) finals that will be held in Sydney in November.

TOM is an academic competition focused on collaborative problem solving and critical thinking. It is open to primary and secondary students in Australia, New Zealand and locations across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Students work in teams to solve demanding challenges in the fields of the Arts, STEM, Language, Literature and Social Sciences.

“Our TOM teams were made up of students who volunteered and spent many hours of their own time preparing for the NT competition,” says Andrew.

“Meanwhile, our Junior School students encouraged their teachers to enrol them in the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee Challenge. Over 70,000 students across Australia took part and we were thrilled when HRS students from Years 3 to 6 won five of the top six places in the Northern Territory.”