This article was featured in The Educator magazine here.
Matthew Flinders Anglican College on the Sunshine Coast is defying the national NAPLAN trend, achieving its third consecutive improvement and highest-ever writing results, even as national analysis reveals Australian children's writing skills are at an all-time low.
On 26 June, the ABC reported that the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO)’s analysis of 10 years of NAPLAN data showed many Year 9 students were writing at primary-school level.
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, measuring their fundamental literacy and numeracy skills across five domains: Reading, Writing, Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar, and Numeracy.
Flinders recorded strong results in the 2025 NAPLAN, including:
- students in Year 7 and Year 9 recorded their highest scores across all four literacy domains (Reading, Writing, Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) since online testing was introduced in 2023
- Year 9 students achieved Writing scores 11.15% above the state average, while Year 7 students scored 15.6% higher
- Numeracy scores ranged from 14% to 16% higher than the state average for all year levels - Years 3, 5, 7 and 9
- the College’s overall 2025 NAPLAN results demonstrate significant academic growth, with student scores across all five domains exceeding the state average by 6% to 25%.
- the College's highest score was achieved by the Year 3 cohort in the Primary School, surpassing the state average in the Grammar and Punctuation domain by 25%.
Flinders Committed to Innovative Teaching, Learning and Wellbeing Framework
College Principal Michelle Carroll said it was rewarding to have students consistently attain high levels of literacy and numeracy in this national measure.
Ms Carroll said, “We use NAPLAN and other assessment data to constantly review, refine and innovate our curriculum programs and further develop our staff expertise.
“The College’s outstanding NAPLAN results highlight our dedication to mastery, underpinned by our recently introduced Flinders Teaching and Learning Framework and Wellbeing Framework. These bespoke frameworks embed Science of Learning principles through a deliberate focus on a common language of learning and an explicit teaching model to develop students’ literacy and numeracy skills,” Ms Carroll said.
“Across our Primary and Secondary Schools, we stand by the high quality professional learning programs for all teachers to ensure our classroom practices are focused on students' deep learning, engagement and wellbeing.
“Our teachers are skilled in delivering explicit, structured, low-variance lessons that support learning, memory retention and skill-building, enabling students to attain high levels of literacy and numeracy.”
This dedication and focus led the College to present the 2025 Science of Learning Conference in April, with keynote speakers including AERO’s Zid Mancenido, Dr Jared Cooney Horvath and Dr Nathaniel Swain sharing evidence-based strategies with over 450 educators to enhance student engagement and academic achievement.
Common Language of Instruction at Flinders
Head of Curriculum Mr Bill Hooper said the College’s evidence-based literacy programs have provided a structured approach to teaching literacy and a common language of instruction.
“In our Secondary School English programs, our teachers explicitly teach vocabulary and grammar, and draw on techniques from Scarborough's Reading Rope and Hochman’s The Writing Revolution program to elevate proficiency in literacy. These approaches are increasingly being adopted by subjects across the curriculum” Mr Hooper said.
“In the Primary School, students are supported through literacy mastery lessons, adaptive learning programs with special teaching in small groups, guided practice and a bespoke writing framework developed with our English Specialist and Jocelyn Seamer, a Science of Learning expert.”
To learn more about NAPLAN, ATAR and other academic results at Flinders, please visit here.
