Each March, families across Australia hear a lot about NAPLAN. The National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. But what does it really mean for your child in 2026?
First, NAPLAN serves an important purpose. It provides a consistent, nationwide snapshot of how students are progressing in foundational skills. For schools, it offers useful data to identify strengths, highlight areas for improvement and guide evidence-based teaching strategies. For families, it can be a helpful reference point in understanding how their child is tracking against national benchmarks.
In that sense, NAPLAN matters. However, it’s equally important to understand what NAPLAN is not.
NAPLAN is not a measure of your child’s intelligence, potential or overall ability. It does not assess creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, resilience or empathy.
“NAPLAN gives us useful data, but it’s only one part of a much bigger learning picture,” says Lisa Crampton, Head of Primary Learning at CSPD. “Parents should see it as a check-in point, along with other school-based assessments, rather than a judgement. What matters most is consistent growth over time and how well a school supports the whole child.”
So what can parents do?
Lisa’s advice is simple: keep it calm and keep it balanced.
“Encourage your child to do their best, make sure they’re well-rested, and remind them that one test doesn’t define them. Students experience explicit literacy and numeracy instruction every day in our classrooms within a multi-tiered system of support that ensures students receive any additional support they need quickly.”
At Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese, we use NAPLAN as a tool to shed light on our progress in lifting each students’ literacy and numeracy skills.
In 2026, NAPLAN will continue to play a role in Australian education. But in the bigger picture, it remains just one chapter in a much larger story - your child’s lifelong journey of learning and growth.
At Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese, we believe every child has the potential for greatness. Across our 80 primary and secondary schools in Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains, students are supported to thrive not only in academic achievement but in character, purpose and belonging.
Find a school and register for an Open Day near you
Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
www.parra.catholic.edu.au
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02 Apr 2026
From Facebook
🚨 Practice Evacuation Drill Completed Successfully - Thursday 2nd April 2026 🚨 Dear Parents and Carers, We would like to inform you that we have successfully completed our practice evacuation drill! All students have now safely returned to their normal classes. If you are planning to collect your child early today, please ensure you send an email to stjosephsschofields@parra.catholic.edu.au prior to arrival. Thank you for your understanding and patience during today’s exercise! Kind regards, St Joseph’s Primary School, Schofields
01 Apr 2026
From Facebook
🏏🌟 Mark Taylor Shield Cricket – Round 1 Victory! 🌟🏏 Congratulations to our St Joseph’s Mark Taylor Shield Team on a fantastic win on Wednesday 1st April against St John XXIII Catholic College 👏 After losing the toss, our team took to the field first and delivered an outstanding bowling performance. A special mention to Rana who took an incredible 4 wickets for 16 runs, with all dismissals clean bowled! Arham added 2 wickets, with Shivam also contributing with a wicket. It was a true team effort in the field with great run outs, catches and disciplined bowling, restricting St John XXIII to 88 runs for 9 wickets. Chasing the total, St Joseph’s started strong, reaching 0-33 in the 8th over. Jiaan contributed 7 runs, followed by Arin with a solid 20. Heading into drinks at 3-50, the team showed great composure. Sebastian (12 runs) and Arham (15* not out) built a strong partnership, with Harman (7* not out) supporting at the crease as the team secured the winning runs 🎉 A fantastic team effort showcasing skill, determination and teamwork – we are so proud of you all! We look forward to Round 2 – date to be confirmed 🏏 #StJosephsPrimary #MarkTaylorShield #Teamwork #ProudMoment
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02 Apr 2026
From Facebook
🚨 Practice Evacuation Drill Completed Successfully - Thursday 2nd April 2026 🚨 Dear Parents and Carers, We would like to inform you that we have successfully completed our practice evacuation drill! All students have now safely returned to their normal classes. If you are planning to collect your child early today, please ensure you send an email to stjosephsschofields@parra.catholic.edu.au prior to arrival. Thank you for your understanding and patience during today’s exercise! Kind regards, St Joseph’s Primary School, Schofields
01 Apr 2026
From Facebook
🏏🌟 Mark Taylor Shield Cricket – Round 1 Victory! 🌟🏏 Congratulations to our St Joseph’s Mark Taylor Shield Team on a fantastic win on Wednesday 1st April against St John XXIII Catholic College 👏 After losing the toss, our team took to the field first and delivered an outstanding bowling performance. A special mention to Rana who took an incredible 4 wickets for 16 runs, with all dismissals clean bowled! Arham added 2 wickets, with Shivam also contributing with a wicket. It was a true team effort in the field with great run outs, catches and disciplined bowling, restricting St John XXIII to 88 runs for 9 wickets. Chasing the total, St Joseph’s started strong, reaching 0-33 in the 8th over. Jiaan contributed 7 runs, followed by Arin with a solid 20. Heading into drinks at 3-50, the team showed great composure. Sebastian (12 runs) and Arham (15* not out) built a strong partnership, with Harman (7* not out) supporting at the crease as the team secured the winning runs 🎉 A fantastic team effort showcasing skill, determination and teamwork – we are so proud of you all! We look forward to Round 2 – date to be confirmed 🏏 #StJosephsPrimary #MarkTaylorShield #Teamwork #ProudMoment
01 Apr 2026
From Facebook
🌟🏆 Principal’s Award Celebration 🏆🌟 Today we proudly celebrated our Principal’s Award recipients, recognising students who consistently demonstrate excellence, dedication and outstanding character in their learning 🌟 Following the ceremony, these students were invited to a special morning tea with our Principal, where they had the opportunity to share and reflect on their achievements. It was a wonderful moment to hear our students speak with such pride, confidence and passion about their learning journeys 💛 We are incredibly proud of each and every student for their hard work, positive attitude and commitment to always doing their best. You are shining examples of what it means to be part of the St Joseph’s community ✨ Congratulations to all of our award recipients – we can’t wait to see what you achieve next! #StJosephsPrimary #PrincipalsAward #ProudMoment #StudentSuccess
01 Apr 2026
From Facebook
🐣🌸 Easter Hat Parade Highlights! 🌸🐣 What a wonderful celebration we had at our Easter Hat Parade! Our students truly amazed us with their beautiful handmade Easter hats 🎩✨ From bright colours and playful designs to thoughtful details and unique themes, each hat was a reflection of the time, effort and imagination our students put in at home. It was so special to see our community come together to celebrate this joyful tradition 💛 We were also incredibly honoured to have Warren Kirby MP join us, blessing us with his presence and showing his support for our school and the wonderful community of Riverstone. A big thank you to our families for your support in helping bring these creations to life, and to our students for wearing their hats with such pride! We loved every moment and can’t wait to see what next year brings 🐰🌼 #StJosephsPrimary #EasterHatParade #CreativeKids #SchoolCommunity
31 Mar 2026
From Facebook
Today our students laced up their runners and gave it everything they had at our Cross Country Carnival — and what a spectacular effort from all involved! 🌟 From the very first stride to the final finish line, the school oval was filled with determination, teamwork, and so much school pride. A huge congratulations to every single student who competed — your effort and resilience today was truly inspiring to watch. Thank you to our amazing staff for organising such a fantastic event, and to our wonderful parent community for cheering on our kids with such enthusiasm. Events like today remind us just how special our St Joseph's family is. 💛 #StJosephsSchofields #CrossCountry #CarnivalDay #GoSaints #CatholicEducation #ProudToBeASaint
24 Mar 2026
700+ Unite for Project Compassion Big Water Walk
More than 700 students and staff from 23 schools across Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese (CSPD) came together for Caritas Australia’s Big Water Walk in support of Project Compassion. Beginning at Parramatta Park, students carried buckets of water along a 4km route, gaining a glimpse of the daily journey faced by people in developing communities, especially women and children, in search of clean water.
23 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🐣🎩 EASTER HAT PARADE AT ST JOSEPH’S PRIMARY SCHOOL! 🎩🐣 Join us for our Easter Hat Parade, where our students will proudly showcase their creativity and talent through their amazing homemade Easter hat designs. 🌸🐰🎨 📅 Monday 30th March 2026 ⏰ Starting at 1:40pm 📍 School Basketball Court 👕 Students are asked to come dressed in full school uniform and bring their Easter hat along on the day. 👨👩👧👦 Parents are warmly welcome to attend! ➡️ Entry via Nazarene Crescent We can’t wait to see all the colourful, creative hats and celebrate together as a community! 🌈✨ #StJosephsPrimary #EasterHatParade #SchoolCommunity #CreativeKids
20 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🌟 Awards Celebration (Years 3–6) 🌟 We are so proud of our wonderful students in Years 3–6 who were recognised at today’s awards assembly! 👏💙 These awards celebrate students who consistently demonstrate our school values through their actions, effort and attitude towards learning. It was fantastic to see so many students acknowledged for their achievements. 🏅 Gospel Values Award – for showing kindness, compassion and service to others 📚 Quality Work Award – for demonstrating effort, pride and persistence in learning 🌱 Character Strength Award – for displaying resilience, responsibility and integrity Congratulations to all of our award recipients—you should be incredibly proud of yourselves! We love seeing our students shine and grow each day at St Joseph’s Primary School. ✨ #StudentAchievement #ProudSchool #StJosephsPrimarySchool
20 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🌟 St Joseph’s Day Celebration & Hot Dog Picnic! 🌭💙 Today we joyfully celebrate St Joseph’s Day, a special occasion in our school community as we honour our patron saint, St Joseph. His example of kindness, humility and care reminds us of the values we strive to live out each day at St Joseph’s Primary School. 🙏 To make the day even more special, students enjoyed a fun Hot Dog Picnic together! 🌭☀️ There were lots of smiles, laughter and time spent connecting with friends as we celebrated as a whole school community. Thank you to everyone who helped make today such a wonderful and memorable experience for our students! 💛 #StJosephsDay #SchoolCommunity #HotDogPicnic #StJosephsPrimarySchool
19 Mar 2026
From Facebook
✏️📚 Cold Writes at St Joseph’s Primary School 📚✏️ Over the past few weeks, our students from Kindergarten to Year 6 have been busy preparing for their first Cold Write of the year! A Cold Write is a fantastic opportunity for students to independently showcase their writing skills, without prior teaching or preparation on the topic. It allows our teachers to gain a clear understanding of each student’s strengths and identify next steps in their learning. This helps us ensure that teaching is targeted, meaningful and supports every child’s growth. For this term’s task, students will respond to a visual stimulus, using their creativity to develop their ideas into a piece of writing. While they won’t see the stimulus beforehand, they have been building important skills in sentence structure, vocabulary and text organisation to support them. We are incredibly proud of the effort our students have put into preparing for this task and can’t wait to celebrate their work! 🌟 Cold Writes will take place each term, allowing us to track student progress and growth in writing throughout the year. We look forward to sharing more of our students’ wonderful writing achievements with you! #StJosephsPrimary #LearningInAction #WritingJourney #StudentSuccess
19 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🌏🧡 Harmony Day Celebrations at St Joseph’s! 🧡🌏 What a beautiful celebration of culture, diversity and community we shared today at St Joseph’s Primary School! We are so incredibly proud of our amazing students who performed for our school and families, sharing special parts of their culture through music, dance and storytelling. Your confidence, pride and willingness to celebrate who you are made today truly meaningful 💛 Harmony Day reminds us that everyone belongs, and today was a wonderful reflection of the rich diversity within our school community. Thank you to our families for joining us and supporting this special event – it was so lovely to celebrate together! 🧡 Everyone Belongs at St Joseph’s 🧡 #HarmonyDay #EveryoneBelongs #StJosephsSchofields #CelebratingDiversity
16 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🌟 Infants Awards Celebration – Friday 13 March 🌟 We are so proud of our amazing Infants students who were recognised at our awards assembly on Friday 13 March. It was wonderful to celebrate the many ways our young learners are growing, thriving, and shining in their classroom environments. These awards recognise students who demonstrate kindness, effort, positive attitudes to learning, and our Gospel values each day at St Joseph’s. It is always a joy to see our Infants students building confidence, supporting one another, and embracing new learning opportunities. 👏 Congratulations to all of our award recipients! Your teachers and families are incredibly proud of you. Thank you to our families who continue to support and encourage our students as they flourish in our caring St Joseph’s community. #StJosephsSchofields #InfantsAwards #ProudSchoolCommunity #CelebratingSuccess
10 Mar 2026
From Facebook
Last Friday was our Big Water Walk. Seeing our community come together, buckets in hand and spirits high was truly inspiring! Together we didn't just walk, we stood in solidarity with those who travel miles every single day just to access clean water. This event was more than just a physical challenge, it was a powerful lesson in understanding the Catholic Social Teaching of Human Dignity. We learned that every person is created in the image of God and deserves the basic necessities of life. Access to clean water is a fundamental human right. When we protect this right, we honour the inherent dignity of our global neighbours. Thank you for your support with this Faith In Action Initiative and your generous donations to Caritas Australia Project Compassion. #faithinactioncspd
10 Mar 2026
NAPLAN: What Parents Really Need to Know
Each March, families across Australia hear a lot about NAPLAN. The National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. But what does it really mean for your child in 2026?