http://www.dominic.tas.edu.au/pn/ PostNuke Powered Site en-us http://www.dominic.tas.edu.au/pn/images/logo.gif http://www.dominic.tas.edu.au/pn/ webmaster@dominic.tas.edu.au http://www.dominic.tas.edu.au/pn/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=312 http://www.dominic.tas.edu.au/pn/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=311 Dominic College annually informs the parent community of its school and comparative results with NAPLAN testing. The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses all students in Australian schools in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Dominic College's Year 3 and 5 results for NAPLAN testing are well above both state and national minimum standards. As a K-10 College, Dominic has a significant intake of half its new Secondary students at Year 7, which come from 34 different feeder schools. The diversity of this cohort is evident in the Year 7 NAPLAN results. Dominic College is above the state average in reading, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and at the state average for writing. However, Dominic shares concerns at the Year 7 level with other schools in our state, where we are just below the national average in numeracy and writing, but on an exact par with the Tasmanian average. By Year 9 our students this year have reached not only above state but national standards in numeracy, writing and spelling, and at a state level in reading. The College is reviewing its approach to the teaching of grammar and punctuation to target increased standards of students as it has been extremely successful in targeting other areas. The My School website displays slightly different NAPLAN data than what has previously been provided to the Dominic College community by the EPS. This is because the EPS used the medians rather than the means when reporting averages for NAPLAN results. Medians give a more reliable measure for small schools such as Dominic as scores are not affected by one or two students achieving an abnormally low or high result. The ACARA My School website, however, has reported the school means. The difference between mean and median averages is also evident between the 2009 and 2008 NAPLAN data. The excel spreadsheets that the EPS produced for Dominic College's NAPLAN data in 2008 did not contain mean scores but the 2009 reports did contain mean scores, so comparing the results of each year is not immediately easy. The EPS similar school model compares Tasmanian schools only against Tasmanian student performance whereas the My School website uses the ICSEA measure to compare similar schools across Australia. Because of this, Dominic's NAPLAN “Similar school” performance will also be different than that calculated by EPS. The elements identified by the My School website to categorise similar schools is limited. This is immediately obvious when referring to the list of schools on the My School website that are considered to be similar to Dominic College. If you have any queries regarding NAPLAN information, please don't hesitate to contact Mrs. Barbara Baker (K-6) or Mrs Janine O'Hea (7-10) on 6274 6000. Dominic College 2009 NAPLAN School Summary http://www.dominic.tas.edu.au/pn/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=309 Limited spaces still available for 2010 Class Reunion for Class of 1989 Date: Saturday 27 February 2010 Time: 7.00pm Place: La Porchetta, 315 Elizabeth Street, North Hobart (upstairs function room). Cost: $15 (includes nibblies and pizza etc.) Drinks available at bar prices at the venue Contact/RSVP:Yogi 0419109407 or Andrew Casey on 0417674064 Important Dates For Term 1 Monday 18 January Business Office opens 8.30am – 4.30pm daily Monday 25 January Uniform Shop open daily (excluding public holidays and weekends) From 8.30am – 4.00pm until classes resume From Tuesday 9 February, the Uniform Shop trading times are as follows: Monday, Tuesday & Friday: 8.00am – 10.00am Wednesday: 2.00pm – 4.00pm Thursday 4 February Primary Book Night 5:00pm - 6:30pm (In the classrooms) Friday 5 February Secondary Campus Book Day 9.00am – 12.00pm Tuesday 9 February Term 1 begins Kinder Bears, Prep to Year 6 – all day, Year 7 & 10 8.40am – 11.40am, Years 8 & 9 12.15pm – 3.15pm Thursday 11 February Kinder Mice commence – all day Tuesday 16 March College Open Day Friday 26 March College Twilight Fair 4.00pm – 7.00pm