It’s been interesting reading the varying articles in media recently and this week, either espousing, or seeking the dismantling of NAPLAN testing across the nation. The testing has been sat for a decade or so now, and I don’t think any children I’ve seen in schools in which I’ve taught have ever had a problem with the mental exercise. I asked our Year 10s to recall a year ago, about their NAPLAN testing and if they thought it was stressful, okay, if the degree of difficulty was reasonable, etc. They unanimously thought it was no big deal and aimed at about the right level of difficulty. This is the Year group that will be the first to have the new Year 12 external end of course testing for all subjects, set by Queensland authorities, rather than exams set by their local schools. Their Year 12 end of year exams in each subject will be worth either fifty percent of their year’s course, or twenty five percent in non-Maths and Science subjects.