What's the Deal With OLNA?
So you might have heard about a little something called NAPLAN, and if you haven’t, ah where have you been living?
All jokes aside, for year 9 students NAPLAN can have some serious outcomes. Year 9 students are required to meet a minimum benchmark in their Year 9 NAPLAN test in order to get their high school certificate (otherwise known as WACE, Western Australian Certificate of Education). If they don’t meet this benchmark then they are required to take what is called the OLNA test. The current benchmark is band 8 in reading, writing, and numeracy NAPLAN tests.
OLNA stands for the Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment. It is made up of three different assessments in Numeracy (maths), Reading, and Writing.
There are six OLNA assessment times throughout the year and students can take the test when they are ready. They do not need to pass all three tests at the same time. If they don’t meet the minimum requirement to pass the assessment they can take the test again. They have up to 3 chances each year to take each test.
OLNA 2023 Testing Dates
The 2023 testing dates are as below:
Term 1 27 - 28 February (Writing) and 27 February - 10 March (Numeracy and Reading)
Term 2: 1 - 2 May (Writing) and the 1 - 12 May (Numeracy and Reading)
Term 2: 12 - 13 June (Writing) 12 - 23 June (Numeracy and Reading)
Term 3 24 - 25 July (Writing) and 24 July - 4 August (Numeracy and Reading)
Term 3 4 - 5 September (Writing) and 4 - 15 September (Numeracy and Reading)
Term 4 23 - 24 October (Writing) and 23 October - 3 November (Numeracy and Reading)
The Curriculum authority in charge of administering the OLNA tests has the below information about adjustments:
Adjustments For Students With a Disability
They say that many students will not need adjustments as the test has been designed to be accessible to most students in the allotted time. Schools can access a range of adjustments for students with a diagnosed disability.
More information about this can be found on the Authority website on the https://seniorsecondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/olna/disability-adjustments.
Language Background Other Than English
Students who have arrived from overseas, have a language background other than English, and have been attending school in Australia for less than one year before the OLNA round must be given the opportunity to sit the OLNA to achieve a WACE. These students may choose to defer sitting the OLNA until either they have been in Australia for 12 months or have entered mainstream schooling from an Intensive English Centre. An extra 10 minutes of working time for the OLNA is available to eligible EAL/D students
More information can be found here: (https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-supportmaterials/english/english-as-an-additional-language-or-dialect).
Homeschooled Students
Homeschooled students can access the OLNA at:
• the Authority’s premises.
• a site with a supervisor approved by the Authority, where supervision can be guaranteed if outside the metropolitan area.
• a school.
Where these students subsequently enrol in a registered school and have neither prequalified through their NAPLAN Year 9 performance nor demonstrated the minimum standard of literacy and/or numeracy through the OLNA, they must sit the OLNA at the first opportunity after their enrolment in the registered school
Home educators can access more information by contacting the OLNA Helpdesk at [email protected]
In Conclusion
While OLNA and NAPLAN are serious topics, my best advice is not to worry too much. If your child needs to sit the OLNA test that is okay. The OLNA test is much more straightforward than NAPLAN and has less confusingly written questions.
Wise Owl Tuition offers specific OLNA preparation tuition to help support students who are preparing to take the OLNA test. If you’d like to book a call to discuss how we can support your child and get them ready and confident to excel in OLNA you can book a FREE discovery call here.
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