From connection to progress; the power of school collaboration at BCE

8/08/2025
Strong growth in 2025 Year 5 NAPLAN results for 17 collaborating BCE schools.

​​​​Year 5 students from St Bernadine's Primary School Regents Park © Brisbane Catholic Education, St Bernadine's Primary School Regents Park (2025)​

​Sharing a common goal, 17 Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) primary schools have joined together to build teacher capacity and lift performance in literacy and numeracy. 

This 12-month journey has resulted in strong growth in 2025 Year 5 NAPLAN results, based on the cohort's 2023 results, showcasing the power of working together collectively.    

BCE Senior Education Advisor - Learning and Pedagogy Literacy, Rachael Hill said the participating schools saw a 10% decrease in students falling into the categories of ‘Needs Additional Support’ and ‘Developing’, along with a 10% increase in those in the ‘Exceeding’ and ‘Strong’ categories.   

Teachers also reported that students could understand questions better, had improved stamina in reading and writing during NAPLAN, and their IT skills were enhanced.   

“A community of practice (CoP) was formed with Primary Learning Leaders (PLLs) from each school who were provided with scaffolded planning ‘snapshots’, test readiness strategies and effective feedback scenarios,” Rachael said.    

“They could then contextualise the content for their schools to ensure the greatest impact within their own school context.”    

This year marked the first time growth data for the Year 5 cohort could be measured using the same group of students, aligned with the updated NAPLAN proficiency reporting categories introduced in 2023.   

“These changes have enabled more robust and meaningful analysis of student progress,” Rachael said.   

“The results are truly life changing for our students, setting them up for success in the long term.”  

The Community of Practice in numbers
  • 12 months 
  • 17 primary schools
  • ​Over 2,000 students benefited​ 
  • 19 Primary Learning Leaders engaged in a community of practice 
  • 90+ Teachers leveraging the support resources in our Year 2 and 4 classrooms 
  • 6 English units to support Years 2 and 4 
  • 2 full years of Maths mapped for Year 2 and 4, with supporting NAPLAN links and resources 
  • 14 new resources to support teaching and NAPLAN ​ 
St Bernardine’s saw significant improvement in Year 5 NAPLAN results

At St Bernardine’s Primary School, Regents Park, all eight Year 2 and Year 4 teachers actively participated in the professional learning, which was reflected in a significant improvement in student performance.  

Assistant Principal Karen York said that this year's Year 5 results, compared to the same cohort in Year 3, showed an over 20% increase in ‘Strong’ and ‘Exceeding’ across all NAPLAN areas, including a 27% increase in Reading.   

“We already have really strong, consistent practices at the school, but we very quickly saw areas where we could improve and some new practices that we could implement,” Karen said.    

"We are thrilled with the improvement in student outcomes, and the positive impact this has had on their confidence and engagement across all areas of school life."   

The school found the curriculum and teaching ‘snapshots’ particularly helpful, with the new strategies embedded into whole units of work.  

"The snapshots not only provided fantastic support for our teachers but revealed invaluable insights, with our students embracing the more challenging material and showing us that we could set higher expectations for them.”  

Data driving targeted strategies at Immaculate Heart

Immaculate Heart School Leichhardt also saw very strong improvement across all areas, reducing ‘Needs Additional Support’ significantly.  

Primary Learning Leader (PLL), Marissa Hughes, said being able to narrow down the instructional practices that they needed to focus on and having the resources to support their teachers created more success for their learners.   

“Being involved in the community of practice has been a professional highlight for me,” Marissa said.   

“We all went in with a growth mindset, looking for positive change to help improve our learner outcomes.”   

“A data-driven focus at a system level informed the professional development, ensuring we were targeting the right strategies and providing the right resources within our school’s context.”   

Brisbane Catholic Education Head of Student Learning and Wellbeing, Marisa Dann, said that teachers have reported benefits academically and professionally, which is a testament to the dedication and willingness of the PLLs to share learnings and foster open, collaborative communication.   

“BCE aims for excellence and engagement in foundational literacy and numeracy for every student to grow and thrive,” Marisa said.  

“We are very pleased to see the impact of the professional learning in the classroom and, most importantly, that it is translating to such significant improvements for student outcomes.”   

“The community of practice was aligned to the BCE Growing and Thriving model and one way in which we are making this document come alive in different contexts.” 

The BCE schools collaborating
  • Our Lady of Fatima Acacia Ridge
  • St Mary's Beaudesert
  • All Saints' Boonah
  • St Matthew's Cornubia
  • St Edward the Confessor Daisy Hill
  • Our Lady of Good Counsel Gatton
  • St Francis Xavier Goodna
  • St Mary's Ipswich
  • St Mary's Laidley
  • Immaculate Heart Leichhardt (Marissa Hughes pictured with Year 5 students below)
  • St Joseph's North Ipswich
  • St Anne's Redbank Plains  
  • St Bernardine's Regents Park
  • St Peter's Rochedale
  • St Brigid's Rosewood
  • Good Shepherd Springfield Lakes
  • St Paul's Woodridge 

Top stories