The upward trend of results in this year's Basic Skills Tests (BST) for the 5000 students in Years 3 and 5 across all 112 Catholic parish primary schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney is again extremely pleasing said Br Kelvin Canavan, Executive Director of Schools.

"Ambitious targets set for all parish primary schools from 2005 have been exceeded in literacy, and numeracy results are also strong and close to target.

"Setting literacy and numeracy targets is not new to these schools, being first set in 1999. Since 2000, Catholic schools have been encouraged to set their own local student achievement targets both these key learning areas," he said.

The BST is a compulsory test conducted by the Department of Education and Training for all Years 3 and 5 students in NSW, testing skills in aspects of literacy and numeracy.

"There has been a steady improvement in results in the last ten years in both literacy and numeracy. For example, the Year 3 literacy results increased from 74 per cent in 1998 to a very credible 93 per cent in 2007. The Year 5 results grew from 84 per cent to 93 per cent over the same period," Br Kelvin says.

He pointed out that these literacy results are even more impressive when it is considered that 60 per cent of primary students are from language backgrounds other than English and many entered Kindergarten with little or no fluency in the language.

"The results gained by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are also encouraging with 87 per cent of Year 3 students scoring in the top three bands," said Br Kelvin.

He said the number of students in the top bands was particularly satisfying. "This year, 33 per cent of Year 5 students and 28 per cent of Year 3 students were in the top literacy band. In numeracy, 43 per cent of all Year 5 students were placed in Band 6.

"New targets for 2008 and 2009 will be set soon, after consultations with school Principals," Br Kelvin continued.

He explained that results like these testify to the quality of teaching and learning in Catholic schools. "Most teachers in Sydney have updated their skills in teaching mathematics and literacy in recent years, and the system continues to provide additional support to schools and individual students requiring further assistance.

"2007 has seen the last BST which will be replaced next year by a National Assessment Program," Br Kelvin explained.

"The challenge for the years ahead will be to sustain these achievement levels while at the same time providing students with a comprehensive curriculum across all key learning areas."