Pen a persuasive letter on overtesting for your local paper

Parents in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and the smaller capitals are increasingly uneasy about the volume of standardised testing their children sit each year. NAPLAN rounds, combined with internal school-based assessments and the rolling publication of results on the My School website, have turned quiet classrooms into data factories. A well-crafted letter to the editor remains one of the cheapest, sharpest tools an Australian parent, teacher, or grandparent has to push back.

The trick is to write something a busy sub-editor will actually print. That means brevity, a concrete local hook, and a clear ask of your readers. This guide walks through how to draft, polish, and place a letter that puts pressure on state education ministers and local MPs without sounding shrill or preachy.

The enduring power of a printed letter

Australian newspapers still receive far more letters than they can publish, which means editors actively scan for sharp, local, and timely contributions. A letter that names your suburb, references a recent decision by your state education department, or quotes a teacher's frustration will rise to the top of the pile.

Editors also tend to favour writers who sound like real people rather than press-release writers. Mentioning your child's year level, your school's suburb in Adelaide or Perth, or your own background as a casual relief teacher signals authenticity in a way that a generic "concerned parent" cannot. Even short regional papers like the Newcastle Herald, the Hobart Mercury, or the Canberra Times will run a punchy 150-word piece if it lands at the right moment, such as the week NAPLAN results are released.

NAPLAN, My School, and the data question

Before you put pen to paper, ground yourself in the specifics of the Australian regime. NAPLAN is run by ACARA, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, and the resulting data feeds the publicly searchable My School portal. Parents in every state can request that their child sit the test on the catch-up day or apply for an exemption on grounds such as English language background or disability, yet the opt-out pathway is not always clearly advertised.

State-level legislation shapes what happens next. New South Wales operates under the Education Act 1990, while Victoria's Education and Training Reform Act 2006 governs similar ground, and both interact with the federal Privacy Act 1988 when student identifiers move between agencies. Pointing to that legal architecture in your letter signals to readers that you have done your homework rather than simply venting. Parents seeking school board resources to amplify their concerns will recognise the parallel: knowing who holds the pen, and the policy, is half the battle.

Finding your angle and personal hook

The strongest letters zoom in on a single, memorable story rather than listing every grievance. A kindergarten teacher in Western Sydney might describe how her three-year-olds now practise "scanning bubbles" during play. A Brisbane dad might recount the morning his year 3 daughter cried before the writing test. A retired principal from Launceston might note how staff meetings now revolve around data walls.

Once you have your scene, pair it with a fact. NAPLAN consumes roughly six hours of classroom time per student each cycle, and the federal review led by David Gonski in 2018 questioned whether that investment matched the learning gain. Tie the figure to your scene and your letter moves from complaint to evidence-based argument. This approach also helps when teachers feel pressured to spend class time on test preparation, and parents can review practical guidance on how to respond without throwing teachers under the bus.

Crafting the letter: format, length, and tone

Most Australian mastheads cap letters at 200 to 250 words, so trim hard. Open with your hook in the first two sentences, then state your argument, then close with a specific request, such as asking the education minister to release state-level exemption data or to fund an independent review of NAPLAN's classroom impact.

Keep the language plain. Words like "pedagogy", "datafication", or "high-stakes accountability" can sound academic and will be cut. Use everyday phrases: "Our kids are losing playtime", "Teachers are marking instead of teaching", "Families are exhausted." Always include your full name, suburb, and a daytime phone number, as editors will not publish anonymous or pseudonymous submissions.

Ingredients of a letter that gets published

• A first-person scene from your school, suburb, or workplace
• One verifiable fact, statistic, or named policy
• A clear, realistic request of a named decision maker
• Under 250 words, signed with your suburb and contact details

Common traps to steer clear of

• Ranting across three paragraphs without a concrete ask
• Repeating national talking points verbatim from a campaign email
• Attacking individual teachers, principals, or ministers by name
• Forgetting to check the paper's submission deadline and word limit

Sending, sharing, and sustaining pressure

Once your letter appears, screenshot it, share it through your school's P&C Facebook page, and email a copy to your local member and shadow education spokesperson. State MPs in marginal seats pay close attention to mail from constituents, and a published letter carries more weight than a private email alone. Save the letter as a template so you can update the scene each NAPLAN cycle.

If the piece is spiked, do not bin it. Send it to your state education minister, your federal MP, and the school principal, and lodge it as a public submission whenever ACARA opens a consultation round. The aim is to keep the same message moving through different channels until the testing regime begins to bend.

Your next step is to draft 150 words today, name your suburb, and hit submit before the weekend edition closes.