"Finland, which is lauded as a leader in education, is very different to the English-speaking world and has no formal instruction prior to the age of seven.

"While students in Singapore are very teacher-trained, Finnish students are more self-directed and I believe that's because of those early years. The whole point of early childhood play is that it's self-directed."

Mr Hill said his school, which is one of more than 1000 Steiner schools around the world and takes a holistic approach to education, is the closest thing to the Finnish model available in Australia.

"Everyone's asking how we can build creativity and talking about it like it can be taught as a separate subject but we see it as a natural part of growing up," Mr Hill said.

"With a play-based early childhood, when they move to formal learning that becomes an attitude to life."

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Professor of education at the University of Sydney Michael Anderson said that students who are left behind by the age of eight tend to struggle throughout school, but that promoting creativity, communication, collaboration and critical reflection is often more important in the early years than formally teaching reading and writing.

"It's concerning internationally that play is being taken out of the early childhood setting," Professor Anderson said.

"You've got to work with age-appropriate teaching. Teaching four-year-olds to read and write is not as appropriate as teaching them important skills such as communication and collaboration that you need throughout school."

Professor Anderson said teaching skills such as creativity and promoting literacy and numeracy "are not an either-or and Gonski doesn't set it out as such", but that standardised tests such as NAPLAN could be pushing teachers towards less innovative and engaging practices.

"Changing or removing NAPLAN so teachers don't feel pressure to teach to the test and use methods that are outdated could be one solution," Professor Anderson said.

"Schools and curriculums need to allow students to build an understanding at their own pace. I wouldn't be putting a hard and fast rule in."

Mr Hill said students at his school begin being taught literacy and numeracy in year 1 and it usually takes about two years to establish those skills.

He said that parents usually withdraw students from the NAPLAN tests in the early years but the school generally performs well in later years.

Students in year 7 and 9 at Glenaeon scored at or above the Australian average in all five NAPLAN domains last year, according to My School.

A number of education ministers around the country, including NSW's Rob Stokes, have called for a review or the scrapping of NAPLAN.

However, its supporters, including federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham, say it provides important information on education progress at the national level and is a useful tool for schools and teachers.