Schools that Excel eastern winners: Auburn High School and Waverley Christian College

Auburn High School welcomes students who have struggled at other schools. But the state school in Hawthorn East, surrounded by Melbourne’s most expensive schools, has become a first choice for many families.

“It’s actually the biggest compliment that local families are saying, ‘Auburn is a really good educational option for us’, particularly with all the independents around, whereas it used to be, ‘No other school will have my child’. Now, it is a bit of a destination school,” says principal Ross Pritchard.

Auburn High School principal Ross Pritchard and assistant principal Kristie Satilmis with students. Credit: Luis Ascui

When Auburn opened nine years ago from the ashes of Hawthorn Secondary College, it vowed to do things differently to attract students and bring out their best.

For years 7 to 9, students are grouped into mainstream curriculum, accelerated learning, French partial immersion (French and science in French) and a French binational program (in which students do the French national curriculum for most of the week).

Students then come together in year 10, and choose between the VCE, the VCE Vocational Major and the International Baccalaureate for their senior secondary years.

Pritchard says these specialised programs, regular academic testing and Auburn’s small size of 720 students ensures that teenagers don’t slip through the cracks. “I feel like we have the ability to deal with anyone who walks through the door,” he says.

The academic improvements are striking, leading The Age to name Auburn High its 2023 Schools that Excel winner for government schools in Melbourne’s east. The annual series celebrates schools that achieve outstanding advancement in their VCE results. The Age has gathered VCE results data going back 10 years for every secondary school in the state and turned it into an easy-to-use dashboard to show how each one fared over the past decade, what its graduates do after finishing, and more.

Auburn High School in East Hawthorn is The Age Schools that Excel winner for government schools in Melbourne’s east.Credit: Luis Ascui

Since opening in 2014, Auburn High’s median study score has grown from 24 to 31, while its percentage of study scores over 40 has surged from 2 to 11.

Further out in the eastern suburbs, teenager Judy Staebe knew she had found the right school in Waverley Christian College when she toured the campus.

“I remember walking around, and some of the students even came up to me, shook my hand,” says Judy, who is now a school captain. “And that’s when I knew, ‘Yeah, this is the school I want to go to’.”

Waverley Christian College, an evangelical school with campuses in Wantirna South and Narre Warren, interviews every family who hopes to enrol their child at the school.

“We’re not selective in who attends in terms of their academic ability,” says head of secondary Andrew Bawden. “That’s a really important part of our culture.

“So, if we look at a school report, we’re not looking at their grades – we’re looking at their engagement.”

Waverley Christian College captains Judy Staebe and Pierre Faragalla with Andrew Bawden, head of secondary and David Lepileo, head of campus.Credit: Simon Schluter

Once accepted, staff help students find purpose, achieve their best and deepen their faith. Students attend chapel each week and raise money for worthy causes.

Bawden says teachers also have high standards of themselves, keeping up to date with teaching best practice and reflecting on their behaviour. “Without that, I don’t think you have a growth culture as a school,” he says.

Caring for each child helps students succeed academically, says head of campus David Lepileo. “We talk about their vocation, their gifting, how God’s made them, as being essential to find their way to success. With that mindset we instil since kinder, we think it works.”

Over the past decade, Waverley Christian College’s median study score has grown from 32 to 35, while its percentage of VCE study scores above 40 has jumped from 11 to 19.4.

These improvements have led The Age to crown Waverley Christian College its Schools that Excel winner for non-government schools in Melbourne’s east.

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