OP results: southwest Brisbane’s top schools revealed

Corinda Anglican girls’ school St Aidan’s now boasts five “consistently excellent” years of overall position results according to principal Toni Riordan.

Principal of St Aidan's Corinda Toni Riordan with students Alice Baumann, Genevieve Rule and Phoebe McAuliffe. The students have just received their OP scores. picture: AAP/Richard Waugh

CORINDA Anglican girls’ school St Aidan’s now boasts five “consistently excellent” years of Overall Position (OP) results according to principal Toni Riordan.

Almost 42 per cent of OP eligible St Aidan’s girls received a score of 1-5.

The 28 high-achieving students helped position St Aidan’s as the ninth best-performing OP school in the state.

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“Our 2018 Year 12 students are to be congratulated on their outstanding academic achievement.,” Ms Riordan said.

“The OP results show St Aidan’s continues to be one of the top performing independent schools in Queensland with more than one in two OP eligible students achieving an OP 1-6.”

The result also placed St Aidan’s as southwest Brisbane’s top school.

Principal of St Aidan's Corinda Toni Riordan with students Alice Baumann, Genevieve Rule and Phoebe McAuliffe. The students have just received their OP scores. PICTURE: AAP/Richard Waugh

It outperformed Brisbane Boys’ College in Toowong which ranked at 17, with 38.40 per cent of OP eligible students receiving an OP 1-5 (48 students).

The next-best performer for the region was Ashgrove’s Mt St Michael’s College which saw 34.62 per cent of OP students score between 1 and 5, followed by Marist College Ashgrove with 33.51 per cent.

It was Redbank Plains State High School that lead the charge as the best-performing public school for the southwest, ranking above several private schools at number five for the region and 47 across the state.

Almost 32 per cent of OP students from the school received an OP 1-5 however less than 8 per cent of the graduating class was actually eligible for an OP — the lowest percentage in Queensland.

Redbank Plains principal Tom Beck said he was “extremely proud” of his school’s results.

“As it recognises the outstanding talents and hard work of the students who achieved these results, the efforts of their subject teachers who helped them demonstrate excellence and the outcomes achieved by school staff who helped train them in academic skills such as assessment techniques. The result is a combination of outstanding results in individual subjects and the best QCST results in the school’s history. These are all a product of a renewed focus on high expectations of student engagement and achievement.”

Of the small number of students who sat for an OP, Mr Beck said the school offered a range of pathways to student success.

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“In 2018 the school achieved the best Year 12 outcomes in its history within the tertiary pathway through a combination of outstanding results in individual subjects and the best QCST results the school has attained.

“This was achieved through students and teaching staff collaborating to improve both individual and collective results.

“The school also achieved success in its vocational and workplace pathways with 243 out of 244 students achieving a QCE or QCIA (the equivalent of passing at least five out of six subjects), and many students gaining places at TAFE or entering apprenticeships or traineeships.

“In short we are committed to achieving the best possible outcomes within the pathway that the student and caregiver choses and is most suited to them.”

Kenmore State High School (ranked 58th in the state), where 70.41 per cent students pursued an OP, saw nearly 29 per cent of OP eligible students achieve a score of 1-5.

QASMT Year 12 graduating cohort for 2018 with Principal Kayrooa.

However it was the Toowong-based Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology that would have blown all other schools out of the water had their grading system been based around OP results.

The specialist school, which was not included in the table because of its different grading system, reported 69.7 per cent of students having received an OP equivalent of 1-5 through the International Baccalaureate (IB).

Principal Kathryn Kayrooz said the results were outstanding.

“Our students have achieved outstanding results,” Professor Kayrooz said.

She said more than 450 students completed this internationally recognised IB qualification in 2018 and direct comparisons could be made between OP and IB scores.

“Using this data, 109 out of 198 students, 55.1% of students at the Queensland Academy for Science Mathematics and Technology attained an OP score of 1-4.

“This clearly places our state school in the number one position in the Top 50 Queensland schools for OP results table.”

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Southwest’s top 10 schools

(Queensland rank, name, number of OP 1-5 students, percentage of OP students who scored 1-5)

9 — St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School, Corinda, 28, 41.79%

17 — Brisbane Boys’ College, Toowong, 48, 38.40%

31 — Mt St Michael’s College, Ashgrove, 36, 34.62%

34- Marist College Ashgrove, Ashgrove, 64, 33.51%

47 — Redbank Plains State High School, Redbank Plains, 6, 31.58%

50 — Stuartholme School, Toowong, 29, 30.85%

52 — St Peters Lutheran College, Indooroopilly, 58, 30.69%

58 — Kenmore State High School, Kenmore, 60, 28.99%

59 — Westside Christian College, Goodna, 17, 28.81

80 — Indooroopilly State High School, Indooroopilly, 49, 25.65%