Top performing central west NAPLAN schools revealed in last 5 years
Kinross Wolaroi School and Borenore Public School are the top performing NAPLAN schools in Central West NSW. See where every other school ranked.
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An independent analysis of five years of NAPLAN results has revealed the schools which consistently performed the best in the Year 5 and Year 9 tests between 2017 and 2021.
Over that five-year period, Borenore Public School, in Borenore, had higher Year 5 results than any other school in the Central West NSW, scoring an average of 2651.5 each year.
St Joseph‘s Catholic Primary School in Gilgandra was the second best for the region with an average score of 2621.5, while Canobolas Public School in Orange was the third best with an average score of 2616.5.
The top performing Year 9 school was Kinross Wolaroi School, in Orange, where the average yearly result was 3013.5 over the five years.
Macquarie Anglican Grammar School in Dubbo was the second best for the region with an average score of 2988.0, while MacKillop College in Bathurst was the third best with an average score of 2971.25.
To determine how each school performed between 2017 and 2021, their average scores for each year were combined and the yearly average found.
Special schools, schools with fewer than 20 students enrolled in either year, and schools that did not report any results for NAPLAN subjects in either year were excluded from the analysis.
The figures were independently compiled from the Federal Government‘s MySchool website.
While delighted with Kinross Walaroi topping the list for the best performing year nine school in the central west, principal Dr Dr Andrew Parry said it was “business as usual” when speaking to The Dubbo News.
“We use NAPLAN as a diagnostic tool that gives us insights into learning strengths and weaknesses in our students,” Dr Parry said.
“We’re then able to use these for targeted teaching and learning responses. One example of this is our special literacy programs for boy boarders.”
In identifying the school’s strong performance, Dr Parry detailed the “rigorous teaching” for year 7 and 8 students as key indicator.
“We have a focused Language and Literacy program in Years 7 and 8, as well as a targeted Language and Literacy program for boarding students in [those years],” he said.
“This is combined with rigorous teaching practice in the classroom and ongoing support for boarders during their homework period of an evening.
“The staff at Kinross Wolaroi School take a holistic approach to NAPLAN. If students are performing well and achieving sound results in the classroom, we know they will perform well in NAPLAN.”
Gilgandra’s St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School was the second best performing year five school in the central west and principal Tony Musgrave said it was “encouraging” to see the results.
“There’s no actual strategy for NAPLAN, it’s just the way we teach [the kids] from kindergarten through to year six,” Mr Musgrave said.
“That’s not done just to get NAPLAN results, it’s done so that each child can do the best that they can possibly do, or be the best they can possibly be.”
Mr Musgrave said the “structure of teaching” at St Joseph’s has shown itself in school’s performance.
“We really do – both in english and numeracy – focus on the basics, kids read everyday, they do a maths warm-up everyday,” he said.
“I think that’s probably contributed to those good results.”
However, Mr Musgrave didn’t want to get too ahead of himself in analysing the school’s success.
“I mean it’s only one test … you have to be careful with that, I really do believe [that], it’s only one assessment,” he said.
Central West NSW‘s best performing Year 5 schools between 2017 and 2021
- Borenore Public School: 2651.5
- St Joseph‘s Catholic Primary School: 2621.5
- Canobolas Public School: 2616.5
- Kinross Wolaroi School: 2612.8
- Macquarie Anglican Grammar School: 2600.5
- Nashdale Public School: 2599.0
- St Philomena‘s Catholic Primary School: 2588.8
- St Joseph‘s Primary School: 2575.0
- Millthorpe Public School: 2573.3
- St Brigid‘s Catholic Primary School: 2566.0
Central West NSW‘s best performing Year 9 schools between 2017 and 2021
- Kinross Wolaroi School: 3013.5
- Macquarie Anglican Grammar School: 2988.0
- MacKillop College: 2971.25
- Orange Christian School: 2950.0
- St Matthews Catholic School: 2944.25
- James Sheahan Catholic High School: 2922.75
- Orange Anglican Grammar School: 2900.75
- St Stanislaus‘ College: 2892.25
- St Johns College: 2878.75
- St Raphael‘s Catholic School: 2869.5
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