Top performing southwest and southern Sydney NAPLAN schools revealed in last five years

Hurlstone Agricultural High School and Sutherland Public School are the top-performing NAPLAN schools in southern and southwest Sydney. See the full list of top performing schools.

Sutherland Public School front row (L-R): Emma Gibson K, Mary Green K, Penelope Stephens K, Juliette Beresford K, Nicholas Sukkar K, Kai Wise; back row (L-R): Layla Elliot (prefect), Sofia Charalambous (vice captain), Elsha Sabapathy (captain), Mrs Leah Woolley (principal), Caleb Day (captain), Dimitri Mesnyanko (vice captain), James Glynn (prefect).

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, Sutherland Public School had higher Year 5 yearly results than any other school in southern and southwest Sydney, scoring an average of 2906.8 each year.

The principal of Sutherland Public School, Leah Woolley, put the top results down to the shared commitment staff, students and families have towards student growth and learning at the school.

“(We have) a united staff with a clear understanding of what our students need is seeing results continue to grow,” Ms Woolley said.

“The current school captains, Elsha and Caleb, were ecstatic to learn that we have been recognised as a top performing school,” she added.

Sutherland Public School 2022 captains Elsha Sabapathy and Caleb Day, as well as the principal Leah Woolley.

“Caleb said that the teachers are welcoming, nurturing and always cater to students needs to help us learn and Elsha commented that the students work to the best of their ability and uphold our expectations of being smart, safe and kind.”

Hurstville Public School in Hurstville was the second best for the region with an average score of 2839.0, while Earlwood Public School in Earlwood was the third best with an average score of 2791.8.

The top performing Year 9 school was Hurlstone Agricultural High School, in Glenfield, where the average yearly result was 3444.75 over the five years.

Christine Castle, the principal of Hurlstone Agricultural High School, said she was very proud of all NSW students but it’s also important to remember academic performance is only a measure of a child’s ability in a test or exam at one point in time.

“At Hurlstone Agricultural High School, excellence begins in the classroom where highly experienced and dedicated teachers, a supportive parent community and motivated and focused students create a powerful synergy of teaching and learning,” Ms Castle said.

“I pay tribute to our teaching staff for their dedication to their craft, their high expectations and their commitment to supporting each student in their care.”

Year 9 students at Hurlstone Agricultural High School.

“(But) it is important to keep NAPLAN in context – it is not a pass or fail test and children should treat NAPLAN days as any other school day. What is tested in NAPLAN is what is taught in the classroom,” she added.

Caringbah High School in Caringbah was the second best for the region with an average score of 3408.75, while St George Girls High School in Kogarah was the third best with an average score of 3404.75.

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.