NAPLAN results: Top ten inner west high schools

Fort St High School in Petersham has topped a list of 10 inner west high schools based on NAPLAN results.

Fort St high students Barisha Tashnin and Daniel Holland with principal Juliette McMurray. AAP IMAGE / MONIQUE HARMER.

• Top primary schools
• HSC rankings

Fort St High School in Petersham has topped a list of 10 inner west high schools based on NAPLAN results.

Principal Juliette McMurray said students continued to perform at a consistently high standard with the majority of students performing in the top two bands for their year group in all areas of the program.

“Many students at Fort St are avid readers which goes a long way to helping them to continually improve their overall literacy skills,” she said.

“For a number of years now the school has had a specific focus on improving students writing.”

Meriden School ranked second in the top 10 inner west high schools based on NAPLAN. The school topped primary school list. Photo: Dallas Kilponen

Small literacy classes of 15 students are embedded into the timetable in Year 7, delivering an evidence-based and data-driven program that develops and refines literacy skills.

The academically selective co-educational high school has an enrolment of 910 students of whom 76 per cent come from language backgrounds other than English.

Numeracy results at the school are substantially above the state average with 100 per cent of year seven students scoring in the top two bands and 93 per cent scoring in the top band.

In year nine, 99 per cent of students scored in the top two bands.

MLC School in Burwood ranked third.

Meriden School in Strathfield ranked second followed by MLC School, Presbyterian Ladies College, Santa Sabina, Trinity Grammar, Newington College, Tempe High School, St Patrick’s College and Newtown High School of Performing Arts which ranked tenth.

Meriden topped the list of 20 inner west primary schools.

But principal Julie Greenhalgh said the key to their success was not to become too fixated on the program, which she described as “a narrow assessment at a particular point in time”.

“Our NAPLAN results are strong because we focus on expert teaching and learning and don’t worry about NAPLAN,” Dr Greenhalgh said.

“By keeping in mind the overall learning outcomes for the entire year, and ensuring that the girls are mastering the skills of inquiry learning, research, comprehension and problem-solving, we are preparing them for much more than NAPLAN.

“The irony is that, in so doing, we are also improving their NAPLAN results.”

Newingon College ranked second followed by MLC School, St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Erskineville, Presbyterian Ladies College in Croydon, St Fiacre Catholic Primary School, Fr John Therry Catholic Primary School, Trinity Grammar and Burwood Public.

Top 10 high schools

1. Fort St High, Petersham

2. Meriden School, Strathfield

3. MLC School, Burwood

4. Presbyterian Ladies College, Croydon

5. Santa Sabina, Strathfield

6. Trinity Grammar, Summer Hill

7. Newington College, Stanmore

8. Tempe High School

9. St Patrick’s College, Strathfield

10. Newtown High School of Performing Arts