Australia’s Top 100 Private Schools: Victoria’s best schools ranked

The best private schools of Australia have been ranked today and 25 Victorian colleges made the cut. See the full list and which ones made it into the national top 10.

When the principal of Victoria’s top school stepped into his new role almost two decades ago, he had a vision to create a strong academic learning environment that deviated from education fads.

Haileybury principal and chief executive Derek Scott was appointed to the leadership role at the elite school in December 2007 – the same year as Apple released its first generation iPhone.

He was driven to create an educational setting where evidence-based teaching practices, particularly in literacy and numeracy, were at its core.

“Beyond that, I also wanted to create a school culture where both staff and students were always looking upwards and outwards, towards all the opportunities in front of them,” he said.

Haileybury principal Derek Scott and students Jemma, Jaya, Sophie, Nick and Rungano showcase the extra-curricular activities and STEM options available at the school. Picture: David Caird

While a lot has changed in the 17 years since Mr Scott had those aspirations, it’s fair to say the result of his unique approach speaks for itself.

Haileybury is Victoria’s number one school in News Corp’s official Top 100 Private Schools in Australia list, and is the second-best college in the nation.

It’s also one of the state’s highest achieving schools in NAPLAN and VCE, with one in four year 12 students obtaining at least one study score of 40 or above last year.

Mr Scott credited Haileybury’s success to the early implementation of explicit teaching in 2008.

“One of our key points of difference is our focus on evidence-based teaching that builds strong literacy and numeracy skills which in turn leads to strong overall academic outcomes for students,” he said.

“At the same time, Haileybury is driven by an entrepreneurial spirit that means we are continually exploring new ways to develop and evolve educational opportunities that provide families with choice.

“Haileybury Pangea, our thriving online school, is a great example of that. So too is Haileybury Rendall School in Darwin and our international operations across four Asia-Pacific countries.”

The school’s secret to success wasn’t just about delivering for its students, but also its commitment to developing the careers of its educators and future leaders.

“In the last decade alone, 10 Haileybury staff have gone on to become principals. That’s something we are proud of and it speaks to the culture of growth and aspiration we have built here,” Mr Scott said.

Year 11 student Sophie Holt-Ye, who has studied at Haileybury for almost seven years, loved the school’s strong sense of community spirit and the various support networks on offer.

“I always feel like I have a place irrespective of the ups and downs within school life and am extremely privileged to be able to experience a culture of encouragement in all my pursuits,” she said.

If Sophie was to describe the school in three words, they would be “motivating, ambitious and inclusive”.

“The school has a heavy focus on achieving great things regardless of specific strengths, and being in a quite large cohort allows for a lot of friendly competition and general motivation to do the best I can, whether in sport, the arts or academics,” she said.

Presbyterian Ladies' College principal Cheryl Penberthy with students Isabelle Le, Christine Lee and Chloe Tam.

As for the state’s top single-sex school, Presbyterian Ladies’ College took the crown with principal Cheryl Penberthy attributing its success to a culture of encouragement.

“I just want us to serve this generation of girls as best we can. The students only get to do year 3 once, they do year 8 once; we want to look back on that time and know we served them well,” she said.

“It’s not good enough to think we’ll do better next time, we need to nail it for that girl in that year.”

Year 7 student Evelyn Qi said she loved how her teachers always “welcomed her with a smile”, while year 9 student Chloe Tam said the school’s advanced classes for some subjects enabled students to challenge themselves.

In addition to Haileybury and Presbyterian Ladies College, other Victorian schools making the Top 100 Private Schools list included St Leonard’s College, Camberwell Girls Grammar, Methodist Ladies’ College and Brighton Grammar School.

The exclusive list has been made by crunching numbers on a wide range of metrics including academic success, school facilities, subjects, extra-curricular activities and teacher-student ratios.

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Originally published as Australia’s Top 100 Private Schools: Victoria’s best schools ranked