Albanvale Primary School revealed as the most improved school in Victoria
It may be one of the most “disadvantaged” schools in the northern suburbs but that has not stopped a cohort of passionate students from defying the odds academically. See how your child’s school ranked.
It may be one of the most “disadvantaged” schools in Melbourne’s northwest but that has not stopped a cohort of passionate students from defying the odds in the classroom.
Grade 5 students from Albanvale Primary School were among the state’s standout performers, with these students recording exceptional improvement in NAPLAN scores from when they took the tests two years earlier.
More than 70 per cent of students scored above average scores in numeracy and writing, with average scores across the board jumping 14 points since last year.
The latest NAPLAN results indicated the school was the most improved in the state.
Despite many of the students coming from “low socio-economic backgrounds” principal Michael Uzunovski said the school’s “active” community has helped guide the students towards academic success.
“This year in particular our students have had really high learning growth,” he said.
“For us, we’ve got a lot of students in that lower socio-economic band and one of the things we’re really conscious of here is we’ve got really high expectations on our kids and we match that with really high levels of support too.
“When you look at a lot of people that work with kids in disadvantaged areas they tend to empathise with the families and the kids about what they’re going through and in doing so they naturally lower the expectations of what the kids are capable of.
“The thing that really helps is our families genuinely care and they can see the success the children are having and their growth.”
Mr Uzunovski said school programs like “LITfest” — an annual event where parents and students spend an hour reading together in the schoolyard — has helped families “connect over learning”.
“We have a vibe you can’t really explain,” Mr Uzunovski said.
“One of our motivations for LITfest was we knew not a lot of kids had a lot of books at home or their parents weren’t engaging in reading in literature for a range of reasons ... so we wanted to create an environment where we took pressure off people and for families to come together.”
Albanvale also has some of the strongest student wellbeing scores in the state.
Fitzroy Community School was the best performing primary school in Melbourne’s northern suburbs with an average score of 567.4 across the board.
Originally published as Albanvale Primary School revealed as the most improved school in Victoria
