Small-town stars: The regional campuses ranked among Victoria’s Top 100 Public High Schools

Victoria's country campuses are punching above their weight, with 23 breaking into the state's Top 100 Public High Schools despite their sometimes remote locations.

Victoria’s country students are making their mark at the highest level, with rural and remote schools seizing more than a fifth of the positions on the Herald Sun’s prestigious list of the state’s Top 100 Public High Schools.

Charlton College, which is located 255km northwest of Melbourne and 110km west of Bendigo, has taken the crown as Victoria’s top regional school, and ranks within the top 10 in the state – nestled in eighth place between Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and Balwyn High.

Just 132 students attend the combined state school, which is led by acting principal Craig Kelly and school captains Fletcher Holmes-Brown and Emmersyn Nelson.

Charlton College has the lowest fees of any institution in the top 10 Victorian public schools and has an extraordinary student to teacher ratio of 4.6 – with these factors contributing to the school being ranked the 45th best public school in the nation.

Mr Kelly and assistant principal Kim Fitzpatrick said it was exciting to hear Charlton College had been crowned Victoria’s top regional public school.

“It validates the great work and dedication of our staff and students, and it recognises the progress we’ve made in creating an environment that supports the learning and wellbeing of all students,” they said in a statement.

As for the secret to the school’s success, they said the school does its best to give students access to a broad range of subjects and opportunities.

“Forward planning has allowed us to maintain small class sizes at all levels across the school and particularly at VCE. We also have amazing staff who are highly connected to our students and the community,” they said.

Charlton College school captains Fletcher Holmes-Brown and Emmersyn Nelson.

There are eight regionally based schools among the top 50 government schools in the state, including Wycheproof P-12 College, which is situated 273km from Melbourne, and Rainbow P-12 College, which is 400km northwest of the CBD.

Other regional schools making the top 50 include Mallacoota P-12 College, Murrayville Community College, Casterton Secondary College, Dimboola Memorial Secondary College and Pyramid Hill College.

Schools situated in Victoria’s northwestern towns also dominated the top 100 public schools in the state, with more than half based in this region.

This includes schools near the Victoria and South Australia border such as Kaniva College and Nhill College, and Irymple Secondary College near the Victoria and New South Wales border.

Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College in Geelong also made the top 100, coming in at 78th in the state.

The all-girls high school is home to 562 pupils and has a student to teacher ration of 10.2.

The school’s acting principal Jeremy Dyson said the school focused on wellbeing and learning, which enables students to “flourish”.

“Our staff emphasise the development of the whole student, not just the student’s academic needs. I think the all-girls context means our girls have the confidence to take risks and be themselves,” he said.

“Our staff are amazing and super committed to providing wonderful learning opportunities for our students at their point of need.”

Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College acting principal Jeremy Dyson with students Abi, college captains Alice and Lily, and Mia-Rose. Picture: Alison Wynd

Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College is the only regional all-girls state school in Victoria and attracts a wide variety of students from a vast catchment area.

“The students love being themselves. They love that they can talk to our staff and feel heard,” Mr Dyson said.

“They love that they can be who they want to be and can embrace opportunities in arts, sports, music, STEM, literature, languages, leadership and much more.”

Every government high school in Australia was assessed for its academic performance, student attendance level, student-teacher ratio, average fees and level of socio-educational advantage to create the ultimate education power list, similar to News Corp’s Top 100 Private Schools list in July.