How Victoria’s top 40 secondary schools performed in NAPLAN this year
Victoria’s top 40 secondary schools from 2023 have posted a mixed bag of NAPLAN results, with some making great gains this year, while others suffered big drops.
Education
Don't miss out on the headlines from Education. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Victoria’s top 40 secondary schools from 2023 have posted a mixed bag of results this year, with some elite colleges surging ahead while others suffered significant drops.
A Herald Sun analysis found several top-performing state and private high schools – which have fees of more than $35,000 per year – plummeted in their average year 9 NAPLAN results in the past 12 months.
The 2024 NAPLAN results were released on the My School website on Wednesday.
Initial analysis shows leading Kew Catholic girls’ school Genazzano FCJ College, which achieved a NAPLAN score of 610.4, dropped 19.6 points compared to the previous year, while all-boys’ school St Kevin’s College scored 621.4 – slipping 12.4 points.
Presbyterian Ladies’ College in Burwood, the top performing school in the state last year, experienced a small deficit in NAPLAN points, achieving 667 compared to 671.2 in 2023.
Christway College in Clarinda also dropped a whopping 38 points, scoring 592.8 in 2024.
However, some independent schools posted huge gains, including Lighthouse Christian College in Cranbourne which achieved 666.6 – up 27.6 points from 2023.
Haileybury College students also performed well achieving an average of 660.6 – up 10.4 points.
Meanwhile, state schools such as the Victorian College of the Arts performed better than last year, scoring 621.6 – up 13 points. Box Hill High School was up by eight points, achieving 615.6 and Suzanne Cory High School was up six points to 690.8.
The state’s leading selective all boys’ secondary college Melbourne High School achieved 705.2 – a slight increase of 0.8 points, while Balwyn High School was down 4.6 points compared to last year, scoring 619.
Genazzano principal Loretta Wholley said the school’s students’ numeracy scores were consistent relative to state averages, which experienced a decline in 2024.
“87.8 per cent of our cohort performed in the strong or exceeding range, reflecting the college’s commitment to excellence in teaching,” Ms Wholley said.
“Our median student is performing in the top 25 per cent of the state, and over 40% of students exceeded expectations, which is a testament to the targeted strategies implemented within these areas.
“While NAPLAN offers valuable insights into specific academic skills, the college views these results as one part of a much broader picture,” she said.
A St Kevin’s College spokesman said the school continued to perform well above the state and national average across all of the five tested NAPLAN categories.
“St Kevin’s individual results and comparative data underscore the improvement in student performance,” the spokesman said.
“Our current year 9s have demonstrated marked improvement in their literacy and numeracy results compared to their year 7 data (2022), highlighting the college’s commitment to academic rigour which continues right through to their VCE years, as revealed in our excellent results over the past decade,” he said.
The full list of 2024 NAPLAN results showing the performance of more than 2294 schools nationally will be available at the Herald Sun website, drawing on data from the My School website.
Glendal Primary School among state’s top 20 for improved results
A Glen Waverley primary school is among the state’s top 20 for posting great improvement in the latest NAPLAN results.
Glendal Primary School students and staff say they are thrilled with the release of results after consistently achieving average scores across all areas of testing.
The school has been selected by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) for “making a difference”.
Principal Deborah Grossek said the year 3 and 5 NAPLAN achievements were attributed to the school’s “amazing” culture.
“We offer holistic education and believe in teaching a broader curriculum. We have a very big STEM robotics program that teaches collaboration and it’s quite inspiring,” Ms Grossek said.
“We provide students with a lot of opportunities and we even offer Bollywood dancing. We don’t compromise on the arts.
“We are really proud of the efforts of our hardworking students and staff this year.”
Year three student Ahad, 9, said NAPLAN was a great opportunity to show what the cohort had learned.
“You can look at your results and see what you need to do to improve and what you are good at,” he said.
“Next year will be good because we will have new friends and a fresh start – it is exciting.
“Boys are really happy to have STEM days and excited to do this in year four.”
Year five student Maya, 11, said NAPLAN offered students “different perspectives”.
“I was a bit nervous because I was pressuring myself. The test was challenging but not really hard,” she said.
“NAPLAN is good to show our progress.”
Ballarat High teacher allegedly pulled girl’s hair out in class
The parent of a Ballarat High School student is considering legal action after a senior teacher allegedly pulled out his daughter’s hair in front of dozens of students.
The ‘lifechanging’ development coming to Victoria’s kinders
Children with disabilities will have more freedom and independence at kinder than before, thanks to ‘lifechanging’ upgrades and renovations taking place at more than 400 centres.