By Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
Veteran English teacher Kelly Andrews can pinpoint when she noticed a change in the reading and writing ability of her youngest high school students.
“A decade ago we realised there was a problem with reading comprehension - it was on the decline,” says Andrews, deputy principal at Birrong Girls High. “We knew we had to start teaching writing more explicitly, breaking down sentence and paragraph construction, step by step.”
Students in an English advanced class at Birrong Girls High with teacher Robyn Caravas.Credit: Wolter Peeters
The all-girls public school in Sydney’s south-west has since harnessed a fundamental shift in the way literacy and writing skills are taught in years 7 to 10, spreading that approach to other faculties.
“We do have a few secrets up our sleeve,” says Andrews, who has taught English for more than 30 years. Birrong Girls takes a forensic approach to analysing student data, she explains, while it has also raised the difficulty level of its assessments.
“We don’t dumb anything down. We expect really high things from our girls.”
A Herald analysis shows the school’s HSC English advanced score is consistently above 85, while its average score, when the mean of all subjects is taken, has risen to above 75.
The analysis of public schools’ HSC results shows girls’ fully selective and comprehensive schools outperform their boys’ counterparts when the mean of all subjects is taken, although that gap has narrowed slightly since 2019.
Band 6 results also show boys’ schools across the sectors are also catching up to all-girls institutions. Data from 2022 shows girls are outperforming boys in most HSC courses, but boys’ schools maintain the lead in chemistry and the toughest maths courses.
Most co-ed schools improved results compared with 2019, with 169 schools recording improved average scores, while 145 went backwards.
Andrews says while Birrong Girls often scores below the state in NAPLAN in the first year of high school, by year 10 “we’re seeing that glimmer of improvement … and we rise to above the state average in year 11”.
“In the past five years, we’re getting students who are coming to us with even fewer skills. There are learning gaps so we’ve started including a specific literacy and numeracy period in year 7 and 8,” she says.
Andrews believes a fall in reading and writing has coincided with a rise in social media and more technology use. “That reading fluency has declined over time because kids aren’t getting the exposure to as many books.”
At another single-sex public school, Epping Boys, principal Jessica Schadel says teachers provide clear and explicit guidance to help students understand HSC marking criteria.
The school has lifted its combined average score from 78 to 80 over the past five years.
“We cannot afford to be complacent,” she says. “We need to constantly review results and shape and reshape our teaching. Schadel says she’s “always been of the belief that good teaching works” no matter whether at a co-ed or single-sex school.
“We use explicit teaching model at Epping Boys. Students have just started their trial exams, and they are the most formative assessment they do. We do a lot of work explaining to the boys it’s not about individual results – you have to work together to lift results as a whole.
“We are just as proud of our decrease in bands 1 and 2s as our increases in the top two bands. One of the big challenges now is giving students the skill base from year 7 prepares boys for the HSC.”
On an average score measure, the state’s top 20 public schools, including three all-boys, five all-girls and 12 co-educational schools.
The Herald this month revealed the future of some of the city’s top-performing single-sex public high schools is uncertain, with the state government moving ahead with expanding co-education options.
The government has flagged it is considering converting two powerhouse comprehensives – Balgowlah Boys and Mackellar Girls – into co-ed schools.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.