Australia’s Top 100 Public High Schools: Northern Territory’s 10 best government secondary schools ranked

Which Northern Territory public schools are a class above at providing an exceptional and affordable education? See the full list of our 10 top-ranking schools here.

Exclusive analysis has revealed the Territory’s top 10 public schools, with campuses from Alice Springs to Darwin making the list.

Every 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 school list in July.

The Northern Territory’s top-ranked public schools are Darwin Middle School, followed by Katherine School of the Air and Nightcliff Middle School.

Darwin Middle School principal Annette Pedersen credited a fantastic school community for helping them reach the top spot.

“Teachers, families, students and staff are very collaborative,” Ms Pedersen said.

“We always have the child at the centre, which is where we should always have our attention.

“We’re all about having our young people succeed so we all push in the same direction as a school community.”

Darwin Middle School principal Annette Pedersen with year 9 students Quan Khanh Do and Timmy Chan at the Territory’s top-ranked government school. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The years 7-9 school educates over 600 students from a diverse background with a range of specialist gifted and talented streams.

“We have opportunities for students to excel through the Students of High Performance stream which is a major attraction for students and families,” Ms Pedersen said.

“We also have an amazing performing arts program too, such as our dance excellence and band program that attracts students from across Darwin and Palmerston.”

The principal said the school achieved NAPLAN success through “data-driven” focused literacy and numeracy strategies across many years.

“It was an exciting moment to share our NAPLAN results with staff and the board,” the principal said.

“It’s a credit to everyone – not just maths and English teacher, all faculties deserve credit for that success.”

Year 9 captains Timmy Chan and Quan Khanh Do – both 15 years old – said they enjoyed the mixture of academic and extra-curricular activities on offer at Darwin Middle School.

Year 9 students Timmy Chan and Quan Khanh Do are captains of News Corp's top-ranked NT government school, Darwin Middle School. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“We have whole school activities like a big school production and band,” Timmy said.

“It helps to build community and bring us all together to work towards the same goal.”

“The teachers are very experienced and help us to prepare for our future studies,” Quan said.

“They are very caring and helpful.”

Darwin Middle School has 679 students and has achieved some of the Territory’s best Year 9 NAPLAN results. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Ms Pedersen said a stable and committed staff group made the difference.

“Stable staffing resonates happy staff who are committed to what they do here,” she said.

“Staff are always trying to find ways to do things better and we have strong leadership with our curriculum leads.”

Originally published as Australia’s Top 100 Public High Schools: Northern Territory’s 10 best government secondary schools ranked