The huge Brisbane state schools outperforming privileged private schools

These two state primary schools – Sunnybank Hills and Indooroopilly – are the biggest and third-biggest in Brisbane.

And they also punch above their weight when it comes to NAPLAN.

With 2024 school-by-school NAPLAN results released on Wednesday, we can reveal the Brisbane state schools achieving excellent results compared with students at schools with a similar background.

Indooroopilly State School students achieved great results in this year’s NAPLAN tests.Credit: Indooroopilly State School

Indooroopilly State School, which has 1408 students and is the third-biggest state school in Brisbane, achieved well-above average results in year 5 spelling, grammar and numeracy, and above average in year 3 spelling and grammar, and year 5 reading and writing in NAPLAN, compared with students from schools with a similar socio-economic background.

Its ICSEA (Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage) percentile is 98, meaning it was compared with some of the most privileged schools in Australia.

Its students are more educationally advantaged than those at 98 per cent of schools in Australia, taking into account their parents’ education level and jobs.

Principal Debbie Spanner said she was lucky to lead a team of high-quality educators who aimed to set students up for success outside the classroom walls, and instil confidence, critical thinking and leadership.

“We are very grateful to have a community of parents and caregivers, teachers and students that share the high expectations and aspirations we have for every one of our learners,” she said.

“We’re particularly proud of our science of learning and science of reading focus, which is helping our staff grow well-developed pedagogical practices that support all learners.”

Brisbane’s biggest state primary school, Sunnybank Hills State School, which has 1742 students and an ICSEA of 89, received well-above average NAPLAN results for year 3 and 5 reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy.

And despite having a lower ICSEA, Sunnybank Hills State School year 5 students achieved better average scores than Brisbane’s most expensive boys’ and girls’ private primary schools in several areas.

Sunnybank Hills year 5 students had higher average scores than year 5 Brisbane Grammar School students, which charges year 12 students more than $34,000 and has an ICSEA of 99, in writing, spelling, and grammar.

They also achieved higher average scores than year 5 St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School students, which charges year 12 students more than $29,000 in annual fees and has an ICSEA of 96, in writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy.

Other top-performing Brisbane state schools, compared with schools with a similar background, were Wishart Start School, McDowall State School, Gumdale State School – all primary schools with more than 1000 students enrolled – and Mansfield State High School.