Yarra Valley Grammar has learned first hand that a good school shouldn’t be measured on nothing ever going wrong.

The independent school has a solid academic performance and prides itself on values of respect, integrity and community.

But that was tested in the most public way this year when male students produced a list rating their female peers in offensive terms.

It prompted swift action from principal Dr Mark Merry, who met the criticism head-on, expelling two students, facing the media and ordering a review of the school’s entire pastoral system.

For Merry, it reinforced the notion of holistic education – teaching not just academics or sports, but the whole ethical framework.

“A good school is not measured on things never going wrong,” he says. “A good school is measured on how they deal with it when they do go wrong.

“Young people are in an era of trial and error. They’re learning what it means to be a person. And sometimes, they get it wrong. If you go into education thinking young people won’t do the wrong thing, then you’re missing the point.”

Enrolment inquiries have increased since the incident, which Merry sees as both ironic and a recognition that his response was the correct one.

“The online lives of young people isn’t going away,” he says. “In fact, it’s going to get bigger. Schools need to be able to respond positively to that.”

Yarra Valley Grammar has been named The Age’s 2024 Schools that Excel winner for non-government schools in Melbourne’s east for the improvement its VCE results have shown over the past decade.

The annual series celebrates schools that achieve outstanding advancement in their VCE results.

You can explore a decade of VCE results data for your high school and view the full list of winning schools using this year’s Schools that Excel dashboard:

Yarra Valley’s academic record is strong. In 2022 and 2023, the school achieved a median VCE study score of 35, its best results over the past decade and five points higher than the statewide median. In addition, 22.3 per cent of its VCE study scores last year were 40 or above, a rate that has improved over the past 10 years.

But it’s the school’s ethos of community that makes Merry most proud.

A points system for co-curricular activities ensures students are well-rounded in sports, arts and community work.

“We are a school. So primarily, we’re about education. My goal is that the young people who come here have as many choices as possible when they leave school ... because life is successful when you have choices,” he says.

“But there’s a secondary goal, and that is that we want to be as much interested in the mind and the soul as we can, in terms of young people leaving here with a good ethical framework.”

In Vermont, principal Tony Jacobs goes for a wander when he wants to assess the health of his school.

As one of the state’s longest-serving principals, he understands that the more settled his students are, the more ready they are to succeed.

In the past 16 years, he’s changed the timetable, the rules and even the decor at Vermont Secondary College to create a level of community that inspires achievement.

The results are evident. The school’s median VCE study score was consistently at 31 over the past decade, but in 2019 and 2023, it achieved a higher median score of 32. Its 2023 results were also impressive, given they coincided with a year in which VCE enrolments reached a 10-year high.

Vermont Secondary has now been named The Age’s 2024 Schools that Excel winner for government schools in Melbourne’s east.

“You can see it when you wander, how settled the kids are,” he says. “A lot of our seniors ... hang around till 5.30pm or 6pm. Cleaners regularly have to push them out the door at night, which is a good sign. They want to be there.”

Vermont Secondary belongs to its 1600 students. No space is off limits, even in meal breaks. Teachers have an open-door policy for extra assistance.

Former students are welcomed back as tutors, then often return as teachers. The walls are adorned with portraits of each year’s achievers, both academic and beyond.

It’s a far cry from the 1970s, when honour rolls were seen as taboo in a culture that proclaimed everyone a winner.

About 12 years ago, Jacobs dug the school’s dux board from the back of a cupboard and rehung it. The college also initiated a high achievers assembly at the start of each year to celebrate past students and inspire younger ones.

“Life is a competition,” he says. “It’s nonsense to say it’s not.”

Jacobs has restructured the timetable to four 75-minute periods, claiming back up to 30 minutes students were losing each day, simply in transit.

And in a first this year, Vermont has two girl captains, breaking with the traditional gender split, in recognition of the two best candidates.

The collective culture of the school is one of striving for well-rounded success in all facets of life.

One high-performing student chose wood tech in addition to chemistry and physics. Others self-select for literacy and numeracy intervention. Many more are taking up the growing VCE vocational major stream.

Where neighbouring schools are known for their specialities, Vermont’s strength is in its size and diversity.

“It’s more a case of what don’t we offer,” says assistant principal Cara Macfarlane. “Our kids do study weird, wide and wonderful combinations. We have a culture of success and achieving and working together. It really is a community feel, even though we’re quite a big school.”

with Craig Butt

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