The ranking of Australia’s best-performing schools are in – and many are public schools in lower socio-economic areas with big populations of immigrant families.
The 2022 NAPLAN literacy and numeracy scores from every school across Australia were uploaded to the My Schools website by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority this week.
A diverse mix of private, Catholic, selective, non-selective, co-educational and public schools head the list, proving to parents they do not need to live in an expensive suburb or pay tens of thousands each year to ensure their children get the best education.
NAPLAN is the annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 who, until this year, sat the test in May each year.
The latest data is the first NAPLAN snapshot in several years due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The 2022 NAPLAN results have been revealed. Pictured are students from Presbyterian Ladies’ College in Melbourne, one of the country’s best-performing schools
NEW SOUTH WALES
There were few surprises on the NSW secondary schools list dominated by Sydney selective schools best known for their outstanding HSC success year in and year out.
Selective schools took out nine out of the top 10 spots, with James Ruse Agricultural High School in Sydney’s northwest topping the list with a Year 9 average of 730.8.
North Sydney Boys High School was second on 709.4, closely followed by Sydney Girls High School on 709.
Sydney Grammar was the only primary school with an average above 600.
Woollahra Public School in Sydney’s east was the state’s second best performing primary school, followed by Beecroft PS.
Cabramatta High School in Sydney’s immigrant-heavy southwest was one of several schools identified as high-achieving.
It means students showed above-average literacy and numeracy results compared with those of similar socio-educational backgrounds.
Nearby schools Fairfield Heights Public and Canley Vale High were also identified as high achieving.
James Ruse Agricultural High School in Sydney’s north-west topped the state’s secondary school list with a Year 9 average of 730.8
VICTORIA
South of the border, 28 of Victoria’s top 100 were girls-only schools, more than double the number of boys’ schools featured.
All girls-schools took four of the top five spots on the best-performing primary school list.
Presbyterian Ladies’ College in Melbourne’s east topped the list, followed by Harkaway Hills College, Fintona Girls’ School, Camberwell Grammar School and Camberwell Girls Grammar School in the city’s north.
Selective school MacRobertson Girls High School topped Victoria’s secondary schools, followed by Melbourne High School, Nossal and Suzanne Cory high schools and Fintona Girls’ School.
Schools with a high population of students from first-generation migrant families dominated the list of high achievers.
Dandenong North Primary in Melbourne’s south-east where 70 per cent of pupils are classified as disadvantaged is the only school across the state where students in all year levels made progress.
QUEENSLAND
Some of Queensland’s best results came from state public schools.
Sunnybank Hills State School on Brisbane’s outskirts was ranked the state’s best primary school.
More than quarter of the suburb’s multicultural population are of Chinese background
It was followed by Rainworth State School in Brisbane’s north-west and Brisbane Grammar School.
Rounding out the top five were non-metropolitan surprise inclusions Ormiston College in the Moreton Bay regions and Coolum Beach Christian College on the Sunshine Coast, both outside the top 40 in five-year NAPLAN comparisons.
There were few surprises on the best performing secondary schools led by Queensland Academy for Science Mathematics and Technology in the riverside suburb of Toowong, Brisbane Grammar School and Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School
Whitsunday Anglican School in central Queensland came in a surprise fourth after being ranked 45th in a five-year comparison.
All-girls schools were among Victoria’s best achievers, including Fintona Girls’ School (pictured) which was in the top five for primary and secondary school results
Sunnybank Hills State School in Brisbane was Queensland’s best performing primary school
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
There were also surprising results in South Australia, where several small public schools in regional areas outclassed high-fee charging and high-profile private schools.
Adelaide’s Linden Park Primary School was ranked the best primary school, followed by Dara School, St Peter’s Collegiate Girls’ School and St Andrew’s School.
Owen Primary School in South Australia’s grain-growing mid-north district rounds out the top five.
It outperformed the likes of Anglican School for Girls, Pembroke School, Saint Ignatius’ College and St Peter’s College.
Linden Park Primary School’s main feeder high school Glenunga International was the state’s highest-performing secondary school
TASMANIA
In Tasmania, Princes Street Primary in the prestigious Hobart suburb of Sandy Point was rated the state’s best primary school, with the top five featuring a mix of public and private schools.
Located in the same suburb, all-girls independent institution Fahan School recorded the best secondary results as well as the second-best primary results.
Schools in the prestigious Hobart suburb of Sandy Point were among Tasmania’s best performing schools. Pictured is Princes Street Primary School
NORTHERN TERRITORY
In the Northern Territory, remote and online schools were among the best NAPLAN performers.
Darwin-based Haileybury Rendall School and The Essington School were the best primary school, followed by the Alice Springs Steiner School in the outback.
The Essington School also recorded the best secondary results, followed by Nhulunbuy Christian College and Haileybury Rendall School.
From this year, parents and carers will get earlier, simpler and clearer information about their children’s NAPLAN achievements based on new, more rigorous national standards.
The tests are now online and will be held next month, two months earlier than the traditional testing period, aimed to give teachers more time to focus on students’ strengths and weaknesses.
Sydney Grammar School in inner-city Sydney’s was NSW ‘s best performing primary school