WOORINEN District Primary School and Wycheproof P-12 College are top of the marks.
Both schools have been recognised in The Better Education analysis of 2020 VCE and other academic outcomes.
The independently run website provides informative and comparative school results, including school rankings or ratings and lists of best performing schools.
Wycheproof was a top-performing school with the broadest socio-economic mix of students, and Woorinen for the top-performing primary schools with the broadest socio-economic mix of students.
Wycheproof P-12 College school principal Christine McKersie said the results showed that the school was running great programs.
“We know that our students listen to their teachers and take on the feedback, so we can get good results,” she told The Guardian.
“It was good after 2020 to see that the students and the programs reflected that we’re still doing good things.
“We had good outcomes in a year that wasn’t particularly easy.”
One particular student Ms McKersie said excelled in their Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) results last year, among other students, was Andrew Mens.
The school captain received an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of 96.65.
The ATAR is a score calculated by the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre, used for entry into tertiary institutions.
Of the subjects he studied, he received study scores in the 40s for three subjects, and 38 in the remaining two.
The highest study score a student can receive in any subject is 50.
Ms McKersie said one of the programs that the school organised for students was online revision lectures.
“The government has given us extra funding – small rural schools have access to funding that help with revision lectures,” she said.
“That’s handy and we can put a lot of our students onto online revision lessons during the year.
“These are done through private companies that hire some of the best teachers and experts in certain fields.”
Ms McKersie said she also believed that the school offered great music and sport programs, that were other focuses aside from the academics.
“They’re the mental health boosters keeping students on track,” she said.
“It lets them blow off some steam, and feel good about themselves and mentally, which allows them to focus on their academic work.”
At Woorinen District Primary School, school principal Kristie Bennett said the students were excited to hear the news.
“We’re not surprised with the results,” Ms Bennett said.
“I think the students and teachers have done a great job, even during remote learning.
“We have good programs, and our testing showed didn’t go back at all during remote learning.
“We’re very proud of the programs that we run here.”
Ms Bennett said with the programs in place, the school has been a high performing school in National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) for two to three years in a row.
“It’s nice to know that’ it’s not just a one off. It was good to have a little school like Woorinen, along with metropolitan schools,” she said.
Ms Bennett said the school students were excited and, upon returning to the school grounds following remote learning, held a morning tea to celebrate.
