SCHOOLS IN TOP ORDER
THERE has been a shake-up in the top 10 performing schools in Townsville this year, but an analysis of OP data has revealed three standout stars.
The full 2018 Year 12 results of more than 500 Queensland schools were unveiled on the weekend by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, including how many of their students achieved the top OP bracket of between 1 and 5.
The Townsville Bulletin has compared data from 2008 to the most recent Year 12 Outcomes Report and found three schools in particular had made massive gains in the rankings.
Calvary Christian College in Mount Louisa, Ignatius Park College in Cranbrook and Ingham State High School have bounded up into the top 10 best performers.
Ingham State High School this year snuck into the top 10 of Townsville’s best-performing high schools, from being close to the bottom of the list in 2008.
Principal Judith Fenoglio said the school didn’t have any “additional bolt-on programs, tricks or bells and whistles”, besides emphasising critical and creative thinking skills.
“One of the things that I’m celebrating is that students in a rural location in a state secondary school can achieve and can achieve well,” she said.
“There is a myth out there that you need to be in a big city centre in a big high school to do well, and we just prove you don’t.
“I have a phrase — country kids count — and they very much can hold their own in not only the local scene, but the state, national and global scene.”
Calvary Christian College moved from being 238th in the state rankings to 90th, coming second in the Townsville region behind Townsville Grammar.
Principal Steve Downes said the school’s “silver bullet” was the strong relationship between the students, the school and family.
“We are very upfront about the fact that we never say that we are better than other schools, we say that we are different, and that fundamental difference is that we are a Christian school,” he said.
“I think families are realising that some of those values are really important in the development of young people.”
Ignatius Park College more than doubled the number of students it had scoring within the highest OP band, from 9.8 per cent in 2008 to 20.4 per cent in the latest figures.
This year’s Year 12 students will be the last Queenslanders to receive an OP ranking, as the ATAR system comes into effect across the state.