NOT ANY BETTER, JUST DIFFERENT: PRINCIPAL
FOR THE St Francis Xavier School in Runaway Bay the public and private divide in education is a matter of perspective.
The Catholic school, which recored some of the most improved NAPLAN results on the Gold Coast, says the success is less about practice or privilege and more about values.
Principal Kathy Fuller said the concept of a private education is often misinterpreted.
“We see ourselves as different, not any better, we just provide a different environment,” she said. “We don’t see ourselves as a private school – that always has an element of exclusion about it and is not what we are about.
“We are about providing a real life environment for our children.”
The school has achieved a mean improvement of 3.48 per cent on its 2015 result, one of the greatest for an independent school on the Gold Coast.
For Ms Fuller the success of the school is seen in the involvement of its families and teaching staff.
“Some private schools exclude kids based on academic results so of course their NAPLAN results are going to look good,” she said.
To encourage student achievement further, the school this year introduced a learning growth award.
“The awards are for children who have shown significant learning growth not just at the upper end but in the middle range as well,” Ms Fuller said.
Year
2018
2018
2017
2017
2016
2016
2015
2015
15-18 % Change 15-18 % Change
Year
2018
2018
2017
2017
2016
2016
2015
2015 2015-18 % Change 2015-18 % Change
Grade Year 3 Year 5 Year 3 Year 5 Year 3 Year 5 Year 3 Year 5 Year 3 Year 5
Grade Year 7 Year 9 Year 7 Year 9 Year 7 Year 9 Year 7 Year 9 Year 7 Year 9
Reading Writing 433.8 407.2 509.0 464.6 431.3 413.6 505.7 472.5 425.6 420.7 501.5 475.6 425.5 416.3 498.5 478.1 2.0% -2.2% 2.1% -2.8%
Reading Writing 541.5 505.3 583.8 542.3 544.7 512.9 580.9 552.0 540.8 515.0 580.8 549.1 546.0 510.6 580.2 546.5 -0.8% -1.0% 0.6% -0.8%
Spelling Grammar Numeracy Average 417.8 431.7 407.7 419.6 502.5 503.6 494.2 494.8 416.1 439.2 409.4 421.9 500.8 499.3 493.8 494.4 419.8 435.8 402.0 420.8 492.9 504.9 493.1 493.6 408.8 433.2 397.8 416.3 498.1 503.1 492.5 494.1 2.2% -0.3% 2.5% 0.8% 0.9% 0.1% 0.3% 0.1%
Spelling Grammar Numeracy Average 545.2 543.9 548.2 536.8 583.3 580.1 595.6 577.0 549.5 541.5 553.9 540.5 581.4 573.6 591.9 576.0 542.9 540.0 549.7 537.7 580.3 569.3 588.9 573.7 546.7 541.3 542.5 537.4 583.2 567.9 591.7 573.9 -0.3% 0.5% 1.1% -0.1% 0.0% 2.1% 0.7% 0.5%
AUSTRALIA AVERAGE - HIGH SCHOOL