Busselton school in top 50 ranks

Busselton’s St Mary MacKillop College has been named in the top 50 schools Statewide for academic achievement based on the exam results of its Year 12 students.

The school was one of six rural schools who made the list, three of which were in the South West, and came in at 29th.

Margaret River Senior High School was named the highest-ranking rural school, coming in 18th.

St Mary MacKillop College was also among just 16 across WA to achieve 100 per cent graduation.

Principal Chris Wallace said a strong focus on getting to know students and monitoring their performance, an investment in the skills and leadership of staff and pastoral support had contributed to the positive results.

“We know that teachers have the greatest impact on student learning at school, so we have dedicated time, energy and resources to strengthening the quality of teaching, expectation for student achievement, and student and staff relationships,” he said.

Busselton Senior High School, Cape Naturaliste College, Cornerstone Christian College and Georgiana Molloy Anglican School also received 100 per cent completion rate in Vocational Education Training, with 73. Busselton schools also picked up a number of awards by having the highest-performing students in Year 12 ATAR courses.

St Mary MacKillop College was in the top schools for chemistry, mathematics applications and methods and physics, which was based on the percentage of students at each school who had Year 12 ATAR course combined scores in the top 15 per cent of all students in that course.

Cornerstone Christian College also had top-performing students in human biology and outdoor education, while Cape Naturaliste College was named in the top schools for media production and analysis.