Willetton and Rossmoyne Senior High Schools have continued their remarkable success when it comes to the results of their Year 12 students, with their class of 2021 students ranking the schools 11th and 12th in the State respectively.
They were the highest-ranking public schools behind the academically-selective Perth Modern School, who topped the leader board once again with a median Australian Tertiary Admission score of 96.45.
Willetton students combined for a median score of 88.75, Rossmoyne students with 88.65.
The School Curriculum and Standards Authority has compiled a league table of the top 50 schools for the last 15 years but has decided to no longer release the statistics.
It’s a move that Willetton Senior High school principal Trevor Hunter, despite the pride he has in his students’ achievements, agrees with.
“The release of ATAR scores to create a league table is fundamentally flawed,” he said.
“You are comparing so many schools in so many different situations that really the value of them is minimal.
“I don’t place much value on the league tables at all.”
He said for Willetton, given their 300 ATAR students out of a graduating class of just over 400 students, the results were a reflection of the hard work, particularly in these COVID-interrupted times.
“In a school like Willetton, where such a large proportion of out students are ATAR students, the median ATAR is a good indicator of how the school and its large number of students in year 12 have fared over the year.
“We do have outstanding students who scored the 99.95 and we had three of those last year, this year our median score is up over last year but we didn’t have any students that achieved that perfect score this year.
“The median ATAR score we’ve got is a reflection of the hard work that all of the students and the staff and families have put in over the year.
“To give you an idea, within those subjects where the school rates within the top 15 per cent of students, within ATAR subjects, at Willetton we achieved that within 12 of our subjects.
“That gives you an idea that this is an achievement by a large number of students and families across a large number of students.
“What a number of people have forgotten about year 12s from last year is that COVID has really been a cloud over their head for two years.
“It’s a huge distraction.
“The year 12s from 2020, and they were an outstanding bunch of students who also had a good year, but COVID really kicked in for them at the beginning of their year 12 year.
“For all the students across the State, the class of 2021 had to deal with COVID across their two vital secondary years of school.
“So it’s a great testament to them for their resilience, their hard work really. “
