Once the early years of education have been completed, the real fun starts. Finding the right school for their adolescent years can be a task and a half. You’ll question whether they have the right facilities to nurture your child’s interests – think high-end music studios for those children who are musically inclined, or an information technology hub great enough to inspire their inner code-creator. What support will my children have to get through high school? There are so many things to consider when deciding where your child will graduate into the big wide world.
We’ve compiled a list of our favourite south Melbourne schools with their average ISCEA scores to help you out.
What is ICSEA?
ICSEA is the “Index of Community Socio-educational Advantage”.
The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority collects students’ family background data and their NAPLAN results and comes up with an ICSEA ranking.
Rankings have a median of 1000, with ranking trends showing a score of around 500 belonging to the extremely educationally disadvantaged, and a score of around 1300 belonging to the more advantaged.
Hampton Park Secondary College
(58-96 Fordholm Rd, Hampton Park VIC 3976 – image taken from colleges website)
- Government, coeducational school
- Currently has approximately 1,200 students enrolled
- The uniform is compulsory and enforced
- ICSEA of 961
Founded in 1986, Hampton Park Secondary College provides a safe learning environment for students years 7-12 in what they call a “vertical learning approach” where students are encouraged to learn with peers of the same passions and learning needs, rather than just by age.
With electives including robotics class, “planet earth” and rugby academy, there is something for every student to explore. They also have co-curricular classes such as debating, music and sport to test their knowledge and skill.
Parents have taken to the internet to share their thoughts on Hampton Park Secondary College. With positive reviews such as it being an “…amazing school with supportive teachers that help me every step of the way in class, and you get to choose the subjects you like and want to do in year 8” and the confirmation that the school is “a very safe and stable community”, there’s no wonder this is such a popular school.
There are less attractive reviews stating they’ve had “very bad experiences” with some of the staff or that the administration staff at the school are “very rude” but they are few and far between, almost being overshadowed by the glowing positivity that the school’s reputation exudes.
South Oakleigh Secondary College
(Bakers Rd, Oakleigh South VIC 3167 – Image taken from school website)
- Government, coeducational school
- Smaller cohort with only 453 students enrolled in 2022
- The uniform is compulsory and enforced
- ICSEA of 1005
Oakleigh South Secondary College has a mission to provide all students with diverse and challenging experiences with the support required to excel. These experiences will instil a sense of belonging and worth in the students and help them exceed.
The college aims to provide students in their care with an opportunity to take part in a range of activities from a student leadership program to science enrichment programs and even an international NASA program. These co-curricular activities are designed to challenge the minds of students and fuel their desire to learn at a greater level and prepare them for the future.
Oakleigh South Secondary College is proud of its colours and its uniform, sometimes to a detriment. Parents have commented through the way of reviews that their students have been sent home from school for having the wrong shoes and that their “…uniform seems to be more important than [their] safety and education.”
Where other parents can’t help but boast about the school, one review even mentions that this school has “..a strong student voice; Very impressed with the Principal class of three. A school to watch into the future as it can only get better.”
Bentleigh Secondary College
(4 Vivien St, Bentleigh East VIC 3165 – Image taken from schools website)
- Government, coeducational school
- Roughly 900 students enrolled in 2022
- The uniform is compulsory and enforced
- ICSEA of 1059
Opening in 1956, this massive school (covering 6.5 hectares!) has 2 sub-schools, junior 7-9 and senior 10-12 with their own respective faculty heads. Dividing the two cohorts means there is an individualised focus from staff for their early high school years, and then again in their years through VCE and VCAL.
Bentleigh Secondary College strongly promotes student leadership through its leadership program and through activities such as its music, visual arts and drama programs, they also host school camps and debutante balls for students.
The school also offers a student exchange program with its sister school Yamada Senior High School, Osaka Japan this gives students the opportunity to explore different cultures and make global connections which could help them in their futures.
Bentleigh Secondary College doesn’t seem to have a great reputation amongst some parents with it being said they “only care about superficial things” and their blatant “favouritism when casting the school musical”, however, most parents seem to love this college.
One parent said their son was given “many opportunities that he might not have offered at a larger school” and continued to say “His teachers are professional and knowledgeable (he has no complaints) and he is happy to go to school every day”
Ashwood High School
(50 Vannam Dr, Ashwood VIC 3147 – Image taken from schools website)
- Government, coeducational school
- 715 students enrolled in 2022
- The uniform is compulsory and enforced
- ICSEA of 1042
Ashwood High School is a government school that opened in 1958 with state-of-the-art facilities to support their student’s learning while overlooking the beautiful neighbouring wetlands.
Looking to educate their students to be critically aware, confident and independent learners for life, Ashwood High School asks for high self-expectation, and optimism, and for students to show respect to teachers, the school and themselves as they navigate their way through their academia. Debating and public speaking competitions, music performance evenings and national competitions in maths, English, science and technology are just some of the co-curricular activities offered by Ashwood to enhance their learning experience.
Their ACE program (Accelerated Curriculum and Enrichment) is designed to meet the needs of the highly motivated and high-performing students of the Ashwood school community. The test to enter the program is $90 and students need to be offered a position in order to partake.
Ashwood parents seem to be very happy with their experiences with the school with the worst of its reviews centring around uniform expectations and the fact that the principal “demolished a community garden” and nothing to do with academics. The positives, however, glow with high regard for the “amazing teachers and mentors” and one parent saying that the move from another school was so smooth because “they helped them to adjust in a totally different environment.”
Choosing where your child/ren goes for their final years of study can set them up for life, can help them get into the best universities and get the best start in the big wide world, however, your child will only get out of their education what they put in – it’s not solely about the school they go to.
