Sebastopol Primary School has been named in Australia’s 50 most improved primary schools, based on its 2015 Naplan results.
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Sebastopol Primary School principal Michelle Wilson said the school came in at number 37 from 6000 primary schools Australia wide.
“It reflects a real improvement in learning culture at Sebastopol Primary School,” Ms Wilson said.
She said it was also the result of strong professional development, collaborative teamwork between Sebastopol teachers and colleagues within the Ballarat network, and a focus on effective literacy and numeracy strategies.
The list was drawn up by comparing year three Naplan results from 2013 with year five scores from 2015.
“It’s about making sure every child has learning growth. Relationships are important too. When we enrol a child, we also enrol a family.
“There is no child in year three below the minimum standard. That’s the goal of any school – to have one year of growth in one year of learning and many children here are doing far more than that.”
Ms Wilson also paid credit to the staff and former principal Donna Bishop, who she succeeded only six months ago.
The school celebrated with an assembly, where past teachers were invited, and each class made a Tree of Knowledge, complete with individual fingerprints.
Based on its 2015 Naplan results, Ballarat Clarendon College also ranked the number one country school in Australia for the fifth year in a row.
Principal David Shepherd said the result was “gratifying recognition of the hard, smart work of our students, staff and parents”.
“Of course, this recognition is not the reason for our work; the focus of our work, our reason for being, is the growth and achievement of every student,” Mr Shepherd said.
“It is, nonetheless, rewarding to receive this sort of acclaim.
“… and perhaps, what is most exciting, is that we have so much scope to do even better.”