Applecross Senior High School led the way at 33rd (55th in 2014) with Leeming Senior High School 47th (97th in 2014) and Melville Senior High School 61st (91st in 2014).
The Better Education rankings list all WA high schools based on the percentage of stage three course enrolments in the school where a WACE score of 75 or above was achieved.
Melville Senior High School also added four members to the exclusive 99 Club – Year 12 students who achieved ATARs of 99 or above – with Applecross laying claim to two and Leeming also adding one, General Exhibition winner Amy James.
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READ NOWMelville principal Phillip White said he was pleased with the results but stressed that the Better Education rankings were just one of a host of means used to measure performance.
“Melville SHS has been trending up in all of the benchmarks associated with NAPLAN, WACE and ATAR over the past five years and I’m delighted we can now be seen as a top 12 NAPLAN and a top 15 ATAR public school,” he said.
“With the wonderful students, their supportive parents and the caring staff that we have at Melville we could well be a top 10 government school and I won’t rest until we are regularly achieving this ranking across all measures of academic performance.”
Applecross principal Paul Leech attributed the school’s performance in part to the recent completion of a big building and refurbishment plan.
“Our facilities are now world class and the school community is determined to capitalise on them and we’re committed to a process of constant self-assessment and improvement,” he said.
“We also have fantastic teachers who really care about seeing the students do well and go the extra mile to support them.”
After Leeming climbed from the 103rd ranked high school in 2013 to the 47th last year, principal Brendon Wallwork said the improvement was testament to hard work and collaboration between parents, students and staff.
“As a school we monitor and support students closely. We also run subject revision classes and specialist programs on dealing with stress, exam techniques and how to study,” he said.