Little is big where it really matters

By Mara Pattison-Sowden
THE Little Yarra Steiner School has been placed in the lowest rankings across the state, according to their VCE results – despite the fact students complete an ungraded VCE.
In a ranking of Victoria’s schools according to region and median study scores, Little Yarra Steiner School students sat well below the inner and eastern suburban schools who had 49 of the top 100 schools.
Upper Yarra Secondary College and Healesville High School also sat in the bottom 50 scores, which begs the question of why regional schools do not perform as well as inner city schools.
The numbers game means little for teachers at the Little Yarra Steiner School though, who see their students’ enthusiasm for learning and preparations for life in general as a higher indicator of success.
Upper school co-ordinator at Little Yarra Steiner School, Lisa Branch, said the students do their VCE ungraded, the same as every other student in the state minus exams, as well as a main program where they continue general studies.
“When students choose their VCE subjects they can opt out of many subjects, even maths, but our students do those all the way through, giving them a good grounded knowledge,” she said.
Ms Branch said if anything, Steiner School students were more prepared for tertiary life than students from other schools.
She recently caught up with her Year 12 class from several years ago and listened to the students talk about their courses in social work, interior design and landscaping.
“They were all getting distinctions and high distinctions and were all really happy,” Ms Branch said.
“The following week I went to a teacher training session and the talk around the table was how the students weren’t able to work independently.
“To me that was a clear indicator that what we’re doing is working.”
Ms Branch said in terms of the bigger picture, ENTER scores were an easy way for tertiary places to choose students, “but it is hard to quantify outcomes.”
“I can’t see why they do it, but we want to offer the students more than what they get out of the exam experience,” she said.
“Tertiary places often say they wish some of their first year students would come in with as much life experience as our students have.”
Education Minister Martin Dixon said the Coalition Government was committed to improving student outcomes across the state and to support government schools in all areas.
“We will reduce red tape and the administrative burden in schools, freeing up teachers to teach and principals to be educational leaders and provide professional support for teachers, reward high-performance and provide incentives to employ teachers at hard-to-staff and struggling schools,” he said.
The Coalition will also look at a range of other initiatives that will support schools to improve their performance, such as measures to improve school discipline, broader educational options for disengaged students, support for better curriculum options within schools, including specialisation, and further investment in child welfare.
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