APPLECROSS Senior High School has come out on top of the annual WA Education Awards.
The school was one of six WA public schools awarded in last week’s ceremony and took home the award for excellence in teaching and learning in a secondary school.
School principal Paul Leech says they were “delighted” to hear their school named as the top public secondary educator in the state.
“It’s an award that’s shared between not just the teaching staff, but also, I think it’s an acknowledgement of the hard work that students do.”
Vice principal Angie Thomas says the school has been on a “tremendous journey” to get to this point.
“It’s been a journey over the last 10 years, but we’ve tried to be really innovative around the quality of teaching and learning programs that the department has implemented over the last two years.”
She says a core factor in the school’s success has been the recent implementation of a new student voice group.
• Applecross senior highschool student captains Leeshani (left) and Nate (right) accept the award for their school. Photo: supplied
“That student voice group sat down and gave us feedback around assessments their teachers were giving and how they might do that better, so that students could progress their own learning even further”
The award comes after a recent review of secondary education pathways, commissioned by the Cook government, recommended more needed to be done to encourage students to choose ATAR pathways.
Mr Leech says Applecross Senior High School’s focus will remain on doing what’s best for the individual student.
“Some of our highest achieving students have decided that they want to do a certificate IV course, rather than doing an ATAR… so, you know, it really comes down to what’s best for each individual student, and we try and encourage them to engage in their pathways as early as possible so that they’ve got a clear idea what they want to do.
“All of our students are going to be doing work experience, work placement, so we try and get them out into the workplace and think about career options and how they might relate to their choice subjects.”
Mr Leech says the school will continue to implement initiatives to improve teaching outcomes.
“It’s always a work in progress… we’d like to progress the student voice, because we’ve only started this year, and it’s been really powerful, I think, for teachers to hear from students and how they believe they can learn best or better. [It’s] giving teachers more information and insight into what they can do to adjust their own teaching.”
Mr Leech says it’s great to see the school’s efforts reflected in the award.
“It’s based on a culture of students wanting to do their personal best and supporting them in achieving.
“That’s probably the distinction I see in our classrooms from the other schools, is that students come ready to learn, and I think parents deserve a fair bit of the congratulations for that, because they’re sending the students to school ready to learn each day and valuing education, which is really important.”
by MACEY TURNER