Narre Warren South P12 College’s VCE success is turning heads in education circles. Catherine Watson reports.IT'S a day since Yousuf Karimi found out he’s been accepted to study architecture at RMIT University and he still cannot stop smiling.
‘‘Unbelievable!’’ he says. ‘‘I was so nervous. When I saw I was accepted I was just very happy and excited.’’
Ever since he arrived in Australia from Afghanistan — after three years in Pakistan waiting for a visa — it has been his dream to study architecture, but in 2010, when he started at Narre Warren South P12 College, his chances seemed remote.
His English wasn’t good and his schooling in Afghanistan had been basic. ‘‘We didn’t have that much money for books and pencils. We didn’t have chairs and tables. We just sat on the floor.
‘‘When I finished here I said, ‘Thank God I studied at this school!’ This is a school I love. They helped us a lot, especially students from Afghanistan. Always when you asked for help they gave it to you.
‘‘Even when class was finished we could stay here. We could use the computers for our research. Every day I stayed here until after 6pm. They supported and helped us. I never, ever forget this!’’
Yousuf is part of the college’s extraordinary success story. By most measures, Narre Warren South P12 College is a school for battlers. One of the most socially and economically disadvantaged schools in the state, it has about 60 different cultural groups, including the biggest Afghan student population in Australia. More than 40 per cent of the 1900 students speak a language other than English at home.
So the college’s results in last year’s VCE exams have baffled many. The school recorded a 100 per cent pass rate in VCE, with a median study score of 31, making it the 36th-highest-performing government school in the state.
To put that in context, other schools that achieved a 31 per cent median include Kew High School, Beaconhills College in Berwick, St Bede’s College in Mentone and Marcellin College in Bulleen.
Assistant principal Rob Duncan, who is responsible for the senior school, takes pleasure in the comparison. ‘‘We have a real commitment to ensure that our kids had the same opportunities as kids from the wealthier areas.’’
The college also topped the state in the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning, the vocational alternative to VCE, with a 100 per cent pass rate, but that wasn’t so surprising — it has long been the state’s pin-up school in VCAL, with 10 major awards for teachers and students in the past five years.
It’s the steady improvement in VCE results that is turning heads in the world of education. In 2007, the college had a median VCE score of 24 (about what could be expected for a school of its demographics), low school morale and a high turnover of teachers.
‘‘It’s taken a lot of hard work by a lot of people — teachers and students — to drag the results up,’’ Mr Duncan says.
New principal Rob Casamento, who arrived at the school in 2008, established a vision for the school. He set performance targets for both students and teachers. He also set out to recruit high-achieving teachers who shared the school’s commitment.
‘‘We have high expectations for our teachers and we set targets,’’ Mr Duncan says. ‘‘We visit each classroom twice a year to ensure teachers are performing at the level we expect. We also meet regularly with the teachers to talk about the students and I interview each of the teachers across the year to make sure no one is falling through the cracks.
‘‘Our expectation is that every student will strive for their best. We have very high expectations of the kids. We don’t allow them to slack off and take it easy. We constantly remind them that by putting in the effort now they can set themselves up for life in a career they will enjoy.
‘‘We feel that way about all our kids, whether they go on to be brickies, nurses, architects or mechanics. A kid getting an apprenticeship is just as good as a kid getting into the university course of their choice. Of course, it’s just the beginning but we can send them off knowing they have every chance to succeed. ’’
He says this year’s VCE result was helped by a particularly talented group of students in year 12. ‘‘They lost a couple of their friends in a car accident. It was a tragedy but I think it really galvanised them and brought them together as a tight, cohesive group.’’
With so much emphasis on the quality of the teaching at Narre Warren South, you might expect the teachers to be driven by some sort of financial reward but this is not the case.
‘‘The reward for our teachers is working in a school that enables them to give their students the opportunities that kids in more affluent areas get. Many of our teachers could get jobs in much easier schools but they know what they do here is making a difference.’’
He indicates Yousuf. ‘‘This is the best performance pay you can get — to see a young man like this who has come from a very difficult background and who’s achieved his life’s ambition. That’s the ultimate reward for a teacher.’’
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