Penrith High leaps up rankings with focus on English
“We constantly reinforce with our students that the HSC is a marathon, it is not a sprint,” he said.
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Students had a Google Drive where they shared their best work so others could see it.
“One of the expectations was that if they got a perfect score on a question, you would share that with everyone in that group. They talked about that being the key to their success,” Cush said.
ReporterHSC ranking data is based on the proportion of students enrolled in HSC subjects who achieved 90 per cent marks or above. It does not take into account schools offering the International Baccalaureate, which has the potential to skew HSC performance.
Analysis of the top 150 schools shows Wollemi College, a private school near Penrith in the city’s west, made the biggest jump, jumping 138 places to 139th.
The small school’s result was driven by strong advanced scores in mathematics, while almost a quarter of its students enrolled in biology achieved more than 90 per cent.
Georges River Grammar in Sydney’s southwest jumped 114 places this year to 85th.
He has more than doubled the number of band 6 results he achieved in 2024 and has improved year on year since he was almost ranked 300th a few years ago.
“We were seeing our results drop; we wanted to see that reversed,” Principal Ben Haeusler said.
This turnaround was helped by Haeusler talking to staff about how students could achieve academic excellence without compromising mental health, the school’s traditional strength.
Georges River Grammar School students, from left, Natasha Nguyen, Phoebe Fuary, Sol Martinez, Camryn Harland, Lucas Ng and Kaylee Foss.Credit: Dean Sewell
“For us, it was about developing a new academic culture. It was a belief that our kids could do great things,” he said.
“Our teachers have high academic expectations and, given the right support, students consistently rise to meet these expectations.
“We have also developed a collaborative culture where students learn together, celebrate each other’s successes, and are supported by strong peer and staff relationships.”
This year’s top subjects were mathematics extension 2, English extension 1, drama, visual arts, business studies, ancient history and economics.
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Asquith Girls’ High School in Sydney’s north jumped 60 places. The public school will cease to exist after the government ordered it to be merged with the corresponding boys’ school, despite opposition from parents.
Private schools Newington, St Andrew’s Cathedral School, Mercy Catholic College and Trinity Grammar also rose more than 50 places in the rankings.
Newington principal Michael Parker said mentors and senior staff helped students set study goals and encouraged them to take additional courses, with results taking years to prepare.
“A really critical factor was that students were sharing resources and working collaboratively rather than competitively all year long and especially in the last months,” he said.
Outside the top 150, other strong academic performers this year included St Peter’s Anglican College in Broulee on the NSW South Coast. The college jumped almost 300 places to 160th.
Alexandria Park Community School, a partially selective school in Sydney, rose to 191st from 464th last year, while public Glenwood High School in the city’s northwest rose 134 places to 166th.
