Hello there, Wentyl!

Why are so many high-performing public primary schools located in wealthy areas? 

It’s a question we’ve discussed at length this week amid the release of our Top 100 Public Primary Schools lists.

You might think state primary schools, many of which have annual fees of less than $600, should have relatively similar results across the country, regardless of location.

And yet, our list, which is based on year 3 and 5 NAPLAN results, student-staff ratios and attendance rates (a key indicator of student engagement), clearly shows the top state primary schools are concentrated in high-income leafy suburbs near the centres of our major cities. 

Part of this is because our lists also take into account the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage of each school – the ICSEA – which reflects the educational background of a school’s parent body. It has a relatively minor weighting in our formula, but parental education level is strongly correlated with child educational attainment. The more educated the parents, the higher the educational results of the whole school.

St Ives North Public School principal Christine Taylor, whose Sydney north shore school was ranked fourth in the nation, says it’s crucial to “maximise every minute” in primary school and make time for fun as well as learning. Picture: Tim Hunter

Kids at these schools are not more brainy, but they are encouraged to learn and expected to do well by their parents. This creates a school environment where learning is prioritised. It’s known as “the lift” – the boost a good school can bring to even kids from disadvantaged families.

Identifying such schools can help parents work out where to send their kids, but also where to buy a house. For some, the answer may be a smaller, more affordable house in an attractive school zone. 

Also this week we’ve had a great range of interesting stories, including a school’s impressive turnaround after adopting a radical behaviour curriculum, the comic genius of a seriously silly tradie dad, a global cyber hack targeting Aussie students’ data, and a major government policy shift on childcare following our recent coverage of spiralling problems in the sector.

Have a wonderful week and let us know what you think of any of these issues at education@news.com.au.