WA’s top schools: Christ Church Grammar named top school for mathematics with two public schools in top five

When it comes to numbers, exclusive boys’ school Christ Church Grammar has produced a perfect score for Year 12 maths achievement. Students from the Claremont school have been among the best in the State in each of the three ATAR maths subjects — mathematics applications, mathematics methods and mathematics specialist — every year since the courses were first offered in 2016. With 21 mentions across seven years, Christ Church Grammar School leads The West’s list of top 20 schools based on their students’ performance in maths. Another private boys’ college, Hale School, ranks equal second alongside public selective school Perth Modern with 18 mentions, followed by Shenton College, also a public school, on 17. But girls’ schools have also proved their prowess in maths, with St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School, Methodist Ladies’ College, Perth College, Presbyterian Ladies’ College, St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls and Penrhos College all featuring in the first 20. While most of the top maths schools are based in wealthier parts of Perth, country school Margaret River Senior High and hills establishment Helena College also made the list. Christ Church deputy principal and director of studies Mahendra Vaswani credits the school’s strong maths record to making sure all students have access to experienced teachers. “We’re blessed with some of the best teachers in the business who know their content, understand the boys, know how boys learn and are able to motivate the boys to do their best,” he said. Mr Vaswani said maths was a popular subject at the college, with every boy encouraged to study at least one maths subject in Years 11 and 12. Recognising that maths understanding is built incrementally, he said “everything is scoped and sequenced to the Nth degree” from Year 3 onwards. “One of the things we’re very conscious of with some of our best and brightest teachers — is not just locking them away in Year 12 specialist — but also teaching Year 7 and Year 9 maths to make sure our boys are getting the best treatment in maths. “We also have a maths specialist in our primary school who works with boys all the way through.”

WA’s top schools: Christ Church Grammar named top school for mathematics with two public schools in top five

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