Schools that Excel, 2020 Winner

Trinity Grammar School, Kew has won the 2020 The Age Schools that Excel Award, Eastern Melbourne (non-government). The award is in recognition for having the best growth in VCE results over the past 10 years.

Adrian Farrer, Principal stated that work ethic is the key to success. In announcing the award, Adam Carey – Education Editor, The Age wrote: “Parents tell us that they want their boys to be good people in the world first,” Mr Farrer said. “They want to grow their boys into good men.” Students are expected to throw themselves into all aspects of the school program. Their school day might begin with a dawn rowing session on the Yarra, and end with violin practice at night. “Music is as important as our maths, and footy matters as much as our physics,” Mr Farrer said. It might seem counter-intuitive, but Trinity’s full-on program has also yielded consistent outstanding VCE results over the past decade, leading The Age to award the school its 2020 Schools That Excel non-government school winner for Melbourne’s east.

Last year, it achieved a median study score of 36, its equal best score in a 10-year period in which its median has never dropped below 34. Additionally, 26.1 per cent of its individual study scores were above 40, its second-best performance in 10 years. Mr Farrer said Trinity’s teachers dedicated themselves fully to maintaining such consistently strong results, just as students were expected to. “There’s no magical academic formula that leads you there,” he said. “Work ethic is key.” Melbourne’s leafy east famously has a cluster of high-fee and competitive private schools that stake their reputations on academic excellence.