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Every morning at Sandringham College is hushed.
Students walk silently into their classrooms, and for the first five minutes of the school day, there’s no chatting or passing of notes.
The students are not staring at a board or waiting for the teacher to start the class either.
“They walk in and sit down and do a learning activity for three to five minutes in silence,” principal Amy Porter said.
The activity is usually a question about something learnt in class in the previous days, and helps them reflect and understand the lesson, Porter said.
It is also a strategy to help young people focus and prepare for the day ahead. Another is that students of all ages, from Year 7 to 12, have to sit in a particular seat in the classroom.
“This is about minimising distractions and maximising attention,” Porter explained.
The quiet and ordered starts to the day are one of reasons the school attributed an improvement in its median VCE study scores, which were below 30 a decade ago, sat at 30 between 2019 and 2023, and increased to 31 in 2024 and 2025.
The percentage of study scores at Sandringham College of 40 or above have also been trending upwards over the past decade, and it snagged the winner’s spot of The Age’s 2026 Schools that Excel for Melbourne’s south.
One student achieved an ATAR of 99.85 last year, the highest ever mark at the government school. Porter said Sandringham College’s median ATAR increased from 55.6 in 2018 to 77.15 in 2025.
Porter also credited Sandringham College’s shift to explicit instruction as one of the ways it will get the school to reach a median study score of 34.
The method meant teachers introduced concepts and skills that students were taught “step by step”, with clear explanations and demonstrations of what they have to learn.
Explicit instruction is now mandatory in Victorian primary schools, and Sandringham College has also started to roll out the teaching technique, as one of the few secondary schools to do so.
Olivia Grant, an assistant principal and head of teaching and learning at Sandringham, said it was an interactive way of teaching that benefited students and teachers.
“It’s so energising and fun,” she said.
Traditionally, students were expected raise their hands up and be called upon to answer a question, but at Sandringham College teachers pose an open-ended question and select a student at random to answer.
“If I pose the question first, and there’s a culture in my classroom where they know anyone could be asked, the kids have to pay attention, they have to be ‘locked in’, as they say,” she said.
Grant said it ensured everyone thought about an answer, and if a student was unsure or didn’t understand they were not in trouble, but instead got more support.
“You can also immediately see if there are multiple students who didn’t understand, and you can revisit to explain it,” she said.
The method is backed by principal Amy Porter, who said it had also helped push the culture of the school forward to improve expectations on students.
The principal said the school always had “good bones” and the potential to improve, but this concept helped ensure students now know they are expected to perform to the best of their ability.
Maintaining this culture of positive behaviour has come with non-negotiable standards.
Last month, two senior boys at Sandringham College were expelled over misogynistic behaviour, refusing to follow directions and threats directed at female staff.
In an online message shared to the school community, seen by The Age, Porter said the behaviour would not be tolerated at the public school.
While not addressing the expulsions directly, she said there had been “multiple incidents” of concern over a week that were “clearly not in line with our school values”.
It is an attitude that Year 11 student Anastasia Saluni believed had helped improve academic performance at the school.
“It doesn’t matter if someone is a C plus student, as long as we’re doing our best that’s all that matters,” she said.
The 17-year-old said being surrounded by other people who wanted to improve and strive for excellence had a huge impact on the cohort.
“I feel that’s a big thing that has impacted the increase in amazing results from all of us,” she said.
Other students pointed to incentives which motivate them to do their best. When The Age visited, the Year 9 and 10 students would be rewarded with a hot chip lunch if they received the most “green posts”.
A green post is an acknowledgement of good behaviour or showcasing values, such as helping another student.
“That pushes everyone into a friendly competition, but you actually perform better as well,” year 10 student Anya Killick said.
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Caroline Schelle is an education reporter, and joined The Age in 2022. She previously covered courts at AAP.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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