Deep Almanac

Victorian government schools with a special focus

227 of 1,575 Victorian government schools teach something particular. The rest are not listed here.

Most of these are here because of what the school wrote about itself. Every Victorian government school writes an About Our School section in its Annual Report, and while most describe the ordinary business of a school, some name a language taught across the curriculum, a selective stream, a deaf facility or an academy. Those sentences are quoted unchanged.

Three groups are not read from the prose, because schools rarely state the obvious about themselves: specialist and English language schools come from the Department's register, and girls’ and boys’ schools from their enrolment counts. Schools in those groups show a sentence only where their report happens to offer one.

This is a list, not a ranking. A bilingual program is not better or worse than a sports academy; it is simply what a particular family may be looking for. How these schools perform is on the secondary and primary tables.

Bilingual programs (15)

Schools teaching part of the curriculum in another language. Most are in the Department's Designated Bilingual Program, which funds 30-50% of the week in the target language and runs in primary schools only; the rest teach bilingually outside it, including the secondary schools where a bilingual primary education can be continued.

Selective entry schools (7)

The Department's High Ability schools, which take students by competitive examination. A designation, not something read off the school's own wording.

Accelerated learning programs (22)

Ordinary schools running a select entry or accelerated stream, such as SEAL, from their own reports. Unlike the schools above, the school itself is open to everyone.

International Baccalaureate (31)

Accredited IB World Schools.

Steiner and Montessori (7)

Schools teaching to a named alternative pedagogy.

Community schools (6)

Small-setting government schools, designated by the Department as a positive choice for students who do better outside a large mainstream school.

Vocational schools (1)

Designated schools built around applied learning in Years 10 to 12, aimed at the world of work.

Specialist schools: autism (9)

Specialist schools for students on the autism spectrum.

Specialist schools: deaf and hard of hearing (3)

Specialist schools for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Specialist schools: physical disability (4)

Specialist schools for students with physical disability.

Specialist schools: intellectual disability, mild (15)

Specialist schools for students with a mild intellectual disability.

Specialist schools: intellectual disability, mild to profound (32)

Specialist schools covering the full range of intellectual disability.

Specialist schools: intellectual disability, moderate to profound (21)

Specialist schools for students with moderate to profound intellectual disability, including the special developmental schools.

Other specialist schools (2)

Specialist schools in the register that the Department's designated purpose list does not place in one of the groups above.

Deaf facilities and specialist inclusion (14)

Mainstream schools hosting a deaf facility or another specialist inclusion setting.

English language schools (5)

Government schools where students newly arrived in Australia learn English, usually for their first 12 to 18 months, before moving on to a mainstream school.

Virtual School Victoria (1)

Teaches students who cannot attend a mainstream school, from Foundation to Year 12.

Girls' schools (6)

Government schools enrolling girls only, from their enrolment counts.

Boys' schools (1)

Government schools enrolling boys only, from their enrolment counts.

Sport and arts academies (23)

Schools with a named academy or centre of excellence.

One of a kind (29)

Schools whose report claims something no or almost no other school does.

Deep Almanac is a secondary source and this page is provided for general information and reference. It is not financial, investment, legal, valuation, educational or other professional advice, and it is not a substitute for checking the original source. Measures are the Department of Education's own published figures, taken from each school's most recent Annual Report, so a school's numbers are only as current as its last report; the Department suppresses a value when a cohort is too small to publish, and a single year can move sharply at a small school. You are responsible for any decision you or your software makes in reliance on this page. See our terms of use.