Highvale Secondary College

I am joining highvale this year looks like a great school it is from what I have seen when I was first there was a horrible smell but it has changed since 2022 and it smelled way better at the end of 2023 so thanks for the great intro to the school starting tomorrow on the 30th of January so hope you have great luck

Emailed and emailed many times, but there was no response. This school will tell you not to worry about ATAR and prefer students to do 6 months of TAFE, then University, sadly.

The teachers are 50/50.but the rest is just terrible.the students are some of the nastiest people i have ever met and the teachers care more about uniform than student wellbeing

The teachers are bullies (genuine bullies, they made fun of students and had clear favourites) and didn't care about the students whatsoever; I had one too many experiences of a teacher not showing up to class at all or being 20 minutes late for a 60 minute lesson.
There were maybe 3 teachers out of all the ones there that genuinely helped me learn and wanted me to learn. I'm so thankful for those teachers because the rest of them just made us write out chapters of the textbook.

The school itself, though I graduated a few years ago and haven't been back since it was renovated, was disgusting. It was filthy, the facilities were always broken and in the entire time I was going to that school they were never fixed. I hope they've fixed these issues within the renovations. I suggest if you're thinking of going here and you're going to go on the school tour during school hours, ask the students what they think about the school. You'll get a more honest response as to how the school actually is on a day to day basis and not the fake one that's set up for the tour.

This school is great! Most of teachers genuinely care about you and help you, the facilities are ok but honestly it's a great high school especially over Wesley college which is nearby.

Spent six years here as a student. Highvale is a solid choice for a local high school.

Year 7: A well-rounded foundational course was provided in the arts, humanities, sciences, technologies, and sports. Those who crave some seasoned perspective would enjoy this year. The teachers displayed sufficient emotional intelligence for this age group and put in a reasonable amount of effort to make the lessons engaging.

Years 8-9: The academic progression was at a suitable pace for the average intellect, and students usually had time to complete assignments in class. New students assimilated well into the cohort. Student behaviour dipped slightly after the innocent Year 7 stage but bullying remained rare. A strong work ethic was praised but not necessarily emphasised.

Year 10: The quality of the remote lessons during the COVID-19 lockdowns was highly variable and dependent on each teacher’s ability to connect to the students both technologically and emotionally. Student well-being services were advertised and accessible. Most uncomfortable classrooms were eliminated after the school-wide renovations.

Year 11: The VCE 1/2 Units were taught wholeheartedly with the occasional inclusion of extension activities. Some teachers required notes to be taken down from the whiteboard by the student, while others supplied them entirely as paper handouts. A solid background was certainly achievable given the student’s effort.

Year 12: The VCE 3/4 Units were taught with a headstrong focus on the final exams and nothing else (i.e. Extrinsic motivation), which diminished the love of wisdom cultivated in previous years. The content of the study designs was covered professionally; however, extension topics were non-existent in class and the teachers were noticeably inadequate when challenged with questions that dived deeper than the level required by the study design. Events for Year 12s were organised at a healthy frequency but otherwise, student morale was mediocre during the average week.

English: The choice of novels did not appear to have been voted on by the student body. Textbooks were rarely used and the teaching approach was certainly more holistic than analytic. Outside of EAL, native fluency in English is assumed and explicit techniques for reaching a C2 CEFR level were seldom applied.

Mathematics: The programme was excellent, catering to the ability of the student by using different course pathways. Deeper coverage of axioms, theorems, and proof writing should be implemented for a stronger mathematical foundation that would utilise otherwise untapped brain power at the high school stage of adolescent development.

PE: The staff were paid generously for playing games with kids all day, along with teaching the occasional theory unit on different aspects of healthy living. Motor skills and sports were taught although the theory behind them was covered neither scientifically nor culturally in Years 7-10. Inter- and intraschool sporting opportunities were ample.

Music: Highvale was magnificent in this respect. Along with on-site private tuition, there were ensemble opportunities for all instruments and around four concerts were held every year. Music theory and composition were taught although not particularly systematically.

LOTE (French) : The classes were taught in English. It is said that Mormon missionaries are taught from scratch to fluency in a foreign language in just nine weeks. Highvale on the other hand prioritised entertainment over efficiency, the latter being about three times lower than even that of Duolingo. A rigorous treatment of the grammar and function words was lacking and the speaking opportunities were infrequent. In the two compulsory years of LOTE classes, one could hardly expect to progress beyond the A1 CEFR level from class materials alone.

Note: Highvale is not actually located in a valley at high elevation, which is disappointing; though as suggested by maps, there are scenic views of trees, grass, noisy miners, and bin chickens along Cool Rd, which apparently runs through the school.

I use to go to this school and highly recommend not going here, the education is horrible as the teachers are not paying attention, and
my peers were horrible and racist. The only good thing about the school was the facilities that it provides that is why I gave it two stars instead of one

All I have to say is:
Some teachers are quite rude. Not naming since I could get bashed up- (Most people don't say anything about mean teachers) Please talk to the teachers, and maybe some of the CRT's. The portables are quite cold. Even if you put on the heaters. One of the last problems is the students. Some are bullies, some steal peoples locks or try to find out your locker code. Most people are quite nice.
Some positives are:
The education part is good. Sometimes they might make the tasks fun for us, or make it hard. Either way, It is fun. The school's yard Is quite big. The oval is a nice place to hang out. It can also get a bit trashed at times, but people do respect the school and do put their rubbish in the bin. The canteen food is exceptional. Other than the rude teachers, most of them are supportive.

Highvale Secondary is a really good school, however the some of the facilities are quite old and do need renewing. There is a lot of rubbish and graffiti at a lot of the classrooms. There are a few bullies but thats what you are going to find at every single high school. Most of the teachers are welcoming and really friendly. In conclusion, I would recommend enrolling your child to this school but definitely take them on a school tour you can book on the website and see if it fits your childs needs.

Pretty good school, with a wide range of amenities. Was there for school tour, quite happy with the things presented. Looking forward to knowing more.

Great school, great people, past 30 years of my family tree have been going here, never one problem

If i were you, i'd definitely think about attending a different school.highvale is the worst of the worst.

Wow, I found some of the negative comments and fake photos amusing! But well, I’m not here to give parental advice. After much research and thought, Highvale proved to be the best school for my kids. My kids are academically gifted. To provided them a well-rounded experience, they were enrolled at Highvale. During their tenure at Highvale, they have visited Fiji a couple of years now on a 10-day volunteering trip. During the Fiji trips, they taught English to 3rd grade children, built artificial coral reefs and water tanks for the village. They came back mature and world smart. Like others mentioned, Highvale has a very good music program. I am not sure about bullying, but my kids are mature enough to handle bullies. Highvale also has a good International student program. Hope you do your own research and talk to the friendly staff rather than make a call just by reading these reviews (including mine!)

If i were you, i'd definitely think about attending a different school.highvale is the worst of the worst.

Not a review, more of an inquiry. Does anyone know if I can use the basketball courts after hours / on weekends?

The school needs better standards, because there is NONE! Teachers are swearing in front of everyone including students! How is this setting any standards? !? The education is garbage! Some of the teachers are very slow at marking test and assignments. Not just that, but our reports were 2 weeks overdue! Definitely DO NOT recommend this school! If I could I would give it half a star!

It really does make me sad how bad the schools administration is. The principal is so far disconnected from the students its pretty shocking really. Honestly, I shouldn't place all the blame on him, the whole place is a joke. Absolutely no idea how to run a school, horrible decision making that starts from the top and a total waste of student potential and waste of teaching talent.

Dear all parents thinking of attending there students to highvale do NOT take your kids to this school the school teaches there students things that aren’t even set for there year level the teachers are very rude and unprofessional some even throw chairs at students all the students are so rude and nasty nearly all of them are bully’s and think there better than everyone because they go to a “smart” school the school is unproffesional because the principal is never even at the school and it is so messy everyone litters so the school makes poor year 7s and 8s pick it up all everyone there is fake don’t ever go to highvale

WELL 10/10 FOR AMAZING RATE OF STUPID TEACHERS ESPECIALLY FOR THE GREAT PRINCIPAL WHO ARE NEVER RESPONSIBLE! The expectations are fantastic! We all want rude teachers don’t we? Even ones who swears infront of kids! Great role
Models! The kids learn sooo much from their teachers, and want to be like them ;) I’m so sad that I had to leave this supposedly amazing school. Damn I love jokes!

This school has far too many straight people and boys and i think if you got rid of both of those the school would be a better place because the only thing girls have ever 'done' to the school is wear black socks when quite fricking frankly they look better with the uniform than white socks and you should never put old people in charge of fashion because for some reason they need people's sock to coordinate with what barely remains of their hair and wearing black socks is nothing compared to drawing vulgar images on the concrete with chocolate milk and disrespecting women (men do these things daily i've seen them) also straight people are very annoying and distract me from my studies and made me fail math so i think they are a big problem.