Highvale Secondary College

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.

Glen waverley better fr ong ong

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

Some teachers at Highvale aren't very good and some are good. The facilities aren't that great especially the ones the PORTABLES! 75% of them don't have AC's and heaters! Some Students don't respect the teachers. The school is very messy, always rubbish around the school, and the uniform makes every student look like a tree. To be honest I didn't learn a lot from 70% of my classes because of how the teachers were teaching and some didn't know how to manage a class, which isn't greatHowever they have an amazing Music Program

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.

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.

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 Google Maps, there are scenic views of trees, grass, noisy miners, and bin chickens along Cool Rd, which apparently runs through the school.

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 ...