Local college ranked as one of state's top

THE Australian Education Union may be condemning the Federal Government's My School website and creation of league tables but Blessed Mary McKillop College in Wagga is celebrating.Principal Barbara Chigwidden was delighted by results, published by The Sydney Morning Herald last week, which placed her school in the top 50 overall in the state for secondary education and among the best in regional NSW.Blessed Mary McKillop College, incorporating Christ the King Boys' College and Our Lady of the Rosary Girls' College, is one of Wagga's newest schools, having opened in 2007.In 2010, it has 80 students from kindergarten to Year 12.Its My School results and subsequent league table ranking were based on results from students in Year 5 to 12 in 2009.Mrs Chigwidden, although happy with her college's performance, understands the experience won't be the same at every school."It was a help to us because it allowed us to see where our school fit in the scheme of things. My concern is that parents will judge a school based on one test. It is a measure but it should not be the only indicator that parents use to judge a school," she said."We have to be careful not to think about education as just academic results that lead to jobs. Education must be valued for itself and its improvement on the whole person. "I think, primarily, parents want happy children and for them to be educated as a whole person including their character and moral development."Mrs Chigwidden said My School had the potential to be enormously beneficial to parents who were deciding where to send their children to school."But it needs to be broader in the information it provides because there is more to a school than just academic results. Having said that, I'm very pleased with our results," she said.