The Victorian schools where enrolments are booming
At McKinnon Secondary College in the city's south-east, where enrolments increased by 30 per cent between 2019 and 2024 to just over 2870, principal Michael Kan has had to hire 70 new employees in just two years to keep pace with the growth.
'That's a lot,' Kan said. 'I have more people starting in my school than many schools would have in their entire staff. So it's pretty crazy.
'It's a challenge, but it's also an opportunity because there are so many great young teachers coming through, and it's a great time to refresh.'
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Kan said the school had met the challenge of managing rapid enrolment growth while maintaining its status as one of the top academic performers in the government sector.
He credited his colleagues – there are now assistant deputy principals at McKinnon – a strong culture of excellence among the staff and a new $70 million campus for the school's ability to survive and thrive as families flock into its tightly controlled entry zone.
'In the past two years, we've seen increased achievement, being the top non-select-entry school in the state in terms of our VCE results,' he said.
'We had last year over 500 year 9s. They were the highest growth in the southern region. So scale is not upsetting our culture of success, and that's really pleasing to me.'
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