Top Primary Schools in Melbourne

Monday 15th August 2022

Knowing where to send your child is one of the most important — and difficult — decisions parents need to make. With so many primary schools in Victoria, it can be overwhelming, and the Melbourne primary school ranking system might not give you the information you need.

It’s so much more than just looking at primary schools ranking highly in academics — you want to know how they will support your child’s personal development, offer them pathways, and nurture their spiritual growth.

To help you make an informed and comfortable decision, here’s our list of the best primary schools in Melbourne.

Don Bosco Primary School

Don Bosco Primary School prioritises compassion, inclusiveness, courage and safety in all that they do. In the spirit of Saint John Bosco, the school is a warm environment of Catholic learning where children and their families are encouraged to engage in community and fellowship.

Don Bosco is one of the oldest schools in the Narre Warren community, having been opened in 1982. They have come to be known as a space of collaborative learning where students are introduced to the love of God and a life of faith in a nurturing and safe way.

Mary MacKillop Primary School

With a school motto of ‘Inspiring Hearts and Minds’, Mary MacKillop Primary School focuses on providing a thorough curriculum to promote academic, social and spiritual learning to all students. 

Located in Narre Warren North, Mary MacKillop Primary School encourages students to pursue their interests, engage in leadership and care for their emotional health. Students are taught how to live a healthy life in all aspects, extending beyond academics and teaching them valuable life skills.

St Brigid’s Primary School

Principal Ken Gale describes the school’s mission as ensuring students have an “understanding of our ever changing world through inquiry learning from a Catholic world view”. St Brigid’s aims to set children up for life-long learning, engaging them with subject areas like STEM, sustainability and even Japanese from an early age.

St Brigid’s is situated in Officer, but services the wider areas of Beaconsfield, Upper Beaconsfield and Berwick. They play an active role in the local Parish community and encourage parents and families to remain active participants in the continuing education of their children.

St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School 

St Catherine’s is just 45 minutes southeast of the Melbourne CBD in Berwick South, providing a P-6 education to just under 700 students. At SFXC, we share not only a close bond with St Catherine’s, but also a campus, with the primary school located at our Berwick Junior Campus.

Inspired by Saint Catherine of Siena, the curriculum and school mission is designed around making God’s love felt and shared by all. This mission is encapsulated in the school motto: “Our Faith is Our Strength”, and is the profile through which everyone in the school lives.

St Clare’s Primary School

St Clare’s is a relatively new school, opened in 2015 and growing rapidly. We share our Officer campus with St Clare’s, helping to provide a seamless transition between early childhood and secondary education. Students are provided with modern, well-resourced spaces to give them everything a contemporary learner needs.

Under the leadership of Principal Helen Staindl, St Clare’s measures student achievement through social and spiritual wellbeing as well as learning success. Gospel values underpin every aspect of curriculum and community, neatly summarised by the school motto: “Our faith leads to wisdom and courage”.

St John the Baptist Primary School

St John the Baptist Primary School has been servicing the area of Koo Wee Rup and its surrounding districts for over 80 years, providing an outstanding Catholic education in a modern setting. 

As a school community, St John the Baptist seeks to fulfil the mission of its namesake and “Prepare the Way of the Lord”. The school offers a parish-based Sacramental Program, alongside a number of specialist areas like STEM, Italian and technology, as well as a robust set of support programs.

St Michael’s Primary School

St Michael’s is a Catholic Primary School located in the picturesque Berwick Village. Inspired by the teachings of Jesus, students encounter an authentic Christian message through lived experiences of inclusivity. St Michael’s provides students with rich learning experiences, developing their knowledge and capabilities across all areas of the Victorian Curriculum.

Within this safe and supportive environment, every student’s unique potential is nourished, with staff embracing the school vision: ‘A knowing and belonging for each child.’ St Michael’s invites students to look to the future with optimism and hope, equipping them with skills necessary to be critical thinkers, lifelong learners and active contributors in society.  

St Patrick’s Primary School

At St Patrick’s, the moral and spiritual development of students is fundamental to the curriculum and teaching practices. All students’ pastoral needs are valued as much as their academic success and growth.

Students are taught all integral curriculum areas, as well as Japanese, digital technologies and design, allowing them to become keen learners who are capable in the modern world. St Patrick’s is found in Pakenham and places a strong focus on providing education to families from a wide variety of backgrounds and communities.

Trinity Primary School

Trinity adopts their school values directly from 1 Corinthians 13:13: “Faith, Hope and Love”. All students are respected as individual learners with different needs, and Trinity makes use of modern technology and contemporary learning spaces to provide every opportunity for student success and personal development.

Trinity was established in 2000 to meet the need for Catholic education in Narre Warren and is now led faithfully by Principal Kathryn Pepper. All staff are enthusiastic professionals, seeking to provide a caring and stimulating environment for young minds.

Tips for selecting a primary school

Having a list of the top primary schools Melbourne offers is still only part of the job. Just as important is picking somewhere your child will be able to flourish in all aspects of their life. Here’s what we recommend to parents to find the best primary schools for their family.

• Value culture and community as highly as academics. Your child needs to feel valued and have their interests nourished, otherwise they won’t enjoy school or feel engaged, and no amount of good academic standards will fix that. Similarly, placing them in a strong Catholic culture may be of utmost importance, and we’re thankful that the schools listed above are some of the best Catholic primary schools in Melbourne.
• Don’t just look at the primary school rankings. Go in and tour campuses, chat to staff and teachers, and ask around in your communities if anyone you know has experience with the school and how they felt. Melbourne schools rating highly on results metrics might not service the needs of your child or family the best — you need to get a personal feel for the school yourself.
• Include your child. Their opinion is important in this decision too. Yes, you ultimately do get the final say, and you might be able to evaluate things slightly more effectively and broadly, but pay attention to what your child appears to feel too.

Securing your child’s future

Parents have so many considerations and only so much time, but with this list we hope you won’t need to wade through a full list of primary schools in Melbourne. While there are so many to choose from, we recognise these as the best primary schools Melbourne has to offer. 

You can rest assured that sending your child to any of these schools will lead to a high quality education that balances academic success, diverse programs and spiritual development. These are more than just good primary schools in Melbourne — they’re the pathway to your child’s future.