Children start forming ideas about themselves surprisingly early. They decide they’re sporty or creative, good at maths or better with words. They can also start ruling things out: I’m not musical. I’m no good at sport. Science isn’t for me.
For Presbyterian Ladies’ College Principal Cate Begbie, educating girls means nurturing the interests they already have while opening doors to those they might not have discovered yet.
“We want girls to explore their interests, but we also want them to try things that are completely new and discover that they’re capable of more than they thought,” Ms Begbie said.
That approach has helped earn PLC national recognition as one of The Educator’s 5-Star Best Schools 2026. The recognition reflects PLC’s whole-school approach, encompassing academic learning, wellbeing and the opportunities available to students within and beyond the classroom.
Importantly, the 5-Star Best Schools assessment looks well beyond academic performance. Every school is judged against the same six criteria, with each carrying equal weight: holistic development, co-curricular programmes, student support, safety and wellbeing, technology in learning, and diversity and inclusivity.
For PLC, the breadth of those criteria reflects a philosophy that a great education is about more than what happens in the classroom. It is about giving girls the support, experiences and opportunities to discover what interests them, challenge what they think they are capable of and develop the confidence to try something new.
Across the College, students can choose from more than 18 sports, alongside music, performing arts, academic clubs, competitions and outdoor pursuits.
This year alone, PLC students have travelled to Seoul for the World Scholar’s Cup, performed on stages in London, taken part in cultural immersion programmes in China, France and Spain and headed into some of Australia’s most spectacular outback landscapes through the College’s Quest programme.
Other students will travel to Borneo for a cultural and conservation expedition, undertake expeditions in Tasmania, Ningaloo and Karijini and even take to the skies through PLC’s new aviation programme.
That breadth often reveals interests and abilities that students may not have known they had.
The same principle applies in the classroom. As girls encounter new subjects and increasingly challenging ideas, they have opportunities to work out how they learn best, where their academic strengths lie and which areas they want to explore more deeply.
“A girl might discover something she loves and pursue it for years or find she’s great at something she’d decided wasn’t for her. We want our students to keep testing those assumptions about themselves,” Ms Begbie said.
As students move through school, those discoveries can shape the choices they make about their learning. PLC is the only girls’ school in Western Australia to offer three senior secondary pathways: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, the WA Certificate of Education ATAR pathway and Vocational Education and Training (VET).
“By the time girls reach their senior years, we want them to understand their strengths and interests and have genuine choices about where they go next,” Ms Begbie said.
She said giving girls greater responsibility for those choices helped prepare them to make confident decisions about life beyond school.
“No family can know exactly who their daughter will become when they first choose her school. Nor should they have to.
“A great education keeps opening doors and gives her the confidence to decide which ones she wants to walk through.”
