Narooma High School students were among almost 39,000 NSW public school students who received their HSC results today, the culmination of 13 years of learning.
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Principal Tony Fahey said even though the school was down on the number of Band 6 results to previous years, the student cohort actually performed quite solidly in terms of Band 5 and E3 results.
Stand-out students who achieved three or more Band 5s, which is between 80 and 90 per cent, included Abrea Cramb, Elliot De Frenza, Dayna Lingard, Tahlia Arnold, Kellie Watt and Sarah Schaefer.
The two students who achieved the highest Band 6 results of 90 per cent of higher were Sharnie Bird and Oscar Zideluns, who both got these Band 6s in Timber.
“It is great to see some improved results in Physics, Chemistry, and Agriculture with Band 5s for the first time in a long time, English Extension 1 and Advanced perform solidly with 6/6 Band 5s for Ext 1 and 5 in Advanced,” Mr Fahey said.
“So all in all, my impressions are even though we have not gained as many Band 6 results as we would like, the overall performance of the cohort has been particularly solid across a whole range of subjects and there have been some pleasing results from a wide range of students, so for a small comprehensive high school in a rural and isolated area we can still hold our heads high.”
Narooma High School’s sporting stars meanwhile were featured in a recent video by the Education Department. Click here to watch the video
Among those pleased with their results was Tahlia Arnold, an Indigenous student who will be the first in her family to complete the HSC and attend university.
Tahlia was up at 5.30am to get her results and said he parents were very proud while her sister said she was "awesome” and had “smashed it”.
She got between 78 and 82 per cent for all seven of her subjects and said she was pleased with her consistency.
“They were pretty consistent, so am pleased with that,” she said.
She already has early admission to the University of Wollongong to do a Bachelor of Arts majoring in psychology.
Also relatively pleased with her results was Sarah Schaefer, who was one the students to get three or more Band 5s, which in her case were for Ancient History and Advanced English and she also got E3 in Extension 1 and 2 English.
Sarah has a conditional offer to attend the Australian National University where she will study criminology and international relations.
The Secretary of the Department of Education, Mark Scott, congratulated the students and their teachers, principals, parents and carers who supported them through their education.
“The HSC is a world-class credential and it takes an enormous amount of collaboration, study and dedication to get to this point today,” Mr Scott said.
This year saw a record number of students sit the HSC – 77,150 NSW students completed at least one HSC course and 68,816 students were awarded a HSC.
This year there were 10,500 more HSC students than there were in 2007.
Public school students featured strongly in the HSC merit lists, making up:
• 60 per cent of the First in Course awards
• 50 per cent of the All Round Achievers for students who achieve a top band in 10 units or more
• 46 per cent of the Distinguished Achievers List (top band in at least one course). In NSW public schools, 44,653 students completed at least one HSC course, 38,928 students were awarded a HSC and 30,175 students will be eligible for an ATAR when they are released tomorrow.
The number of Aboriginal students sitting the HSC has more than doubled in the past decade, from 911 students in 2007 to 2,096 students this year.
Mr Scott said the course selection by HSC students showed promising trends in a number of areas, including the study of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
NSW Education Standards Authority data shows an increase of 700 students taking Advanced English in 2017 and 81 per cent of students this year studied at least one mathematics subject.
Around 50 per cent of students studied at least one science subject. Biology continued to dominate course selection, with enrolments growing 26 per cent in the past decade.
Vocational Education and Training courses were taken by 28 per cent of all NSW HSC students, with enrolments growing by 10 per cent since 2007.
“These are all the skills and knowledge our students need to flourish in a rapidly changing world,” Mr Scott said. “Congratulations to every HSC student and our best wishes for a fulfilling future. It’s a wonderful achievement.”