Hard work reaps rewards for Year 12 students

IN A big week for Year 12 students across Victoria there are some very thrilled local students – and proud parents and teachers.

VCE results were released on Monday, including for the first time an ATAR or Australian Tertiary Admission Rank. This is a national ranking which replaces the old ENTER (Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank) and helps rank and select school leavers for admission to tertiary courses.

Locally there have been some wonderful results for students.

The top student at South Gippsland Secondary College with an outstanding ATAR of 97.3 is Alex Karavis. She studied five subjects this year and attained study scores in the 40s (out of 50) for four of them – 46 for Psychology, 44 for Language Other Than English (LOTE) – Spanish (having spent a year living in Argentina recently), 43 for English and 40 for Literature.

Grace Kindellan achieved the second highest ATAR at the college. This was 94.55, including 45 for English, 44 for Visual Communication and 42 for Studio Art.

There are two other students, both girls, with an ATAR in the 90s. One of these is Louise Clarke, with an ATAR of 90.6, including an excellent 47 for Food Technology and 41 for Psychology.

“The school is really pleased with the results,” said South Gippsland Secondary College principal Cheryl Glowrey. “All 49 students who completed the year (one student left early in the year) received a VCE or Senior VCAL certificate, including one student who received both. A significant number should be able to achieve the tertiary course of their choice.”

Mrs Glowrey said that as well as the four students in the 90s, eight – four boys and four girls – received ATARs in the 80s.

There were 19 study scores of above 40 for subjects across the board, several students receiving a number of 40 plus marks for the subjects they studied.

“We are very very proud of the achievements of all students. We recognise the hard work and, in many cases, extraordinary personal effort, that goes into completing Year 12,” said Mrs Glowrey, stressing that an ATAR is not everything.

Three students at SGSC undertook the Senior Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), which suits students who are more interested in attending TAFE or taking up an apprenticeship than going to university.

Mrs Glowrey said that she was keen to acknowledge the expertise of her staff and the encouragement they had given students to do their very best.

More details about the achievements of students from South Gippsland Secondary College will be in next week’s Mirror. The college will be holding its Awards Presentation tonight, at which the Dux and other award winners will be announced.

Meanwhile, at Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional College at Leongatha there have also been some very pleasing results. Particularly noteworthy for Foster is the Dux – Ben Tilley, who of course lives in Foster, being the son of Peter and Jacie Tilley. Ben wound up a very hardworking year with an impressive ATAR of 95.5. Three other students at the school received ATARs in the 90s, and another nine of the 43 students who received an ATAR score earned themselves an ATAR in the 80s.

“This cohort of 43 students demonstrated a commendable commitment to their studies and to each other. They worked very hard to achieve not only the best result each student was capable of individually, but also to support each other in their work,” said Mary MacKillop principal Michael Delaney.

The Minister for Education, Martin Dixon, congratulated the more than 50,000 Victorian students who have completed their VCE this year and the 9,876 students receiving their Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning.

“Completing the VCE or VCAL is a remarkable achievement which requires a lot of hard work, dedication and sacrifice,” he said.

Students wishing to go onto further study now have to wait until January for their tertiary offers.

Students have until next Monday, December 20, to change their university and TAFE course preferences.

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