The
Catholic Weekly
Online
Sydney
11 January 2004
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HSC
pupils in top class
Trinity
students credit teachers
What
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Catholic
all-rounder students in HSC 2003
Catholic
teachers’ pay rise welcomed
Vows
revisited 68 years on
Heroes
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Staff,
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Sharing
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Pregnant
Pause
World
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Graham
Andrews learns by teaching
Timor ‘sister’ parish
plan for St Canice’s
Symbols
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A
conversation with ... Piers Paul Read, biographer of Sir Alec Guinness
Out
of Africa – with hope
Visit
to husband landed Anna in jail
Where
do teens see God?
Sparked
by ‘tongue of fire’
Parish honours ‘linchpin’ of
Vinnies conference
Maria finds family link in UK college
The day Br Nicholas dropped the pin
HSC pupils in top class
Nouhad Khoury and Michael Sukkarieh, of Trinity, Auburn, are in the top 10 per cent
By Marilyn Rodrigues and Ted Myers
Twenty-seven congregational and systemic Catholic schools in the Sydney Archdiocese were represented in the NSW top all-rounders’ list in the 2003 Higher School Certificate results.
The best performing of those systemic schools was St Patrick’s College, Sutherland.
Christina Deakon and Apeksha Patel, HSC students at St Patrick’s, attribute much of their recent HSC successes to their teachers.
“ They encouraged us a lot right throughout the year,” said Christina, who got a University Admission Index of 94.6.
“ They worked hard and marked hard to encourage us to work even harder.”
Apeksha, who attained 97.45, said the teachers gave of their time outside of school hours.
“ We even had classes during the holidays,” she said. “That’s dedication for you.”
The hard work on the part of Catholic senior school students, parents and teachers has certainly paid off, with many achieving stellar HSC results.
Tim McMullen, head of secondary curriculum for the Catholic Education Office, Sydney, said that students in the systemic schools improved on the 2002 record to produce the best HSC results yet.
“ We are delighted,” he said.
While the top all rounders list celebrates successful individuals, Mr McMullen said the best indication of how schools performed was to look at how each school’s students performed in their courses compared with the state average.
“ What the top all rounders list shows is that any school which has bright, hardworking students does well in the HSC,” he says.
“ The best performers in our system in terms of the number of top students were Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College, Kensington, Brigidine College, Randwick, and Patrician Brothers College, Fairfield, followed by St Ursula’s College, Kingsgrove, and All Saint’s Senior High College, Casula.”
“ But a better measure of how schools performed is to look at which proportion of the subjects they offered got marks above the state average, and which below.
“ The results we have for our system’s schools are astounding, especially at St Patrick’s College, Sutherland.
“ Out of 34 HSC courses it offered, 32 had students’ average marks that were above the state average.”
Trinity College, Auburn, scored above the state average in 30 courses out of 34.
At Brigidine College, Randwick, it was 31 out of 36. This was followed by St Ursula’s College, Kingsgrove, (28 out of 34), St John Bosco, Engadine, (19 from 25), and Bethany College, Hurstville (20 from 27).
“ It’s worth congratulating these schools in which all their students have done well,” said Mr McMullen.
If the results from all the systemic schools are combined, 57 per cent of the subjects they offered had results above the state average, an improvement on last year’s record of 56 per cent.
“ That reflects the efforts of students and the very strong support of parents,” he said.
“ And it comes at a time when we have been arguing the case for wage justice to the government and the industrial commission, based on how hard teachers work. It supports that argument.” (See Catholic teachers pay rise welcomed, page 3.)
Chris Hayes, director of senior schooling at St Ignatius College, Riverview, says the college is “very pleased and proud” with its HSC students’ efforts this year, particularly Christopher Crooke and Thomas Clement, who each attained a University Admission Index of 99.75.
And he added: “We would hope that as a school we do more for our students academically, socially and spiritually than what is achieved through the HSC exam alone.”
Michael Krawec, principal of Patrician Brothers College, Fairfield, said: “These results build on last year’s performance and reveal that Fairfield Pats is meeting well the expectations of its students and staff.
“ As the college ends its golden jubilee year to celebrate 50 years of Patrician education, we are extremely pleased to match and exceed those achievements in previous years.”
Astron Douglas topped the results for Patrician Brothers College, Fairfield, with a University Admission Index of 99.75.