Meet the top Upper Spencer Gulf students in the SACE 2021

The wait is over for the class of 2021 and the top achievers of Port Pirie, Whyalla and Port Augusta are among the best in the state.

School is officially out for the class of 2021 with students around the state opening their South Australian Certificate of Education results on Monday.

And the Upper Spencer Gulf’s highest achieving Year 12 student are among the best.

Ella Dixon, Caritas College

While some students would have been up all night, tossing back and forth, Ella Dixon, 19, was worried she overslept.

“I thought I missed the results so I flew out of bed,” Ella laughed.

“When I did check the results I was pleased with myself.”

After studying maths, childcare, psychology and visual arts, the Port Augusta student finished with an ATAR of 97.40.

Ella Dixon, dux of Caritas College in Port Augusta. Picture: Caritas College

Now, with the world at her feet, Ella has decided to follow her heart and study dance at TAFE SA over occupational therapy.

“It’s a passion of mine and I thought while I’m young I may as well pursue before I look at other options,” she said.

“I completed an exchange with dance in Denmark last year, it was a little different to what I expected due to Covid, but I still had the most amazing time.”

Macee Reynolds, Port Augusta Secondary School

For 18-year-old Macee Reynolds, stress was at an all time high as she looked for end of year results.

“I was stressed because I’m a stressful person but I was much better once I got them,” the Port Augusta Secondary School dux said.

After committing her time to psychology, biology, maths and English, Macee was rewarded with an ATAR of 97.25 and plans to study psychology, heading to Adelaide in the new year.

Macee Reynolds, 18, dux of Port Augusta Secondary School for 2021. Picture: Port Augusta Secondary School

“I really enjoyed the classes at school as well as six-months of studying it at uni while I was in year 11, it really interests me,” she said.

“I’m excited to get into a bigger pool of people and hopefully meet a lot more people with experience.”

Her tip to future Year 12 students, is to not to stress in the lead up.

“You can’t change much once it’s all done and dusted and it’s probably best to have some fun and enjoy it.”

Pany Virdi, Edward John Eyre High School

There wouldn’t be many teenagers who would throw themselves into studying double maths in their final year, but Pany Virdi, 18, loves the challenge.

“I’ve always had an interest in maths and biology and I studied specialist in both year 11 and 12,” she said.

Pany Virdi, dux of Edward John Eyre High School in Whyalla. Picture: Edward John Eyre High School

“After I participated in the RDA workshops, which is where we travelled around to all the different universities to look at their programs, I knew I wanted to study medicine and studying maths and biology will really help in that.”

Pany finished her final year with an ATAR of 98.8 and said she was excited to head down to Adelaide to start her next chapter.

“I’ll be heading down with my dad next year and I know that some of my friends will be down there too, it’s all really exciting.”

Holly Nichols, John Pirie Secondary

For Port Pirie’s shining star Holly Nichols, finding out if her hard work paid off was a mixture of both nerves and excitement.

“I was very nervous, I didn’t get much sleep the night before but thankfully the results came out a little early,” Holly said.

Finishing with an ATAR of 99.45, Holly graciously thanked her teachers in reaching the outstanding result.

Holly Nichols, dux of John Pirie Secondary in Port Pirie. Picture: John Pirie Secondary

“They pushed me to be my best and achieve my best, I couldn’t have done it without them,” she said.

Managing a full plate of ancient studies, childcare studies, English, psychology as well as research project, Holly will move to Adelaide to study occupational therapy and the University of South Australia.

“While I am nervous to move, a lot of people will be in the same boat and I will be really good to meet new people,” she said.

All Upper Spencer Gulf high schools were asked to be involved in this article.