Switched on Harmony Douwes is one of our best students

GYMPIE'S Harmony Douwes is quite pleased with herself at the moment. And why would she not be?

Gympie High Apex Dux Harmony Douwes. Picture: Craig Warhurst

GYMPIE'S Harmony Douwes is quite pleased with herself at the moment.

And why would she not be?

Harmony is one of a very few Gympie teenagers to emerge from high school with the highest possible OP score, the ranking that determines their entry choices for tertiary education.

Dux of Gympie High, she celebrated yesterday at Gympie Ten Pin Bowling, an air conditioned sporting venue which, as you might expect, was among the more intelligent places to spend what was elsewhere one of our hottest days for many months.

She is not alone, of course, in achieving the best possible score for tertiary entrance options.

And she was not altogether surprised either.

"I thought I'd get a 1 or 2, but I'm very pleased with the OP1," she said yesterday.

"I'm having a gap year next year," she said. "I won't be going to uni until later.

"I've got ideas about what I want to do, but I'm not 100% sure," she said.

"She's been very diligent with her school work," father Jeff Douwes said.

"She's really applied herself with all the homework she's done.

"When she was young, she was interested in craft work and arty studies, but she was also excellent at maths and science.

"That was a bit of a surprise for (Mum) Adelle and I, because we weren't that good at maths and science".

Another big result for Gympie was the OP3 result scored by Scott Miron, of Victory College.

"I'm pretty happy with it," he said.

"Mechanical engineering is what I want to do at this stage.

"I'm looking at going to Sunshine Coast University.

"I worked hard when it came to tests, but I didn't really study every night.

"I probably could have done better, but I'm very happy with what I got," he said.

A student's OP, or Overall Position) is a statewide rank order based on a student's overall achievement in subjects approved by the Queensland Studies Authority.

It compares a student's performance in those subjects and is used for tertiary entrance purposes.

The OP1 score maximises tertiary options.

OP Score facts

• An OP score shows a student's comparative position in a statewide rank order based on achievement in selected subjects.
• The OP score system is used for tertiary entrance purposes only.
• The score is based on performance in "Authority subjects, combined with completion of Year 12 and the Queensland Core Skills Test.