‘I’m low-key excited’: The HSC subject that four students equally topped

More than 130 students were recognised today for topping HSC subjects, with one being equally topped by four students all from country NSW.

Meet Poppy Starr – farmgirl, lawyer-to-be, joint first in course for the HSC’s vocational Primary Industries subject, and your future Prime Minister.

The young woman from Cowra shared the title with fellow bush kids Freya Hooper from Forbes, Josephine Veronica Galcsik from Cessnock and Jorja Barnett from West Kempsey after earning top marks in her examination for the agricultural course.

Poppy’s mum Lisa Brien was ecstatic for her daughter, the family having made the four hour journey to Sydney so that Poppy could shake Deputy Premier Prue Car’s hand on stage at the 2024 First In Course ceremony.

“She missed the call from NESA and she rang me and said, ‘mum, I missed a call from NESA, and I’m low-key excited’,” Ms Brien said.

“She’s worked very, very hard and it meant a lot to her – she’s a very driven young woman.”

Freya Hooper from Red Bend Catholic College in Forbes and Poppy Starr from Scots All Saints College in Bathurst both achieved joint first in Primary Industries at the NSW HSC First in Course ceremony. Picture: Justin Lloyd

The family are farmers going back five generations, with Poppy, who attended Scots All Saints College boarding school in Bathurst – aspiring to work not on the farm itself but as a political advocate for the cattle industry: to be “a decision maker and policymaker”.

“Dedication is absolutely one of the keys to this (result), I was definitely not expecting a first-in-course,” Poppy said.

Both Freya and Poppy are from regional NSW. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Poppy Starr, Cowra farmer and aspiring lawyer, at the Blayney Show 2024. Picture: Supplied

“When she was in Year 1 at school she came home one day and said ‘mum, I’m going to be Prime Minister’,” her mother said.

Freya Hooper, who attended Red Bend Catholic College in Forbes, gave a shout-out to their “beautiful teachers” for helping the pair bring home the metaphorical bacon.

“They helped us the whole way, and they never gave up on us,” she said.

Several other regional schools had students from their Class of 2024 make the HSC first in course list, including Lismore’s St Johns College where Shivam Raval topped the state in Studies of Religion I, and Dubbo College Senior Campus where Mason Olney ranked first in the Construction exam.