Girls beat the boys in competitive subjects in HSC but one school completely wiped the floor
The state’s top girls have beaten the boys in majority of science subjects and held their own in maths this year in the First In Course Higher School Certificate Awards.
The state’s top girls have beaten the boys in the majority of science subjects while Sydney Grammar School absolutely dominated the First In Course Higher School Certificate Awards.
This year, girls came first in the state in three of five science subjects, while seven girls placed first or equal first in mathematics, on par with the boys at yesterday’s awards.
Catholic and independent schools took out 64 of 132 top spots.
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Public schools which weren’t distance language education schools took out a total of 38 awards, with a student at James Ruse Agricultural High School snagging both top spots for the difficult Chemistry and Mathematics Extension 1 subjects.
Education Minister Rob Stokes presented the awards at a ceremony at UNSW yesterday and urged the elite students to “use your undisputed talents” to serve their fellow human beings. “In a very real sense, our communities’ future …. relies on you using your intelligence, your expertise, your discipline and your mastery to serve one another.”
Bella Wilson was among the girls dominating the science subjects, with the 17-year-old from Wenona School topping the year in Earth and Environmental Science.
She says her love of understanding how the earth formed, tectonic forces and oceanography helped make her study hard.
“I’m very interested in the environment,” she said. “But I actually want to study chemical engineering and commerce, with a focus on the environment.”
Ascham student Eliza Fox topped the state in Biology and German Extension and said she spent “quite a bit of time” studying but said collaborating with fellow students helped her stay motivated.
“Working together with others makes it a lot easier to stay motivated,” she said.
Sydney Grammar absolutely dominated the awards, with 10 students taking out 11 awards for first in course, including languages such as Classical Greek Extension and Latin Continuers.
Students at the school said their success was down to the dedication of their language teacher and communicating in Italian in the days before the HSC exam.
Jack Zimmerman, 18, came first in Italian Continuers and Richard Palumbo who came first in Italian Extension attributed their success to teacher Ms Angeloni.
“She’s basically like our second mum,” Mr Zimmerman said.
Pymble Ladies College also proved a big hitter, taking out the top spot in the state for Dance, Agriculture, Food Technology and English as a Second Language.
Phoebe Coles who came first in Agriculture said her love of the subject and “working hard” was her secret to success.
Christopher Ta of Sydney Boys took out equal first in the HSC Mathematics, with Ze Hong Zhou, from St Patrick’s in Strathfield.
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