Hannah Wang was just three years old when her piano ability gave her parents the inkling her aptitude for music went well beyond her age.
Now, she is part of a select group of West Australian students who are challenging themselves by tackling the ATAR before reaching year 12.
Hannah Wang.
“When she was two, we had a piano teacher who came to the house and was teaching her oldest brother, who was seven,” Hannah’s mother Christina Wang said.
“Week after week, she would climb onto the piano seat during and after her brother’s lesson pleading for her turn.
“When she was about 3½, at the end of one of her brother’s lessons, she sat at the piano, played the piece that had been taught to him by memory and said to the teacher, ‘My turn’.”
Hannah’s passion for music followed her throughout life, and at just 15 she has finished the ATAR music exams and year 12 assessments meant for students two to three years older, at Methodist Ladies’ College.
In WA, students in year 10 and below are not allowed to sit ATAR exams or complete assessments, but are allowed to learn the coursework if their school can facilitate it.
Because Hannah was accelerated in all her subjects and completed year 11 this year, she was allowed to sit the year 12 music exam.
She said initially it had been a daunting prospect, but she had advice for other younger students looking for a challenge beyond their years: “Go for it and press play on challenging yourself and believing in yourself.”
Two other students doing exactly that are Zachary Rumball and Yin Chen, from Scotch College.
The pair are in year 9 – the former tackling year 12 work in human biology (and year 11 work for maths specialist), and the latter completing the coursework for both maths specialist and biology. Neither can sit the ATAR exams.
Zachary Rumball and Yin Chen.
Yin said it had been “a big jump” and he had needed to work hard and challenge himself to keep up, while Zachary said he had discovered his passion for human biology in year 8.
“I find that if I enjoy a subject, it becomes easier. That would be my number one piece of advice – to make sure that you enjoy the subject (you want to take on more work in),” Zachary said.
His father John Rumball was initially worried his son would feel isolated from his year group, but that hadn’t happened.
“It is really pleasing to see schools offering the opportunity for children to work to their ability. Expecting every child to fit in the same box is going to leave some behind and hold others back,” he said.
Scotch College principal Alec O’Connell said Zachary and Yin don’t receive any credit for working at a year 12 level given they were too young, but that school should be about more than grades.
He was part of the Post-School Success Review committee and said a large part of the final report, released Tuesday, focused on changes needed in the school system to encourage students to challenge themselves.
“If you’re sitting in a class that doesn’t challenge you then you won’t do well, it really is as simple as that, you’ll just tune out,” O’Connell said.
“There is the potential for kids to look for the path of least resistance – the gap between general and ATAR courses is widening – and it needs to change.
“Encouraging students to learn for reasons that don’t relate to grades, but relate more to their love for learning, is a good start.”
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.