Madison Ostwald and Piper Hay from St Patrick’s College, Gympie excel in ATAR exams

St Patrick’s College in Gympie has achieved remarkable results in this year’s ATAR exams with two students standing out as being “top of the class” for 2024. Here’s what they scored and their plans for the future.

Madison Ostwald received the highest ATAR from St Patrick’s College, receiving a mark of 95.15.

Senior students from Gympie’s St Patrick's College have achieved remarkable results for the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) for the class of 2024.

Of the students who shared their ATAR, 59 per cent received a mark of over 80, with 12 students already accepting offers for their first university preference.

Seven students have accepted offers to the University of the Sunshine Coast, four for Queensland University of Technology, and one for Griffith University.

But there were two students whose performance really stood out, with Madison Ostwald achieving a 95.15 and Piper Hay reaching a 95.1 ATAR score, making their families, the school, and the whole region proud.

“The idea of final exams can be overwhelming to say the least,” Madison said.

Madison Ostwald is an outstanding student who received St Patrick’s Colleges Nathan O’Neill Diligence Award, the UniSC Sustainability Award, and the Honourable FI Power Spirit of St Patrick’s Award.

“Throughout the year I had consistently worked hard and was sitting on nearly 100 per cent for my internal assessments which certainly relieved pressure.

“As I knew I had put in the work throughout the year I didn’t go overboard with my final revision, just reviewing past papers and resting as I felt that cramming and stressing would only adversely affect my mindset going into the exams.

“All in all, I felt comfortable with my effort and did not overly concern myself with the outcome as there was nothing, I could do but my best.”

Still, she was “shocked” by how well she did overall.

“I had been expecting over 90, but based on my exams, I had thought it would be on the lower end. The real shock came when I started learning my peers’ scores and it seemed that I might be coming out on top!”

Madison Ostwald with her younger sister Imogen and parents Dinah and Mark Ostwald.

Madison said she and her family were happy all her hard work had paid off as was St Patrick’s principal Mark Newton who passed on a “warm congratulations”.

“He deemed my score outstanding and a great reward for my consistent work ethic,” she said.

Madison’s advice to future Year 12 students was to remain consistent, complete your work to the best of your ability, remain organised, track results to see where you improve, and use physical exercise as a great form of stress relief.

While she wasn’t exactly sure where the future would take her, she was “entertaining the idea” of either being a biotechnology sales representative or a patent lawyer for the biotechnological industry, before adding, “but don’t hold me to that, because there is the very real possibility that something else will catch my interest”.

Principal Mark Newton of St Patrick’s College sent a ‘warm congratulations’ to the highest achievers.

Piper Hay shared her perspective to the lead up to the exams saying, “I felt quite nervous about the large percentage the exams contributed to my overall grades, and how significant the last few weeks of my schooling were”.

“All the work I had done in the previous two years had been building up to completing these exams,” she said.

“I felt a little nervous once I had completed the exams as I couldn’t gage how well I had done, and the exams were more challenging than I expected.”

Upon receiving her 95.1 result, Piper said she felt “excited and relieved” as she’d have a great chance of getting into her dream university degree.

“All of my extended family were extremely happy for me and contacted me to congratulate me on my achievement. I feel very lucky to have so many supportive people in my life who have encouraged me all the way along.

Piper Hay scored an impressive 95.1 ATAR with hopes to study Medical Imaging at QUT in future.

“The school principal, Mr Newton, and multiple teachers from St Patrick’s College have made contact to pass on their congratulations and best wishes for the future.

“St Patricks’ community and staff have been really supportive throughout my entire schooling.”

Piper believed the strategies that helped her achieve such a remarkable result were good time management, a balanced schedule, and blocking out time to study with no distractions.

She would finish studying each day at 5pm, then go outside for a walk or socialise to decompress after an intense study session.

“Keeping a busy schedule throughout the year with paid employment, netball, dance, family time and socialising allowed for limited procrastination and taught me significant time management skills and a good work ethic regarding study, which I believe significantly contributed to my final marks.”

Piper hopes to study a degree in Medical Imaging at QUT to eventually be a radiographer to “help people in need each day”.

Congratulations to all senior high school students who have successfully completed their final exams.

Originally published as Madison Ostwald and Piper Hay from St Patrick’s College, Gympie excel in ATAR exams