For many of the Valley’s senior students, this morning’s sleep-in was rudely cut short by a 6am text message.
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And for most, it was the text message they’d been fretting about for the last three weeks.
This morning, all across the state, grade 12 students received their HSC results with Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks (ATARs) coming tomorrow.
The tight-knit cohort at Nambucca Heads High were thrilled at their collective achievements with 78 HSC marks over the seventieth percentile.
Three students achieved five results in the highest band (band 6) possible and a further 27 results registered in the second-highest band (band 5).
And the school achieved higher than the state average in four subjects: Visual Art; Physical Development, Health, and Physical Education; Food Technology; Business Studies
“We’re very proud of our students and their results,” deputy principal Jo-Anne Marshall said.
“And the majority of them have received early entry into higher education courses,” library assistant Annette Welsh said.
We probably shouldn’t define our self worth through our marks, but today did serve as a confidence boost for a lot of us—it’s that cool realisation that you can do it, that it was worth staying in school.
- student Max Galo
Olivia Langley was shocked this morning to discover that she had received not one, but three results in the top band.
“Now that I’ve got my marks, I can understand that it’s a big deal, they might take me somewhere,” Olivia said.
“My parents were really proud. I think Mum was crying.”
Olivia is now just weighing her options after her world opened up this morning.
But for creative arts student Max Galo, he knows exactly what he wants to do.
“I’m going to Melbourne,” Max said.
“My plan is to just let myself be engulfed by Melbourne, find a job, get some money and find somewhere nice to live.
“I like the idea of auditioning for the Victorian College of Arts (VCA).”
Max is most excited about the ability to become an anonymous entity in a big city if he so chooses.
“In a small town, everyone knows everything about you,” Max said.
“But the idea that you get to choose how to be able to express yourself in a city, or get noticed or not, is lovely.”
Max says that Nambucca Heads High has given him the life skills and support necessary to make it in the world.
And while he’ll miss the “rich community” and support of his school and his hometown, for now he says it’s “just get up and get out”.
“I’m thankful for the support, and some of us will probably decide to come back here to live for the rest of our lives, but it’s time now to go explore,” he said.
Mel Leigh Dee
Mel is a journalist at the Guardian News and is based in Macksville.
Mel is a journalist at the Guardian News and is based in Macksville.
