FOUR of Mandurah’s best and brightest students have claimed awards for their exceptional grades and hard work in last year’s WACE exams.
Frederick Irwin Anglican School student Samuel Alsop claimed a host of accolades as part of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority Exhibition Award Winners.
Samuel won a General Exhibition award which is presented to the 40 eligible students with the highest School Curriculum and Standards Authority score based on the average of five scaled scores with at least two from each side of humanities/social science and mathematics/science list.
He also won a Certificate of Distinction for chemistry, mathematics, mathematics specialist, physics and a Certificate of Commendation.
In total, Frederick Irwin Anglican School had 10 awards shared among Samuel, Jonathon Grigg and Ashlyn Curley.
Jonathan finished with an ATAR or 99.9 and received a Certificate of Distinction in chemistry, a Certificate of Distinction in physics and a Certificate of Commendation for achieving 20 or more A-grades in year 11 and 12.
Jonathan now has plans to go to the University of Melbourne and study to be an electrical engineer.
Jonathan has always had a keen interest in phones and computers and has a business where he fixes phone screens and batteries.
He said the healthy competition between himself and other students – which included Samuel – kept him on his toes.
“They might get a higher score in physics and you try beating them in chemistry,” he said.
“Everyone is helping each other; it wasn’t a competition - at the end of the day you were happy you did better than the other person.
“It stops you from resting.”
Ashlyn said she was glad to have reaped the rewards after two hard years of study.
The 17-year-old was also awarded a Certificate of Commendation for achieving 20 or more A-grades in year 11 and 12.
She topped the childhood 2c/2d and mathematics 2c/2d courses at her school and received awards for them at the school’s presentation night.
Ashlyn, who lives in Waroona, said she planned to move to Perth and attend Curtin University and be an early childhood teacher.
She said the best advice she could give to other students was to make sure they were organised and had time to take a break.
“When you get an assignment do it as fast as you can because something else is going to pop up and everything is due at once,” she said.
She also said doing leisure activities such as sport was good.
Mandurah Catholic College student Shania Eliassen is now hoping to make her love of music into a career and get into the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Shania received an ATAR of 95.25 for her efforts to go along with a Certificate of Distinction in English.
A certificate of distinction places her in the top 0.5 per cent of candidates in the state.
She said she was surprised to get an ATAR so high and is now hoping to get into the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts to become an opera singer.
Shania is one of 29 going for six places and is positive about her chances as she passed her exams and tutors have said she was in a good position to get in.
She will find out if she gets in on January 16.
