Prize-winning student Katherine Magpily always had her sights set on a successful final year of school.
But the Mandurah Catholic College (MCC) student said she still can’t believe she did well enough to take out the title of her school’s top performing year 12.
The 17-year-old’s ATAR score of 99.5 not only bettered her entire class, but places her in the top one per cent of all West Australian ATAR students in 2018.
With ambitions to study medicine from an early age, Katherine said she worked hard to make her dreams a reality.
“My ATAR subjects were chemistry, mathematics methods, mathematics specialist, English and religion and life,” she said.
“I worked pretty hard throughout high school so just picked up the pace and worked a little harder this year.
“There were sacrifices where I had to choose to just stay home on the weekend when I had so many assessments due.”
Really I just wanted to do my best this year and regardless of the number, I knew if I tried my hardest and worked as hard as I could, then I would be happy no matter what
- Katherine Magpily
But she said it was all worth it when she found out her extraordinary ATAR score – one of the highest in the Peel region.
“ATAR results actually came out a day early and I had a lot of friends calling me and texting me telling me it was up but I didn’t check it until later that night,” she said.
“I cried a lot before checking it because of all the stress.”
After checking out some local Christmas lights to take her mind off it, Katherine said she was feeling “a little more mellow”.
“By the time I checked it, it was kind of anti-climatic – I looked at it and just couldn’t believe it,” she said.
“My sister was sitting behind me and I told her and my family were so excited for me.
“Even now, I still can’t believe it.”
Katherine also won a distinction certificate for her consistent school achievement. The award acknowledges students who, in their last three consecutive years of senior secondary WACE enrolment, achieve 190–200 points. The points are accrued from 20 year 11 and year 12 units.
The stats
- Around 11,920 school leavers who sat their exams in November achieved an ATAR, compared with 12,170 last year.
- The median ATAR for the State was 81.80, up slightly from last year's median ATAR of 81.25.
- Just 17 students attained the highest possible ATAR score of 99.95.
- Out of the courses with the most enrolments, the highest median ATARs were achieved by students completing Mathematics Specialist (95.75), Mathematics Methods (91.70), Literature (91.10), Chemistry (90.20) and Physics (90.00).
Despite having her sights set on an ATAR score of 96 to get into her desired course, Katherine said she didn’t put too much pressure on herself throughout the year.
“Really I just wanted to do my best this year and regardless of the number, I knew if I tried my hardest and worked as hard as I could, then I would be happy no matter what,” she said.
Katherine has already accepted her offer for the direct pathway to medicine at the University of Western Australia and will begin in February after a well-deserved summer break.
Mandurah Catholic College’s Deputy of Teaching and Learning Paschal McCarthy said Katherine’s near-perfect score was only one of her impressive achievements this year.
“She got such a high ATAR score but she did so many other things,” he said.
She'll go places, for sure.
- Paschal McCarthy
“She won DUX and she also won what we call the Holy Family Medal and that can go to any year 12 student who is a positive role model to other students.
“It’s our most prestigious medal at the college and she won that through her service to others.
“We’ve been super happy with her and as a College we use her as a role model and she gets up in front of the whole school to talk.
“She’ll go places, for sure.”
Mr McCarthy said Katherine had always been very studious and had a “mature work ethic”.
“She was always a high achiever at school but never once did she want people to acknowledge it,” he said.
“She’s an outstanding young lady who dedicates a lot of her time to community service.
“She was a role model for a lot of kids in terms of being a student who was able to still smile and do so many things while studying hard – she really uses her time well and doesn’t waste it.”
It was a good year for MCC across the board with a number of impressive ATAR results and state award-winners.
Mr McCarthy said it came down to a recent initiative by the College to provide extra support to students throughout year 11 and 12.
“It’s probably been one of the best years we’ve had for a long time, particularly in regards to the top end achievers,” he said.
“It’s been a good three to five year process of making sure the kids really work through their own motivation to achieve.
“We’ve introduced a pastoral care program, Flourish, in the past two to three years and that’s just to make sure that kids look after their own wellbeing.
“We want to make sure that if they have any issues, they know there are people that can support them whether it’s at school or in the local community or whether its their own family.”
It is something Katherine said helped her and is particularly important in an effort to achieve your best results in high school.
“My number one piece of advice would be to never be afraid to ask for help,” she said.
“Whether that’s academically by asking teachers for help with concepts you don’t understand, or whether it’s mum and dad or your friends if you’re feeling stressed and need some time out to take your mind away from the pressure.”