Contagious smiles and gigantic hugs kept coming, one after the other, at Winmalee High School last Thursday morning when many of the school's 19 students who made the HSC honour roll - earning a score of at least 90 in one or more subjects - filed in for a special morning tea with their teachers.
It was a moment to reflect and share on their journeys of achievement and a highlight was when teachers of dux of the school, Kate Ticehurst, formed a congratulatory arc around her.
Kate, who six years ago was dux at Ellison Public School, earned an Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) of 99.0 and made the HSC Honour Roll's all-rounders list by scoring a mark of 90 or more in five different subjects.
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Kate finished equal fourth in the state in food technology (scoring 98), equal 10th in hospitality (95) and equal 12th in general maths (97) and said her aim had been to get an ATAR somewhere in the low 90s.
"So I'm really happy to get 99 - it's definitely a good feeling," she said.
When asked what her secret to success was, Kate mentioned being able to keep disciplined but she also paid tribute to the supportive atmosphere at her school and to all her teachers - "especially Ms Grace who taught my favourite subject, food technology".
"I think it was just consistency and keeping in a routine, maintaining focus and practicing exams a lot," Kate said.
"But I still kept up playing basketball each Tuesday night.
"Everyone was coming together in our year, which just made things easier."
The school's principal, Katrina Middlebrook, described Kate as a hard-working student who deserved to be dux.
"Kate worked her pants off," Ms Middlebrook said.
"She did practice essay after practice essay and took notice of feedback from her teachers, often going back to rewrite practice tests."
Kate is unsure which university course she will put down as her first preference, but said it will probably be in the fields of sports science, physiotherapy, nutrition or nursing.
"Getting that ATAR makes it a hard choice, having so many options, so I will take my time to decide," she said.
"I know I want to do something that helps people."
School captain Madelaine Antrum and Kristin McDermott were the school's next highest ranked students, earning ATARs of 95.1 and 94.65 respectively.
"It is a huge relief," Madeleine said, "because the arts/law course at Sydney University I want to get in required an ATAR of 95, so I just scraped in."
Both girls praised their teachers and supportive classmates.
"We had the kind of teachers that you could text during the study break [prior to the HSC exams] and they would get back to you with advice straightaway," Kristen said.
Kirstin said she would like to study business or law.
Ms Middlebrook said 45 credits (marks of 90 or more for a subject) earned by 19 of the school's Year 12 students was well-deserved.
"They've shown such resilience," Ms Middlebrook said.
"The concern for me was how well they'd cope because they started their HSC courses when the bushfires hit.
"They are all good young people who have caring hearts, so they will do well in life, regardless of what ATAR they got."
