![CONFIDENT: Orange Christian School principal Ken Greenwood with HSC students Elliot Bangert, Rachel Dobber, Calista Krkac, Naomi Tatchell, Timothy Fogarty. Photo: JUDE KEOGH CONFIDENT: Orange Christian School principal Ken Greenwood with HSC students Elliot Bangert, Rachel Dobber, Calista Krkac, Naomi Tatchell, Timothy Fogarty. Photo: JUDE KEOGH](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/GpZJ7bTi6nvXt5tnNdnKeU/4b69b80b-567b-44b3-860a-a19064a7e552.jpg/r0_285_5568_3712_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Exceptional HSC results from 2021 are instilling confidence among year 12 and HSC students at Orange Christian School this year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The students returned to class on Thursday and were among the first to go back to school in Orange for the 2022 school year.
Principal Ken Greenwood said the school staff were pleased with the resilience shown by the 2021 HSC cohort in an interrupted year with delayed exams.
"It was a difficult year, they did better than expected," he said.
He said while the cohort as a whole had outstanding results, special congratulations need to be made to Harry Grant who had an ATAR of 99.5; school captain Sophie Coleman, who earned a band 6 in all subjects; and year 10 student Elliot Bangert who was among the top five students in the state for primary industries.
"More generally, we congratulate the whole cohort, who performed better than they expected, largely due to the support they received throughout last year," Mr Greenwood said.
"This year we have 30 senior students undertaking HSC subjects, and from the outside we encourage a growth, mind-set [involving a can do attitude], motivation, resilience and support.
"I think they have been really encouraged by these results from the cohort before and they can expect to succeed even if there are some difficulties that we are all working with at the moment.
"There's a very positive atmosphere in the school."
Not all the HSC students will be in year 12 this year, with some spreading it out across two or three years. However, all of the 19 year 12 students are completing their HSC.
"We have some who do it at an earlier year level. In some subjects like primary industries, students are able to achieve in that," Mr Greenwood said.
Strong support helped last year's cohort and Mr Greenwood said students were aware of the extra parent support and advocacy, with parents meeting on Zoom to discuss support packages for students, and to pray for them.
There was also individual support by teachers with small classes helping them to focus more in individual students.
It also enabled the teachers to give explicit and timely feedback on drafts and trial exams as well as make individual phone calls to students to offer them support.
The school also made sure the students could get face-to-face contact when permitted with outdoor lunch gatherings, a farewell class meeting, and a graduation dinner.
"Students at OCS know they are supported by an extended community," Mr Greenwood said.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.centralwesterndaily.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
HAVE YOUR SAY
- Send us a letter to the editor using the form below ...