Schools from around the region were proud of the scores their VCE students received on Monday.
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Cadel Watson led the way at Castlemaine Secondary College where he scored an impressive 99.85.
Of the 68 Castlemaine Secondary students who received an ATAR, 9 per cent scored 90 or above.
The school also had two students achieve perfects scores in the English and mathematical methods subjects.
Sasha Sciberras was named Kyneton Secondary College’s dux with a score of 95.15.
Patrick Leahy scored an 88.8 to be named Rochester Secondary College's dux.
East Loddon P-12 College’s Lisa Mitchell was named dux of her class on Monday.
Lisa has already received an early offer through Aspire and will study exercise science and exercise physiology at La Trobe Bendigo next year.
“I was pretty nervous but excited too. I knew I had tried my hardest and whatever happens happens,” Lisa said.
“A few of my teachers inspired me to want to study exercise science. I really enjoyed learning physiology in PE.
“I was planning on waiting for the text but it was delayed and I ended up checking online.”
Outside of school Lisa enjoys running and playing netball for Calivil United but stress fractures forced her to wear a moon boot on each foot for a period this year.
“With two moon boots on, I just focused on my studies,” she said.
“My goal was to be dux but I just made I sure did the best I could through the year with each SAC and I made sure I chose classes I enjoyed.”
A total of 49,765 students have now completed the final chapter in their school lives and obtained their VCE and this year had a record completion rate of 97.9 per cent of students.
More than 14,000 students received a study score of 40 or more in a subject.
Minister for Education James Merlino urged all students to make the most of their hard work, and to strive for excellence in whatever it is they choose to do next.
“If you didn’t get the results you wanted, seek advice from your school and remember there are many pathways to success in life,” Mr Merlino said.
BENDIGO VCE STUDENTS LOOK TO THE FUTURE
BENDIGO’S class of 2016 VCE students put up some highly impressive scores this year.
From Girton Grammar School’s Sebastian Hawke finishing with a perfect score to Catholic College Bendigo having three students tie for top of the class, there are endless stories to tell and a lot of great scores to celebrate.
Jack Duckett, Emma McGregor and Aram Perez all scored 99.35 to be named joint dux at CCB.
The three-way tie is even more remarkable given the students studied different subjects.
“It is crazy. I found out Jack had the same score as me and even the odds of that are very small,” Emma said.
“So it’s crazy there are three of us with the same score. I am just so thrilled to get above what I needed.”
Emma received a perfect study score of 50 in her religion and society class.
CCB’s Amy Jacobs (health and human development) and Tayla Vlaeminck (physical education) also scored perfect study scores.
Aram said it was a shock to see his score. He hopes to study science at Monash.
“It is absolutely about how hard you work,” he said.
“ATAR doesn’t show how intelligent you are but how hard you work and anyone can work hard.”
Jack said the 99.35 score had yet to sink in. He wants to study health science at the University of Melbourne with a focus on research and genetics.
“When I saw it I was questioning what was happening,” he said.
“My advice to (next year’s year 12 students) is to just take it as it comes.”
Girton's Sebastian Hawke was another student who took time to accept his result.
Hawke scored a perfect 99.95. He said it took him an hour to fully realise that his score was real.
“At around 6.45am, I logged on and saw it there. ‘Am I dreaming?’ was first thing that wet through my head,” Sebastian said.
(After the exams) I felt I had gone alright but that there was no way I could get a perfect score.”
Sebastian said the secret to his score was having a good support network around him.
“You can’t get too down on yourself and you need to have a good group of friends to support you,” he said.
Sebastian hopes to study a bachelor of biomedicine at Melbourne University next year.
Girton Grammar also had three other students with scores above 99 with Alexandra Liacos and Andrew Kallasmae scoring 99.55 and Kyle Jacobsen scoring 99.3.
With a score of 98.4, Bendigo Senior Secondary College’s dux was Georgia Lewon.
Georgia scored above 40 in health and human development (49), German (44) and English (44).
Other BSSC students who score impressive results were Jackson Godfrey (98.05), Kelly Phan (97.85), Brady Price (97.1) and Darcie Andrea (93.75).
Darcie will head to the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra next January for military training before her education begins in March.
“Being able to have education as well as military training and being able to develop myself through that is the best of both worlds for me,” she said.
“For me, I needed 75 and anything above that is icing on cake. So to get into the 90s is a testament to the support system I had around me and the constant encouragement has helped me achieve that.
Brady is also hoping to head to Canberra and study the world of politics.
“My score was a bit higher than I anticipated, so I am looking at my preferences again,” he said.
“I would like to study a bachelor of politics, philosophy and economics at ANU. Eventually I want to get into politics and that's a really well-rounded degree.”
Graduate has diplomacy on his mind
A SCHOOL scholarship for an outstanding departing student will help VCE graduate Blake Reilly get to the United Nations.
The Girton Grammar School student will head to Europe in January as part of the UN Young Diplomats Tour.
He is only one of 16 students from Australia selected for the program that visits nine countries in four weeks.
While there Blake will begin exploring the complex realities of diplomacy in the 21st century.
He will also have the chance to meet international diplomats including UN representatives and European politicians.
The tour will finish in London with a three-day intensive placement run in partnership with world-leading NGOs.
Blake chose subjects in VCE that reflected his interests and ambitions of pursuing a career in either law or diplomacy.
Among them were global politics, economics and legal studies.
“I am so grateful for the wonderful support from both my family and the School over this past year,” Blake said.
While many students will be glad their high school studies are over, Blake said he thoroughly enjoyed his final year.
“My final year at school has proved to be my favourite,” he said.
“I think it is because of the prevailing sense of optimism throughout the cohort and the way everyone truly believes that their hard work will ultimately be rewarded.”
“(That) results in quite a buoyant atmosphere in the classroom and beyond.”
Blake said with results coming out there is a certain level of excitement for the opportunities that will follow school in the years to come.
“Personally, my aspirations were a strong motivation for my diligent approach to my studies,” he said.
“I hope to study law and international relations at university next year.
“I think it has really helped that I have been able to study subjects that feel relevant to my life for reasons other than merely the upcoming SAC or exam.
“My school education has been an absolute privilege, and something that I am sure I will value often in the future.”