NEWINGTON TOPS BOTH HSC AND IB - Newington College
NEWINGTON TOPS BOTH HSC AND IB - Newington College
NEWINGTON TOPS BOTH HSC AND IB - Newington College
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Advice from the Experts<br />
Advice from the Experts<br />
wayland jian<br />
• YEARS AT <strong>NEWINGTON</strong>: 2011–2012<br />
Stanmore<br />
• ATAR: 98.30<br />
• <strong>HSC</strong><br />
CONTR<strong>IB</strong>UTING FACTORS TO MY SUCCESS<br />
I think the support and help from the<br />
teachers and my parents, combined with<br />
the hard work and preparation I put in<br />
before exams and assessment tasks are<br />
what made the difference in my <strong>HSC</strong> year.<br />
PLEASING ASPECTS OF THE <strong>HSC</strong><br />
Looking back now, I am very glad with the<br />
diversity of the subjects you can choose<br />
to do for your <strong>HSC</strong>. This allowed me to<br />
choose the subjects I was interested<br />
in, and in turn, I was more focused and<br />
willing to put more effort in studying for<br />
these subjects.<br />
ADVICE FOR THOSE STILL TO FINISH<br />
SCHOOL <strong>AND</strong> THEIR PARENTS<br />
Start preparing early for assessments<br />
and exams; procrastination will get you<br />
nowhere.<br />
STUDY TIP<br />
Study in a comfortable place where you<br />
can concentrate without distractions such<br />
as phones, the Internet and iPods.<br />
MOST MEMORABLE <strong>HSC</strong> MOMENT<br />
The parties we had in school celebrating<br />
the end of the <strong>HSC</strong> course. Mr McVicar<br />
threw the best party for the boys in his<br />
Physics class. He knows how to party!<br />
CO-CURRICULAR INVOLVEMENT <strong>AND</strong> THE<br />
IMPACT THIS HAD<br />
As a member of the Rifle Shooting team,<br />
training and practicing became something<br />
I looked forward to every week. Sport<br />
helped me to clear my mind and relieve<br />
the stress from studying during the week.<br />
WHERE TO NOW<br />
I will be studying Civil Engineering with<br />
Architecture next year at UNSW.<br />
andrew see<br />
• YEARS AT <strong>NEWINGTON</strong>: 2007–2012<br />
Stanmore<br />
• ATAR: 98.20<br />
• <strong>IB</strong> Score 40<br />
CONTR<strong>IB</strong>UTING FACTORS TO MY SUCCESS<br />
The support of many great teachers, family<br />
and hard work leading up to the exam.<br />
PLEASING ASPECTS OF THE <strong>IB</strong><br />
I am very pleased with my choice of the <strong>IB</strong><br />
because it allowed me to focus on a broad<br />
range on subjects, and also put emphasis<br />
on assisting the community. I was able<br />
to study a variety of interesting subjects<br />
and become involved with Surf Life Saving<br />
Australia as a part of my service for CAS.<br />
EXPECTATION VS RESULTS<br />
I was pleased with most of my results,<br />
especially with my high scores in Standard<br />
Level Maths and Japanese as this is<br />
where I invested the most time studying<br />
after trials.<br />
ADVICE FOR THOSE STILL TO FINISH<br />
SCHOOL <strong>AND</strong> THEIR PARENTS<br />
Start early! This is especially important<br />
for <strong>IB</strong> students, due to the multitude of<br />
Internal Assessments and the Extended<br />
Essay which are all due in a space of<br />
roughly two weeks. The last thing you want<br />
is to realise you have four or five things to<br />
be done that are due in the same week<br />
and end up rushing madly to complete<br />
everything, which usually results in a<br />
poorly done job for something that counts<br />
towards your final mark.<br />
Also, start compiling notes as soon as you<br />
can. I felt that writing up a set of detailed<br />
study notes straight after every topic was<br />
completed (and still fresh in your mind!)<br />
saved a lot of time in the lead up for the<br />
exams. It became much easier to refer<br />
back when I was revising and saved me<br />
countless hours relearning material.<br />
MOST MEMORABLE <strong>IB</strong> MOMENT<br />
The relief when it was all over!<br />
WHERE TO NOW<br />
Hopefully I will study Medical Science at<br />
USYD and from there, study post-graduate<br />
Medicine.<br />
| Results 2012<br />
Results | 11<br />
James Grogin<br />
• YEARS AT <strong>NEWINGTON</strong>: 2000–2012<br />
Wyvern and Stanmore<br />
• ATAR: 98.20<br />
• <strong>IB</strong> Score 40<br />
CONTR<strong>IB</strong>UTING FACTORS TO MY SUCCESS<br />
Hard work, communication and mates.<br />
The first factor is self-explanatory but what<br />
many <strong>IB</strong> students remember too late is<br />
that “prior preparation prevents pretty poor<br />
performance”. Effective note-taking and<br />
consolidation of topics and concepts are<br />
absolutely vital, as everything over the two<br />
years can, and most likely will, be assessed.<br />
The second factor for success is<br />
communication. Teachers are the best<br />
source of information and are more than<br />
willing (most of the time) to give you a free<br />
period or send emails to help understand<br />
things. Talk to them! Let them know what<br />
you’re having issues with and you can<br />
go from there. Don’t feel embarrassed.<br />
Communication is important, but not just<br />
with your teachers, also with your parents<br />
and mates. If there are issues, your parents<br />
will do everything in their power to help. In<br />
addition, talk to your friends. Not only does<br />
this help you not feel isolated, it keeps you<br />
sane. Go out every once in a while and<br />
spend time not talking about school.<br />
ADVICE FOR THOSE STILL TO FINISH<br />
SCHOOL<br />
Respect your teachers and friends, but<br />
most of all, respect your parents. They want<br />
you to succeed, to get an education and for<br />
you to get what you want out of life.<br />
STUDY TIP<br />
Do not call it quits if there is more<br />
to be done especially when writing<br />
your Extended Essay or an Internal<br />
Assessment. When your flow of thinking is<br />
disrupted, it is clear in your writing, so do<br />
not go days in between writing sessions.<br />
Push on! A close friend stuck this up over<br />
her desk: “Five more minutes, one more<br />
question”. Finish that last paragraph,<br />
read another page, do another question<br />
and don’t lose faith! Everything you do<br />
now will help later. Not writing notes, not<br />
re-reading English texts, not doing the<br />
homework will only lead to a result you’re<br />
not happy with.<br />
CO-CURRICULAR INVOLVEMENT <strong>AND</strong> THE<br />
IMPACT THIS HAD<br />
I had three things that kept me going:<br />
Cadets, the <strong>College</strong> Choir and The Scarlet<br />
Pimpernel. They were so different to what<br />
I was doing in the classroom. My advice<br />
is keep up with Sport and do something<br />
creative – it helps immensely with CAS,<br />
and gives you an outlet for stress. That<br />
being said, don’t spread yourself too<br />
thinly. If you want a good result, don’t<br />
spend all of your time doing everything<br />
apart from study!<br />
MATTHEW SHIM<br />
• YEARS AT <strong>NEWINGTON</strong>: 2007–2012<br />
Stanmore<br />
• ATAR: 98.20<br />
• <strong>IB</strong> Score 40<br />
CONTR<strong>IB</strong>UTING FACTORS TO MY SUCCESS<br />
The last two years of high school were a<br />
huge roller coaster ride. They were the<br />
best and worst years of my life. When<br />
there are so many ups and downs, you<br />
need a firm foundation to stay positive<br />
and driven – for me, they were my friends,<br />
family and my faith. On top of this, all<br />
of my teachers had my best interests in<br />
mind, and were always willing to guide<br />
and help me with my studies.<br />
PLEASING ASPECTS OF THE <strong>IB</strong><br />
I loved all the classes in the <strong>IB</strong> but mostly<br />
my Economics class. The atmosphere<br />
within the classroom was always great<br />
and we became like a family.<br />
EXPECTATION VS RESULTS<br />
I was happily swamped in Co-curricular<br />
activities during Year 12, but I feel that I<br />
also had a decent balance with studies and<br />
social life. My overall result was expected,<br />
although I did better in some subjects than<br />
I thought I would and poorer in others.<br />
ADVICE FOR THOSE STILL TO FINISH<br />
SCHOOL <strong>AND</strong> THEIR PARENTS<br />
Balance your time well between<br />
socialising, studying and doing whatever<br />
Co-curricular you do. Make sure you don’t<br />
“burn out” and supplement whatever hard<br />
work you do with a reward. For parents:<br />
Don’t burden your son with too much<br />
doom and gloom about the <strong>HSC</strong>/<strong>IB</strong>. His<br />
last year of high school should be enjoyed<br />
and balanced.<br />
CO-CURRICULAR INVOLVEMENT <strong>AND</strong> THE<br />
IMPACT THIS HAD<br />
I was a Co-curricular culprit… I was<br />
involved in Football, NewFit, Music,<br />
Cadets, Duke of Edinburgh, Debating<br />
and SRC. It did get hard at times with the<br />
workload expected from school and Cocurricular,<br />
but overall, I think I came out<br />
the better for having done things that I am<br />
passionate about than if I hadn’t.<br />
WHERE TO NOW<br />
I plan on taking a gap year to travel<br />
Asia, Africa, Europe and North America<br />
to volunteer and work before studying<br />
Commerce (Liberal Studies, hopefully) at<br />
The University of Sydney.<br />
| Results 2012<br />
12