2008 Academic Achievements

Every year the students of Macarthur achieve great success in a wide range of fields of endeavour. The achievements listed here represent just some of those successes gained by our students in 2007.

HSC Achievements

Sixty-two students presented for the HSC at Macarthur in 2008. Two thirds of these students received at least one Band 5 or 6 result in one of their exams.

Jonathan Hartono and Thomas Hawthorn received Premier's Awards acknowledging their top level achievement in at least five subjects. Belinda Hopkins came fifth in NSW in Indonesian Extension and Indonesian Continuers.

Over 15% of the candidates presented for the HSC in 2008 gained UAIs over 90 with a further 20% gaining results in 80s. Well over 50% of the candidature from Macarthur gained UAIs over 70.

Rosalie Baldwin was nominated for Art Express and Naomi Alexander was nominated for the DesignTech exhibition for their major works. Andrew Ingram won the Best Cinematography Award in the Robin Anderson Film Awards conducted for HSC students across Australia. Alexandra Cook auditioned and was accepted for the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).

Over 70% of students have received first round offers of University places for 2009. They will pursue study in areas such as Commerce, Music, Education, Design and Visual Communication, Psychology, Communication and Media, Veterinary Science, Medicine, International Studies, Engineering, Law, Science, Computer Science, Marine Science, Aviation, Business Administration, Social Work and Medical Science.

Academic Achievements

NAPLAN

More than a million Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students from every state and territory in Australia sat literacy and numeracy tests (NAPLAN) for the first time in 2008.

Macarthur's results were very impressive, particularly in Year 7 and Year 9 where our students were over-represented in the top band compared to state averages by more than 100% in several areas. Year 3 and Year 5 were also over-represented in the top bands. Macarthur ranked above the comparative school group (CSG) average of our region at all year levels.

Young Scientist

Catherine Baldwin (Year 10) was a finalist in the Years 7-9 section of the STANSW Young Scientist 2008 where she won second place for her chemistry project on the "relationship between burning natural and synthetic fibres". Her project was also chosen to go on to the BHP Billiton awards.

Debating

Macarthur debaters were successful in the local MISA competition and in the HICES Chapman Cup, a statewide debating compeition which they won in their first year of entry. Jake Gonzo, Jessica Sharp, Aleksandra Jez and Biannca Furchtmann from Year 9 won eight of their nine debates in the competition and were named overall winners.

Jake was named Best Debater of the series competition-wide, Jessica came second, and Aleksandra was given the award for best debater in the final, all significant achievements in addition to the win.  It means that individually our students are looking good against the best speakers in all the HICES schools.

History Europe Excursion

Eighteen Senior History students travelled to Europe in 2008 to complete a series of Ancient and Modern History site studies, an opportunity that greatly enhanced their history studies  and broadened their horizons.
Robert Thompson, Year 11, was one of only twenty one students from across Australia selected to attend a Physics School in Canberra late in 2008. He was also placed in the top percentile in the NSW Chemistry Quiz.
Kusam Nagi was awarded the UWS Year 11 Most Outstanding Student Scholarship for 2008.

Maths Challenge

In the gruelling Maths Challenge conducted each year by the Australian Maths Trust, Elizabeth Mackie, Kate Stone and  Thanyia Panapiti achieved the outstanding award of Credit. In the Australian Mathematics Competition sixteen students earned Distinctions and Daniel Hewson, Year 10 received a High Distinction.