This was the headline of an article in one of the local papers referring to the outstanding results received by Mt St Patrick College students in the 2010 Higher School Certificate. The College was ranked in the Top 100 Best Performing Schools in the State with eightieth place out of over seven hundred schools offering the HSC. Mt St Patrick was first in the local area and the highest ranked Catholic School in the Lismore Diocese.
Xanthe Eppelstun was second in the State in General Mathematics with a mark of 99. She received a Band 6, a mark of 90 or above, in every subject and, as a result, made the Board of Studies Top Achievers List. Xanthe received an ATAR of 99.1. Thirteen students received an ATAR above 90.
Two other students received exceptionally high ranks in the State. Elle McDonald was fourth in the State in Earth and Environmental Science while Stephanie Browning was ranked ninth in Community and Family Studies.
Mt St Patrick College was listed sixty seven times on the Board of Studies Distinguished Achievers List for obtaining a mark of 90 or above in a subject. This is an exceptional result considering that there were only sixty five students in Year 12. Brydie Egan and Paul Larkin received five Band 6’s while Elle McDonald, Sally Priwitzer-Straub, Leanora Collett and Olivia Thornton received four Band 6’s. Twenty two subjects were examined with twenty one subjects above State average, indicating that all students did very well.
Students were nominated for ONStage, a showcase of the best HSC Drama Performances in the State, and for ARTExpress, an exhibition of the best major works by HSC Visual Art students in the State.
Some exceptional individual results include: Brydie Egan 49 out of 50 in Studies of Religion; Stephanie Browning 96 in Community and Family Studies; Elle McDonald 96 in Earth and Environmental Science; Bridget Wilson 96 in Industrial Technology; Celeste Bloomfield 95 in Biology; Paul Larkin 95 in Legal Studies and James McEwan 95 in Senior Science. Claire Chauvier of Year 11 received a Band 6 in Chemistry and Mathematics while Year 10 students, Maddison Sherrah and Tobias O’Grady, received a Band 6 in Mathematics.
2010 is the fifth consecutive year that the College has ranked third or higher out of the twenty nine schools on the North Coast. During that time, the College has placed in the Top 200 Schools in the State, or better. On two occasions in the last four years Mt St Patrick College has ranked in the Top 100 Best Performing Schools in the State.