Samantha Anne Mackay from Bomaderry High School placed the Shoalhaven into this year’s HSC elite becoming First in Course for Textiles and Design, a remarkable achievement and another feather in the cap of her school, which has an excellent record in the creative arts. 

Ann Kirkby from Nowra Anglican College also excelled in Visual Art, scoring 97, as well as a host of high marks in her other subjects.

New benchmarks and records were set at other Shoalhaven schools, whose results helped make 2015 one of the best performing HSC years ever.

Not only was a great performing HSC cohort across NSW, it was one of the largest with 76,000 students sitting the exams.

Of those students, 1300 were rewarded a band 6 result across five subjects.

The HSC results also revealed that there has been a 20 per cent increase in the number of students undertaking science courses for their final exams.

Once again girls outperformed boys in the high achievers, making up 52  per cent of band 6 recipients.

Locally, we harvested a healthy crop of distinguished students – those who achieved band 6 results. 

Particularly outstanding was St John The Evangelist Catholic High School, which had 17 students achieve band 6, followed by Nowra Anglican College, with 13. 

Not only should the students be proud of their results but so, too, the teachers who provided guidance, inspiration and knowledge throughout the year. 

Many of them are as anxious as their students in the middle of December as they await the HSC results. And many have invested long hours and weekends in their students throughout the year – it can seem as if they, too, are sitting the exams. They have certainly been on the journey alongside their students.

While we celebrate the good results we should also reassure those who did not perform as well as they would have liked.

It’s been said often enough but it’s worth saying again – the HSC is not the be all and end all. A disappointing result now need not cast a permanent shadow over ambition for future studies and career paths. Plenty of people have messed up their HSC and gone on to do great things.