In 2022, our Year 12 students displayed wisdom, perseverance, and courage through a most unique period of time. Emerging from two years of COVID-interrupted schooling, requiring extended periods of remote learning across Years 10 and 11, our Class of 2022 stepped into their final year of School with passion, resilience, and enthusiasm.

Our 2022 Year 12 Cohort achieved outstanding academic results across a broad range of subjects. The Median ATAR for the School was an exemplary 92.35 with a Median Study Score of 37, for a second consecutive year and over a third of the students (33%) achieved a Study Score above 40. These results replicate the outstanding achievements of the 2021 Cohort.

The finer details of the 2022 exemplary results reveal:

• 11% of students achieved an ATAR above 99; placing them in the top 1% of the State;
• 36% of students achieved an ATAR above 95; placing them in the top 5% of the State;
• 55% of students achieved an ATAR above 90; placing them in the top 10% of the State; and
• 70% of the cohort achieved above an ATAR of 85.

Congratulations to our 2022 St Catherine’s School Dux, Angela Yu, who achieved the highest score possible, a remarkable perfect ATAR of 99.95.

Along with outstanding results across her VCE subjects, including a perfect Study Score in English, Angela was School Co-Captain and Co-Editor of the student-led newspaper, as well as participating in a wide range of co-curricular activities across her Senior School years including Debating and Public Speaking, Music, Writers’ Club, Outdoor Education, Human Rights Club, Cultural Diversity Club, GSA and GSV Sport.

Angela’s perfect ATAR is a direct result of her mature and proactive approach to learning and involvement in School life. Angela flourished in her role as School Co-Captain, leading the School admirably with her approachable and inclusive nature. This year Angela was also accepted into the Yale Young Global Scholars Program.

Congratulations also go to St Catherine’s School’s Proxime Accessit to the Dux, Paula Chen, who achieved a remarkable ATAR of 99.9.

Paula achieved a perfect Study Score in English, along with outstanding results in Chemistry, Physics, Specialist Maths and Maths Methods, which she undertook in 2021. Paula approached all her learning and co-curricular activities at St Catherine’s with curiosity, independence and organisation. The outstanding results she has achieved today are testament to her purposeful approach to her studies. Paula also contributed to life at St Catherine’s through her involvement in Debating and Public Speaking, Music, House events, Chess Club and Cultural Diversity Club. Paula was also the 2022 recipient of the Australian Defence Force Future Innovators Award this year and received Full Colours in Debating.

The following students are also to be congratulated for achieving outstanding ATAR results above 99: Madeleine Farrer, Madeline Powell, Wing Man (Cecilia) Lau, Emilia Searby, Lan-Tian Yen-West and Charlotte Myer.

Congratulations to the following students who achieved first place in each subject:

Led by their Head of Year, Ms Vasiliki Spanos, our Class of 2022 supported and encouraged each other with compassion, good-humour, and humility. They are a remarkable group of young women whose balanced sense of leadership and self-worth will leave a positive legacy within St Catherine’s School.

As a School we acknowledge and thank our St Catherine’s teachers for their academic and professional expertise. Their wisdom in preparing, nurturing, and empowering our Class of 2022 for their futures was nothing short of exemplary.

Through the implementation of our School’s Strategic Plan, Towards 2025, we have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to cultivating the ‘thinking classroom’ at St Catherine’s. This key component of the Strategy is purposefully shaped by our partnership with the University of Queensland’s Teaching for Thinking Program, and designed to place meaningful learning and intellectual endeavour at the core of all teaching and learning experiences.

At the heart of this focus is a learning culture that values and nurtures deep learning through high levels of student engagement, coupled with authenticity in the development of resources used to stimulate classroom discussion. As a School, we look forward to exciting students with our Thinking Agenda, and to ultimately reduce the passivity of students working to only rote learn content. Greater emphasis on cognitive skills (thinking skills) aligns with the requirements of each new VCE syllabus, in addition to tertiary study and for a working life beyond school.