Celebrating Remarkable Achievements and Exciting Opportunities in 2024

‘…be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
Romans 12:2

Dear Students, Parents and Carers

Welcome back to the School year for 2024. We are eager and excited about the possibilities that this year holds for each and every one of our students. As we embark on this journey together, let’s take a moment to celebrate and acknowledge the remarkable achievements of our boys and the promising opportunities that lie ahead.

Outstanding HSC Results: A Testament to Excellence

Shore was proud to announce its best-ever Higher School Certificate (HSC) results, for the Class of 2023. We congratulate the boys for the dedication, hard work, collaboration, energy and enthusiasm they demonstrated throughout the year. Here are some key highlights:

Student ATARs (Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks) are the ‘entry ticket’ which decides which students are offered which courses at which universities. As the ATAR is expressed out of 100, it looks like a mark but, in fact, it is a place in the state (in the nation really, as it is a national system divided into state segments). The top ATAR is 99.95 (up to 50 students perhaps tie at this level), the next is 99.90 and so on.

17 boys achieved ATARs over 99, placing them in the top 1% of the state. This is the greatest number and highest percentage of students we have ever had with an ATAR 99+.
Congratulations to our duxes Charles Ashton, George Chen and Angus Holliday, all receiving an ATAR of 99.90.
32% of our boys were in the top 5% of the state, gaining an ATAR of 95 or more. This is the greatest number and highest percentage of students we have ever had with an ATAR 95+.
We achieved a median ATAR of 91.90. This is the best median ATAR result as a school we have ever achieved.

As the media are unable to obtain ATARs, they have for a long time sought to use Band 6 results, which are not in themselves usually significant for university entry (except insofar as they indicate good marks), as an unofficial league table which they present as a proxy for school quality. Some then feign surprise that these league tables are dominated mostly by government and independent selective schools. They do not distinguish between more straightforward courses, where it is easier to gain a high mark, and more difficult courses. In fact, scaling to an ATAR can strip away much of the conversion value of high marks in easier courses. I am making this statement from a position of strength in Shore in our Band 6 results (see below). Shore was rated as 24th in the state by the media league tables, a considerable improvement on the previous couple of years.

It is not that Band 6 results are of no value, they indicate exactly what they are intended to reveal: students who have scored above 90% in a subject. This indicates a level of excellence achieved by students and, most certainly, indicates excellent teaching. We, therefore, celebrate them in their own terms:

We achieved a total of 434 Band 6 results in 2023, this is the greatest number of Band 6 results we have ever received.
82% of our HSC results were either Band 6 or Band 5.
We obtained 60 Band 6 results in English (compared with 32 in 2022, 34 in 2021 and 32 in 2020)
In Mathematics, we gained 142 Band 6 results (compared with 115 in 2022, 89 in 2021 and 90 in 2020)
Merit Listings were achieved by 75% or more of our candidates in Drama, Mathematics Extension 2, Music 2, Music Extension, German Extension, English Extension 2, Latin Continuers and Latin Extension. 50% of our candidates in English Extension 1, Mathematics Advanced, Mathematics Extension 1, Music 1, French Continuers, Visual Arts, and Japanese Continuers achieved Merit Listings.
The following subjects had an examination mean 10 marks above the state average; Ancient History, Drama, Business Studies, Physics, Mathematics Standard 2, PDHPE, Modern History, Design and Technology, Economics, Investigating Science, Mathematics Advanced and Chinese Continuers.

Not every boy has the aptitude to achieve state rankings. Many have strengths which lie in different areas. We are equally delighted for boys who achieved personal bests or overcame all kinds of adversities to maximise their results. We are also aware that some boys are ‘late bloomers’ who, with maturity at university, find an extra gear in their academic engine and proceed really well.

We also thank our staff for their energy and enthusiasm in teaching the boys in Year 12 and in earlier years. We also acknowledge the partnership with parents and the love and support parents provided the boys at home throughout what can be a stressful year for boys and parents alike.

For a comprehensive analysis and breakdown of our HSC results, Mr Matt Leeds, Deputy Head Academic, will provide a detailed report in the first edition of Shore Reports 2024.

University Entry: A Diverse Range of Opportunities

Beyond the classroom, our Class of 2023 are embracing a diverse range of opportunities as they transition to university life. The breakdown of university offers by field of study reveals the following trends: Management and Commerce (31%), Science and Engineering (30%) and Humanities (21%).

Noteworthy is the fact that 40% of our cohort gained entry to the University of Sydney, 23% to the University of Technology Sydney, and 20% to the University of New South Wales. The experiences of our top ATAR achievers further illustrate the varied paths our students are taking:

Charles Ashton: Chancellor’s Scholarship at Melbourne University – Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Law.
George Chen: Bachelor of Medical Science at the University of New South Wales.
Angus Holliday: Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Computer Science at the University of New South Wales. Recipient of The Scientia Scholarship.
Alexander Mingay: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.
Aaron Rucinski: Bachelor of Law, University of Cambridge.
Ethan Tan: Bachelor of Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University.

More than ever before we also have students receiving offers from overseas universities including Stanford, Columbia, New York University, Brown, Cambridge and Oxford.

Welcome New Staff: Strong Additions to Our Shore Team

As a school, at the beginning of every year we welcome new staff to Shore. I wanted to highlight three key staff appointments in leadership roles as we begin 2024:

Mr Stuart McCormack, Head of Students, brings a wealth of experience from previous roles as Acting Deputy Principal & Deputy Head Senior School at Thomas Hassall Anglican College, Richard Johnson Anglican School and Norwest Christian College.
Ms Eleni Langas, Head of Counselling, joins us with a background as a psychologist at Tara and a private practice psychologist, along with expertise as a family therapist.
Ms Wendy Abernethy, Head of Northbridge Campus, brings her 18 years of experience at Tara, where she served as Acting Head of Junior School, Dean of Learning, Stage Leader, Classroom teacher, and Science specialist.

Looking Forward to a Wonderful Year: Embracing Growth and Excellence

As we commence this academic year, let us collectively commit ourselves to growth, excellence, and the pursuit of knowledge. The achievements of 2023 set a high standard, and we are confident that 2024 will be extraordinary, as Shore years invariably are. Our dedicated staff, exceptional students, and supportive community of parents make a Shore education truly unique. Together, let’s make this year one of unparalleled success and growth. Welcome back to Shore, and here’s to a truly wonderful 2024!

We want a Shore education to be truly transformative; our aspiration for our students is that they ‘be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (Romans 12:2). Thriving, flourishing in our modern world will require nothing less.

Where is the Ailing Headmaster?

As most of you would know, your Headmaster is currently on sick leave officially, which in effect means doing his best to run the School from home with his laptop. This is a dangerous time for the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) because a Headmaster unshackled from day-to-day functions (where members of the ELT are deputising splendidly) has the time to think strategically and that, invariably, results in all sorts of enquiries into possible developments at Shore! Hence, they have been set strategic initiatives to appraise.

The real purpose of these paragraphs is to assure parents that all is, and will be, well. You have a right to know. What you may not know is that I created quite a scene on the first of the staff days, leaving the Smith Auditorium in a wheelchair, undertaking an unplanned inspection of our Medical Centre (as a patient) and testing the Ambulance service and state hospital system. All manner of tests for things awful proved negative. The condition is an inflammation in a nerve in one ear which, when malfunctioning, affects balance and eyesight. A full recovery and early return to the office are anticipated. I am staying at home so as not to be a danger to myself and others and, particularly, because it does not look good if the Headmaster cannot walk in a straight line! The treatment is the most wonderful I have ever received: the Professor has ordered ‘go to the beach’. The purpose is that trying to walk in loose sand is the ideal terrain for trying to reset balance. This creates a certain amount of Protestant work ethic guilt when I am not there with the students and staff, but I am compensating by working into the early hours. I do feel deprived as moving into the second week, I have only been able to speak to four boys where we’ve crossed paths. Back to the normal hurly burly soon! The cards and emails from members of the community have been nice to receive.

Dr John Collier
Headmaster