| Wonderful HSC Result: a Blessing |
2009-03-01 |
St Mary and St Mina’s Coptic Orthodox College is so thankful for the way the College and its students have been blessed with a superb HSC result.
2008 saw the first Year 12 cohort – 17 students - sitting for the HSC. We all held our breath in
expectation. There were no prior result patterns upon which to make predictions. The students were all wonderful young men and women, with their own gifts, but of widely varying interests and academic aptitudes. One expects a range of abilities at a non-selective school and this makes for varying HSC results each year. The crucial thing is for the school to help the students do the best they possibly can. This is called the “valued added” factor – that is, the effect the school’s teaching and care has on the students’ result.
Let me give the bare bones of the 2008 result.
Top two UAIs 99.95 (Joseph Magdy) and 99.80 (Daniel Ishak) who were also both on the Top All Rounders List.
Seven students appearing in the Merits List.
One student 10th in Chemistry.
30% or more of the St Mary and St Mina’s candidature gained the highest band possible in 5 of the 20 courses studied.
100% of the St Mary and St Mina’s candidature gained the highest two bands possible in 5 of the 20 courses studied.
50% or more of the St Mary and St Mina’s candidature gained the highest two bands possible in half of all courses studied.
The College was ranked 65th in Mathematics and 69th in English – a wonderful achievement for its first HSC.
And congratulations to our School Certificate students on magnificent Mathematics result.
19% of St Mary and St Mina’s candidature gained a Band 6 in SC Mathematics
50% of St Mary and St Mina’s candidature gained a Band 5 or 6.
The College’s fine results have been aided by the small size of the school and the employment of the best teachers to be found. The College is young and has had something to prove. It has needed to establish itself. There has been a huge commitment on the part of the whole College community – students of course, parents, teachers and the supporting churches who have all sought to work towards the common goal of providing our young men and women the best start in life. We are so grateful for a truly team effort.
A Brief History of the Young but Clever College
The Primary School began in March 1999 at Bexley in a late nineteenth century Department of Education building. The school building sits side by side with the Coptic Cathedral – a strong symbol of the College’s raison d’etre. Its opening ceremony testified to the significance of its cultural identity while placing this cultural identity firmly in an Australian context. At the opening ceremony were His Grace Bishop Paula, Bishop of Tanta from Egypt, and the reverend Fred Nile, together with the NSW Minister for Education, the Honourable John Aquilina. The College is an Australian school bringing to this setting a rich Coptic heritage.
The Secondary School began its operation in February 2005 at Rockdale, a second campus, with just Year 7 and 8. In 2008, the Secondary campus spanned the Year 7 to 12 secondary continuum. The founding headmaster, Mr Michael Atteya, and the founding director, Father Mikhail Mikhail, after their original pioneering work, left the college and then were called back in 2007 when the fledgling school encountered the inevitable teething problems symptomatic of all new schools.
For 2008, Mr Atteya recruited a largely new staff charged with taking the College forward. He appointed new experienced Heads of Primary and Secondary who were to lend their experience to overcoming problems encountered as the College became a more complex entity. As a K-12 phenomenon, though very small, the College still contains within it all the elements of much larger schools. Small schools provide their own special challenges. Small schools need to find ways of providing a wide enough range of subjects taught by a large enough pool of experienced teachers Small community schools are expensive to run and as such require clever financial planning to make them accessible to all the families within that community. The College was begun to fill the need for a Coptic school within the St George area. It was based on a
firm foundation of Christian faith; led by Christian staff; and guided by a mission to assist each Orthodox College child to grow up in the fullness of Christ and be nurtured as Disciples of Christ. The Christian Faith is inclusive and not exclusive, and as the College developed, it attracted students from Chinese backgrounds, and, of course, other Christian denominations.
On 14th March 2008, a ceremony was held at the Bexley campus cathedral overseen by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III’s emissary, His Eminence Metropolitan Bishoy – Secretary of the Holy Synod. This ceremony established the significance of St Mary and St Mina’s Coptic Orthodox College within the Coptic diaspora. The Pope pledged ongoing support to the College, recognising at the same time its independence as a school and its relationship with Coptic institutions worldwide.
In 2008, St Mary and St Mina’s Coptic Orthodox College underwent two inspections by the educational authorities. One of the Year 11 and 12 academic program, ensuring its compliance with standards, and a second monitoring standards compliance from K-12. While a challenge for a new school and largely new staff, this degree of attention from the accrediting authorities was a blessing for the College. The official scrutiny assured the College families that the new school was providing a sound education according to the syllabuses and regulations of the NSW Board of Studies. It also recognised the new school as an educational establishment that had come of age.
St Mary and St Mina’s College is one of three Coptic Orthodox colleges in Sydney. The college is a cultural cornerstone for the Coptic community. It is important for this community that the three centres of education provide choice and variety. Choice must be available to any vital and vibrant community if it is to take its place proudly and confidently in a multicultural democratic society.
St Mary and St Mina’s two campuses have a character all their own. They are small and welcoming in a non-institutional way. They are not forbidding institutions and they extend a sense of family that is at the heart of the community’s Christian ethos extending back to the beginnings of the early Christian Church. We look forward to a long and successful career of serving our students and their families.
Stephen J. Stoneham, Head of Secondary
|
| |
|
|
|
