St Raphael’s celebrated the achievements of its highest-performing students at the Distinguished Achievers Awards Ceremony on February 13.
The event recognized the dedication and hard work of students, teachers, and school leaders, highlighting the school’s journey of academic improvement.
Christina Tremble, Executive Director of Catholic Education Diocese of Bathurst, addressed the audience, acknowledging the school’s progress since the expansion to Years 11 and 12 in 2013.
She emphasised the school’s commitment to academic and vocational excellence.
"St Raphael’s is a very old school,more than 150 years old,but very young in terms of the HSC," Ms Tremble said.
Latest Stories
"Since the first HSC cohort in 2017, the school has worked hard to provide a wide variety of subjects to support the needs and interests of students," she said.
Ms Tremble praised the school’s success in lifting student performance, noting fewer students in the lower bands and improvements in various subjects.
"You’ve shown improvement in the last few years by having fewer students in the bottom two bands through teacher guidance, good advice, and students choosing subjects wisely," She said.
"This year, St Raphael’s exceeded the state average in subjects like English Extension 1, Legal Studies, and Visual Arts, with some results sitting 6% above the state average."
"This is a phenomenal result."
"Congratulations to everyone," Ms Tremble said.
She also emphasised the importance of continuous learning, personal bests, and resilience.
"The HSC is both an individual and a collective journey," she said.
"Students achieve their results on their own, but the striving and momentum come from working together with their teachers."
"The path to success is not always straight, and there will be setbacks, but they can be overcome."
She concluded with advice for the 2025 HSC cohort, urging them to work together and support one another.
"The HSC is a team sport."
"Bring everyone along and encourage each other to achieve your best," she said.
