Academic Results

Below is a message from our School Principal, Simon Shepherd, sharing the results of our Class of 2020.

Westminster Class of 2020 SACE Results Overview

It is a great pleasure to share with you an overview of the outstanding results achieved by our students in the Class of 2020 in the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE).

At Westminster, we are proud that our students have still been able to achieve a level of academic excellence in a year that has been dominated by COVID-19. It has been a year where the resilience of students has been put to the test and we are delighted that all 149 students in the Class of 2020 embraced their learning to achieve their SACE. We have seen our graduating students prepare themselves for an uncertain world beyond school that will undoubtedly continue to change with some degree of volatility. For now though, the ATAR remains a significant measure of our Year 12 results.

The median ATAR for the Class of 2020 is 86.05, higher than 2019 and continuing the trend of high results in the past eight years to line up with current reporting.

Of all our SACE (Stage 2) grades achieved in 2020, 52.1% were As, compared to a State result of approximately 30%, while over 91.3% of our grades were As and Bs, compared to a State result of approximately 73%. For those in those in Year 12, As and Bs together represent 92.1% of all the Year 12 grades. These results overall have bettered the high standard recorded in 2019.

Of the 145 students eligible for an ATAR:

• 20.7% of students achieved an ATAR equal to or above 95
• 38.6% of students achieved an ATAR equal to or above 90
• 61.4% of students achieved an ATAR equal to or above 80.

I am delighted to announce that our 2020 Dux is Zoe Smith, who achieved an outstanding ATAR of 99.65. This year, Zoe received a SACE Merit in Dance and had already recorded a SACE Merit for Scientific Studies in 2019. Our Proxime Accessit is Jade Pearson-McKenzie with another outstanding ATAR of 99.5 and with SACE Merits this year in Biology and Psychology, adding to her SACE Merits awarded in 2019 in Scientific Studies and Research Project B.

Every student in the cohort is to be congratulated for their efforts. In particular, we are proudly note the following students who join our Dux and Proxime Accessit to make up those who achieved an ATAR of 95 and above:

• Timothy Blyzno achieved an ATAR of 99.4
• Rianna Rawat (two Merits) achieved an ATAR of 99.4
• Aleisha Elliott (two Merits) achieved an ATAR of 99.1
• Elise Long (one Merit) achieved an ATAR of 98.95
• Ruby Liptak (two Merits) achieved an ATAR of 98.85, and is also a recipient of the Governor of SA Commendation Excellence Award
• Rhianna Barney achieved an ATAR of 98.8
• Samuel Blyzno achieved an ATAR of 98.6
• Yuqi Fang (two Merits) achieved an ATAR of 98.35
• Mu Zhang (three Merits) achieved an ATAR of 98.2
• Caitlin Edwards (one Merit) achieved an ATAR of 97.95
• Hannah Venturi (one Merit) achieved an ATAR of 97.9
• Grace Taplin (one Merit) achieved an ATAR of 97.8
• Alice Wyness (one Merit) achieved an ATAR of 97.8
• Sienna Rouvray achieved an ATAR of 97.7
• Angus Thomson achieved an ATAR of 97.45
• George Turnbull (one Merit) achieved an ATAR of 97.1
• Riley Chapman (one Merit) achieved an ATAR of 96.55
• Zhiai Zhang achieved an ATAR of 96.4
• Patrick Davison achieved an ATAR of 96.05
• Timothy Middleton achieved an ATAR of 96
• Kaine Baldwin (one Merit) achieved an ATAR of 95.8
• Mae Johnson (one Merit) achieved an ATAR of 95.65
• Kurt Schenk (one Merit) achieved an ATAR of 95.65
• Emily Close achieved an ATAR of 95.4
• Gemma Dandie achieved an ATAR of 95.4
• Claire Rose (one Merit) achieved an ATAR of 95.1
• Joshua Gomez achieved an ATAR of 95
• Amy Liew (one Merit) achieved an ATAR of 95

The Governor of South Australia Commendation Excellence Award recognises excellence in Year 12 SACE subjects and how students have used their personal qualities to make a difference in their local communities. We are honoured to have Ruby Liptak and Sidhaarath Sellvakumaran (Modified SACE) achieve this prestigious award.

Westminster’s Class of 2020 was awarded 38 SACE Merits for ‘perfect’ subject scores, and an additional four SACE Merits were awarded to Years 10 and 11 students, undertaking Stage 2 subjects this year. SACE Merits have been awarded across 18 different subject areas, reflecting the range of learning options available to our students:

• Agricultural Production – two Merits
• Biology – five Merits
• Business and Enterprise – two Merits
• Chemistry – two Merits
• Dance – one Merit
• Digital Communications Solutions – one Merit
• English – one Merit
• English Literary Studies – two Merits
• General Mathematics – two Merits
• Japanese – one Merit
• Material Solutions (Fashion) – five Merits
• Mathematical Methods – two Merits
• Music Solo Performance – two Merits
• Outdoor Education – three Merits
• Psychology – two Merits
• Research Project B – six Merits (including five awarded in 2019 to the Class of 2020 and one to a Year 11 student in the Class of 2021)
• Scientific Studies – two Merits (both awarded in 2019 to the Class of 2020)
• Workplace Practices – one Merit (one awarded in 2019 to the Class of 2020).

Outstanding academic results come from a close collaboration with student, parent and teacher, never more so than during this difficult year. We thank our Director of Learning, Andrea Sherwood, Faculty leaders and teachers and support staff throughout the whole School, who commit to providing the exceptional education we offer students from Early Learning through to Year 12 in the classroom and online. We acknowledge Head of Senior School David Wallage and Head of Senior Students Tony Ritson (’93) for their dedicated support and guidance of our Year 12 cohort. We acknowledge parents, caregivers and families for supporting their sons and daughters throughout their years at Westminster. Thank you and congratulations to you all.

We can all agree that this has been a year like no other and our Class of 2020 has shown a remarkable commitment to doing their very best. To our graduating students, we wish you all the very best for your future success and look forward to welcoming you back to Westminster at any time to share with us your life beyond school.

Warm regards

Simon Shepherd
Principal