As the awarded Dux of the college in 2020, Jenny has been a consistent high performer throughout her time at Joseph Banks Secondary College. Achieving an ATAR of 94.5 last year, Jenny’s results place her in the top 6% of students in Australia! Always thinking of others, Jenny immediately stated how proud she was of the Year 12 cohort last year when results were released, before sharing her own personal success. From early in her middle school journey, Jenny has set her sights on entering the medicine field which not only required high grades, but to sit the medical external exams and interviews (UCAT) during Year 12. Since completing Year 12 and ATAR, Jenny has done some deep reflection on her pathway choices, electing to follow her passions of helping people and continuing to use her talents in writing into a career in law. Her commitment to pushing herself to the highest standards provided her with a direct entry into Law (Juris Doctor) at UWA. When questioned about her secrets to success in senior school, Jenny looks beyond her refined study habits and speaks about her teachers and classmates. She credits teachers for committing time to help students improve their understanding, providing variety in lessons and setting up engaging group discussions and activities. Specifically, she mentions Mrs Bradley for always challenging her independence and Ms Italiano for her engaging conversations, tips for study and ensuring balance across a heavy academic workload. Her highlight of the year was attending the zoo with Ms Italiano and Ms Gepp during study week as an “engaging way to review content”. Jenny’s advice for future Joseph Banks students includes: - Always seeking to understand and badgering the teacher for knowledge - Establish an effective diary and planning technique - Finding study techniques that work for you - Explaining concepts to others to solidify your knowledge. Jenny also spoke about the importance of teamwork, particularly with study and helping one another reach collective success. Her success has continued into 2021, being awarded the Hackett Scholarship at UWA. For those that have taught or worked alongside Jenny, they will immediately speak to her bubbly personality and tenacity to learn and understand. She exhibits a thirst for knowledge and encourages her peers to do the same. A leader inside and outside of the college, Jenny lights up any room she enters. We cannot wait for it to be the supreme court one day!

Scoring a whopping 96.30, Vivian Vincent was the top performing ATAR student in the Apollo cohort at Joseph Banks in 2020. A dedicated student, Vivian set his expectations high when he aspired to follow a Medicine pathway in Year 10. Things soon changed when Vivian rekindled his love of Mathematics and Physics in senior school. Fuelled by his curiosity to understand data, trends and patterns, his passion for the subject area has motivated him to study Data Science at Curtin University in 2021. Vivian also plans to study Physics in the future and follow his passion to combine Mathematics and Science in a real-world context. When asked about his success, Vivian immediately credits his teachers at Joseph Banks Secondary College and their commitment to developing him as a “whole person”. He values their ability to not only teach, but to guide students to figure out answers themselves and increase their independence. Vivian speaks fondly of his Maths and Physics teachers, Mr Seglar and Mr Harris, and the way they gave up their time to work with him during after school study sessions, provide resources and to generally give advice to manage his time and stress levels. He firmly states that he “could not have done it without the teachers and staff at JBSC”. Between semester one and two, Vivian focused on his time management and developing effective study routines, adding an impressive 10 ranking points to his predicted ATAR. When asked for some advice for younger students, Vivian emphasised the following: - Establish a healthy study routine – make time for the things that will value add to your mental health/wellbeing, without taking away from learning - Ensure you review your work and notes from earlier lessons and go backwards often. You never know when that question from Term 1 might pop up in an exam. Vivian has recently continued his rolling success, receiving a 3-year Excellence Scholarship at Curtin University and starting his own tutoring service – WestCoast Learning. Vivian is certainly an impressive young man on paper, with his smile and humble nature adding to the package. We are very proud of his success at Joseph Banks Secondary College and look forward to seeing Vivian add immense value to the world of Data, Mathematics and Physics in the future.

Since an early age, David was always drawn towards an Engineering pathway. His love of Mathematics and Science was actively pursued throughout high school and culminated with a Senior School enrolment in Specialist Mathematics, Maths Methods and Engineering to fuel his passion. It certainly paid off when David achieved an ATAR of 93.90, placing him in the top 7% of students in Australia. David is currently enrolled at Curtin University, studying Mechatronic Engineering. Here, David will explore the world of automated systems, robotics and the future application of these in Agriculture, Mining and Aerospace industries. When asked about what he attributes to his success, David is quick to pay respect to his classmates and teachers. He credits them for keeping him accountable and ensuring they worked together towards a common goal, creating collective efficacy. David values the relationships formed with his teachers and the efforts they went to establish these, organizing a Mathematics camp to Rottnest to solidify the team early in the year. He says that his teachers “kept us motivated, outwardly enjoyed teaching and liked seeing students succeed. They treated us with respect and were genuine”. Furthermore, David recognizes the time his teachers gave them, answering questions before and after school to ensure everyone was on the same page. David’s advice for younger students is to make sure you get to know your classmates – they will be your study partners, motivators and support network. He talks about being friends with the smartest people in the room and to ensure you are seeking support from them when you need it. David also discusses purpose and balance, ensuring you “don’t over exert yourself if you have no value”. David’s success has continued beyond high school where he was the recipient of a three-year Excellence Scholarship at Curtin University. We have no doubt that David’s success will continue long into the future and we are excited what will come of his areas of study. Well done, David!

Another of our students that placed in the top 10% in the country is Natalie Botha. Achieving an excellent ATAR of 91.65, Natalie was able to follow her dream and gain a direct pathway into Paramedical Science at Edith Cowan University. She is passionate about her study in this areas and is really enjoying the mixed mode of theory and practical based learning it offers. Natalie’s work ethic and dedication to success can be attributed to her pathway identification all the way back in Year 9. Her decision to select a career that would provide her with mental challenges, as well as physical, motivated her to do her absolute best through her middle years of school and into senior school subjects. She selected Year 10 subjects that directly related to her pathway, electing to study numerous Science subjects and some highly engaging PE subjects, whilst also meeting requirements in Mathematics and English. Aside from her internal drive for excellence, Natalie recognizes the work of her teachers in supporting and pushing her towards her pathway goal. Their “focus on results, provision of practice exams and thorough understanding of the syllabus” was greatly appreciated in 2020. In particular, Natalie speaks fondly about Ms Gepp who “pushed us to our absolute best” and Mr Jones whose “passion for the subject and ability to explain concepts and adapt learning to suit our needs” enabled strong learning experiences that were personalised for his students. When asked for some advice for younger students, Natalie keeps it simple – “Play to your strengths and enroll in subjects you love”. Aside from academics, Natalie’s reflection on her time at Joseph Banks is positive, highlighting the Year 12 Ball, Adventure World excursion and Year 12 Human Biology Zoo trip as some of her fondest memories. At Joseph Banks, we are extremely happy to assist in fulfilling Natalie’s pathway goal and supporting her journey. You have made us very proud, Natalie!