In terms of exam results, Wakatipu High’s cup almost runneth over.
New principal Oded Nathan is thrilled with his senior students’ 2022 academic achievements, posted recently.
He says despite Covid and Phase 2 building disruption, results have continued to climb, to the credit of both students and staff.
He says 79% of Year 13 students achieved university entrance, ‘‘which will put us right up there with the top co-ed schools in the country’’.
He’s particularly proud of the 94% rate for NCEA Level 2 Year 12 students, because the school’s ceiling had been 95%, allowing for the balance having varying learning needs.
Moreover, 22% achieved Level 2 ‘‘with excellence’’, putting them in contention for university scholarships.
‘‘Last year, our Year 13 students got over $500,000 in university scholarships, due primarily to their academic achievements, but also their all-round excellence,’’ Nathan says.
Fifteen seniors also achieved 21 scholarships between them — the second highest amongst Otago schools.
‘‘Twenty-one is really high, we last got over 20 in 2019.
‘‘Basically, if you get a scholarship you’re in the top two to three percent in the country in that subject.
‘‘It doesn’t give you a lot— it gives you $500 — so you have to be really intrinsically motivated.’’
Nathan says they’re also ‘‘quite proud of how we’ve accelerated some of the literacy and numeracy achievements of our junior school’’.
As the town’s only high school, ‘‘we’re really cognisant of the fact we need to support every single one of those students’’, whether in the high-performance space or not.
He says Wakatipu High School Foundation funding makes a huge difference in providing additional teachers and teacher aides to offer more individual support and reduce class sizes.
‘‘It’s impossible to quantify the difference the foundation makes to education in the Basin.’’
