A year of hard work has finally come to an end for more than 50,000 Victorian students who successfully completed their secondary education and once again we are pleased to see that many Greek Australians have made it to the state’s honour roll.
Including the names of those who achieved scores of 40 or above in the subjects examined at VCE level, the list indicates the top 7.5% student cohort of the state.
But as Minister of Education James Merlino reminded students on Friday following the release of this year’s results, study scores and ATAR aside, the completion of VCE or VCAL is an achievement on its own merit, with this being just one step in the life journey of Year 12 graduates.
With last week signalling the end of a chapter, summertime will involve a well-earned break for all Victorian students, including those who managed to get outstanding results, many of those within our community.
More specifically, according to the names of Greek background students we identified in this year’s honour roll, at least 55 achieved 47+ scores in a range of subjects (list of names found below).
Of the 15 students who excelled in Modern Greek, obtaining a study score of 40 or above, ranking in first place was Theano-Christina Salta who achieved a perfect score of 50, followed by Eftychia Thanopoulou with a score of 49.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos, Theano-Christina’s teacher at South Oakleigh College, Dimitra Maniati, praised the student’s performance overall, considering as well that she arrived in Melbourne with her family from Thessaloniki just three years ago.
“A perfect score like this is really hard to get, one has to work diligently and have a plan,” Ms Maniati explained.
Among the high achievers are also Evan Tomaras from St Kevin’s College in Toorak (ATAR 99 .65), Melbourne High School graduate Nikolaos Kalominidis (ATAR 99.15) and Stephanie Basdekis who attended the Academy of Mary Immaculate (ATAR 95.8).
Evan Tomaras, graduate of St Kevin's College Toorak
Melbourne High School graduate Nikolaos Kalominidis
Stephanie Basdekis completed her studies at the Academy of Mary Immaculate
Meanwhile, Buckley Park College student Simon Seddon-Fourlanos was among 43 students across the state offered a Melbourne University scholarship for achieving an ATAR of 99.9 or above.
The award gives Simon a HECS – exempt place in an undergraduate course of his choice and a $5000 annual allowance throughout the degree.
Evan Tomaras and Nikolaos Kalominidis have also received scholarship offers.
Another success is credited to a younger star, Dean (Konstantinos) Damevski – Makantassis. The Year 11 student at Kew High School completed VCE Accounting receiving a perfect score of 50.
It has also been a year of successes for schools in our community, including the Greek Community of Melbourne’s (GCM) schools and Alphington Grammar.
GCM schools had a greater number of high achievers in Modern Greek compared to last year, with 30% of their VCE students getting scores of 40 or above and 69% of them achieving a study score above 30. Students’ performance in Ancient Greek at VCE level was equally impressive, with 9 out of the total 13 receiving final scores above 40.
Alphington Grammar saw for the fourth year in a row a record number of students achieving top ATAR scores for their final VCE exams, with the highest score of 99.05 achieved by Kaiwei (Kevin) Su, followed closely by another 17 top performers.
“Half the students received 80 plus.
“This places our students in the top 20% of the state and 24% are ranked in the top 10% with ATARs of 90 and above. This is indeed a wonderful result for our students,” said the Principal, Dr. Vivianne Nikou.
Stressing that Alphington Grammar takes pride in its students’ excellence in both curricular and co-curricular activities, Dr. Nikou commended the efforts of 2018 Year 12 class.
Exemplifying the dedication to both academic and co-curricular commitments, Filippos Batistatos – who arrived from Greece with his family in 2013 – achieved an ATAR of 96.00, while having been awarded Full Colours for Cross Country.
Similarly, School Captain Nikki Sarris juggled a full VCE course plus Classical Greek this year, while having a lead role in the school musical Footlose, and School Music Captain Eva Doukas completed an accelerate subject at Monash University.
The following students of Greek Australian background (as identified by their names) had a study score of 47 and above:
Accounting: Lambrianidis, Matthew George, Balwyn High School (49)
Biology: Klonis, Gabriella, Wesley College (49)
Business Management: Kouryialas, Mitchell John, Viewbank College (50), Tacticos, Olivia Maria, Sacre Coeur (50), Tragas, Anthony Costa, Melbourne Grammar School (50), Lirios, Francheska Angela, Suzanne Cory High School (48)
Computing: Informatics: Savvas, Alexander, Alphington Grammar School (48)
Drama: Koulbanis, Zoe Venetia, Strathmore Secondary College (48)
English: Arvanitakis, Konstantine, Brighton Grammar School (50), Liapakis, Spencer Karl, Melbourne Grammar School (50), Patralis, Anastasia Maree, Fintona Girls School (50), Gerstsakis, Rose Elizabeth, Bilanook College LTD (49), Adamopoulos, Kristyn, Sacred Hearts Girls’ College Oakleigh (48), Tomaras, Evan, St Kevin’s College Toorak (48)
English Language: Sdralis, Victoria Olympia, Carey Baptist Grammar School (50)
English as an Additional Language (EAL): Thanopoulou, Vasiliki Silia, Canterbury Girls Secondary College (47)
Further Mathematics: Botros, Mary, Maranatha Christian School (50), Lymbouris, Maree Estelle, Kilvington Grammar School (50), Roumeliotis, Samantha, Donvale Christian College (50), Iatrou, Harris Hippocrates, Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School (49), Maniatis, Johnathon Kevin, Caulfield Grammar School,(49), Siamidis, Konstantinos, Alphington Grammar School (49), Iatrou, George Aristotle, Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School (48), Natsioulas, Ashleigh Aspasia, Mentone Girls’ Grammar School (48)
Health and Human Development: Sdralis, Victoria Olympia, Carey Baptist Grammar School (50), Bikakis, Mariah Eleni, Methodist Ladies College (48), Giavasoglou, Alexandra, Genazzano F.C.J. (48), Kyriakopoulos, Stephanie Maria, Our Lady Of Mercy College (48)
Languages: Greek: Salta, Theano-Christina, South Oakleigh Secondary College (50), Thanopoulou, Eftychia, Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria (49)
Legal Studies: Christou, Madeleine, Overnewton Anglican Community College (50), Kontaxis, Erin Grace, Fintona Girls School (49), Kouryialas, Mitchell John, Viewbank College (49), Kourmadias, Olivia Nicole, Siena College (48)
Media: Tzoukos, Keely Jane, Viewbank College (49), Koutsovasilis, Athena Mickova, University High School (47), Pehlivanidis, Amelia Sabrina, Alphington Grammar School (47)
Music Investigation: Georgiou, Louis Sam, Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (49)
Music Performance: Abougelis, Holly Victoria, Strathmore Secondary College (48)
Philosophy: Iacovou, Anastasia Ina, Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School (48)
Physical Education: Iatrou, George Aristotle, Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School (50), Georgiou, Alexander John, Haileybury College (48), Gianiotis, Alecia Eve, Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School (47)
Physics: Petridis, Ross, Nazareth College (50)
Psychology: Dimitrakas, Eugenia, McKinnon Secondary College (49), Dimos, Isabelle Lucy, Brighton Secondary College (49), Vakkas, Christina, Melbourne Girls Grammar School (49), Argyros, Jessica Rose, Tintern Grammar (48), Botros, Mary, Maranatha Christian School (48), Georgakas, Benjamin Robert Griffin, Melbourne High School (47), Kostas, Sebastian Lonsdale, Norwood Secondary College (47), Livitsanis, Astrid Isabel, Ballarat Clarendon College (47)
Religion and Society: Barbakas, Renee, Santa Maria College (49)
Sociology: Grigoriadis, Sophia, Haileybury Girls College (49)
Visual Communication Design: Alexandrou, Olga, Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School (47)