Class of 2020 Results 

Congratulations to the class of 2020

We are delighted with the outstanding VCE and VCAL results achieved last year. Congratulations and thank you to our incredible students - your hard work, resilience, persistence and dedication has been nothing short of inspirational in this challenging year. Thank you to staff and parents/carers for working together to support our students’ success. Each of us has had to do more and extend ourselves in ways we never thought possible. The reward is our students’ success – knowing that they have choices for meaningful pathways. 

VCE Results:

• 40 Students (16%) achieved an ATAR of 90 or over - in the top 10% of Australia
• 98 students (40%) achieved and ATAR of 80 or over – in the top 20% of Australia
• 2 perfect study scores of 50 in:
• Health and Human Development
• Visual Communication
• 85 study scores over 40, and is 6.3% of all study scores
• Mean study score is 30.3

VCAL Results:

100% Satisfactory Completion (as compared to the statewide average of around 78%).  

The pathways for these students will be varied and include a combination of apprenticeships, traineeships, tertiary studies and other employment. We know that the highly developed communication, collaboration, design and problem-solving skills of these students will stand them in good stead.

DUX of 2020

With an ATAR of 98.15, a huge congratulations to Alice Brown as the DUX of Northcote High School in 2020.

Alice was surprised but ecstatic with her score. Alice’s outstanding score means that she can get into her top preference of a Double Degree in Law/Arts at Monash University in Clayton. She had put this course in her VTAC selections as her dream course and didn’t think she would get the ATAR required. Alice would like to end up in Immigration Law or Environmental Law, areas that she feels like she can make a difference.

Alice has been a student with us since Year 7 and has been involved in a wide range of extracurricular activities such as Music and Sport, but her biggest passion has been Debating which she has been part of since Year 7.

Alice’s team was part of the 2020 Lion’s Interschool Debating Competition. The team arrived at the event only to find out they were meant to be arguing the other side of the debate. They had to quickly revise their plans, and still managed to win the debate! Alice took home the award for best speaker on the night across all the teams. This is one of Alice’s favourite memories from her time at Northcote High School. She has always loved public speaking and appreciated how her skills and abilities have been able to flourish through a variety of other opportunities at school.

During the holidays Alice came in to chat with us at school about her journey and provide some helpful advice to future senior years students.  

What was most challenging this about completing Year 12 in a year of COVID and lockdowns? 

Being alone. I am a very social/extroverted person and socialising and seeing others helps with stress and getting through. Stage 4 was the worst. I struggled significantly at times, but my teachers were fantastic and supportive which made it easier.

What has been rewarding about this year? 

Knowing the teachers supported us so much in the year, lots of allowances were made by them in helping us. My friends were also so supportive, for example on the day of my oral French exam a friend brought chocolates to keep morale high. It was important that we all put in the extra effort to stay connected.

What was your favourite subject in your time at Northcote High School?

In VCE, definitely either French or Literature. I also really loved the subject How to rule the world in the Year 10 Northcote Model.

Most memorable moment of this year? 

Outside of the Lions Club Debate, I would say doing SACs in remote learning. It was just so strange and bizarre doing them at home. And experiencing things like being kicked out of WebEx mid lesson due to the internet!

Do you have any words of advice for other students in the future?

Don’t give up the things you love. Sometimes there is pressure to give some of those things up, but those things keep you motivated and going. Try to be active in your studying rather than just taking passive notes. I got my best results through doing practice questions/exams and applying my knowledge regularly. Doing an advancement also helped and was a passion area of mine (completed Unit 3/4 Legal Studies in Year 11). To know one good mark, and turns out my best mark, was already locked in.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I’d really like to thanks to my teachers a lot for all their work this year. Also a big thanks to my friend and parents for putting up with a lot this year. The stress of exams, SACs etc can be a lot to deal with!

Well Done Alice!