Newtown High School of the Performing Arts

By Angus Huntsdale

Newtown High School of the Performing Arts student Frederique Lawrence exceeded her expectations in the HSC, achieving a Band 6 in all but one subject and being recognised on the All Rounder and Distinguished Achievers lists. Her reward? She owes her dad $30 after he bet she would get a higher result than she was expecting.

“It’s not fair,” she laughed. “I was going to declare the bet (null and void) but we take bets very seriously in our household.”

The school in Sydney’s inner west, which has a performing arts selective stream and local catchment, has continued its upward trajectory in the HSC results this year. And while it remains a performing arts powerhouse, it has also achieved significant rises in science, maths and English to become one of the top comprehensive schools in NSW.

Principal Dr Susan Green celebrated her school’s success today with Frederique and fellow Distinguished Achievers Alex Wienholt, Amy Forchert, Scarlett Saunders and Lola Merewether.

“Collaboration is in the lifeblood of our culture and we couldn’t succeed unless we collaborated across all the subjects,” Dr Green said.

“Our students are used to performing and that often requires working together and supporting each other so I don't see the school as having that really competitive sense between the students.”

Alex Wienholt achieved an ATAR of 99.35, with his strongest results in maths and physics. It was an incredible turnaround for the local catchment student, who said his teachers lifted him up after a “rebellious” period in his earlier high school years.

“My maths teacher Miss (Vicki) Stewart seemed to care about not just me but all students [regardless of] if we were struggling or top performing.

“She just kept supporting me to continue engaging with maths and loving the content – in her holidays she prepared workbooks for every single topic of the syllabus.”

School captain Amy Forchert is planning a career as an English teacher, turning her back on pathways of medicine and law.

“I know there’s the big thing that when you get a higher-than-expected ATAR you feel the pressure to make use of it, but I don’t see it that way – I want to follow my passion,” Amy said.

“I love my teachers and I love the experience of sharing knowledge and seeing people get stuff and expand on their knowledge – I just think it’s such a beautiful thing and a gift to have.”