Happy holidays and we hope everyone is enjoying our beautiful Pilbara Winter before the final term of high school for our Year 12 Class of 2026. Our Year 10 students spent much of Term 2 considering their Year 11/12 course and pathway selections. Our ATAR pathway students finished their Semester 1 examinations, with several students participating in Revision Tutorials in Perth or online over this holiday break.
We would like to take a moment to highlight the successes of one of our ATAR pathway students from 2025, Ngaire Simmons.
Ngaire studied several of her lower school courses at Hedland SHS through the Gifted and Talented Program (GT Online) and pursued an ATAR pathway into Year 11 and 12, supported by the BHP Pilbara Education Partnership. Her keen intellect and committed work ethic, earned Ngaire top student awards for Physics, Mathematics Methods and Chemistry, Academic Achievement Award, and the ATAR Dux at the Year 12 Presentation Night. Ngaire also received a Certificate of Distinction at the prestigious School Curriculum and Standards Authority awards. This award is reserved for the highest achieving Western Australian students.
Ngaire diligently navigated all aspects of her ATAR program with a natural curiosity and passion for learning, achieving an ATAR rank of 99.1 (the maximum is 99.95). Ngaire’s exceptional result successfully gained her entry into the Assured Pathway to Medicine at The University of Western Australia (Bachelor of Biomedicine, followed by a Doctor of Medicine). Ngaire is currently enjoying a gap year in Sydney, leading school camps and being a role model for youth, before embarking on her future studies and continuing her post school journey.
We asked Ngaire, “What advice would you give students who are considering an ATAR pathway on how they can give themselves the best chance of success in Year 11 and 12?”
“I’d advise students to study beyond what their teachers set them, particularly for years 11 and 12. Checking the curriculum dot points is also a great idea as it gives you an idea of what to expect in exams and how you’re tracking. I’d also encourage year 11s to try different study strategies out and use that year as a bit of an experiment to find out what works for them. But most of all, I’d just say try your best. At the end of the day that’s all you can do, so if you work hard and push that “best”, don’t worry if you didn’t get the result you wanted. I daresay you learnt a lot on the way and there are many roads which lead to Rome (so-to-speak)”.
From everyone at Hedland Senior High School and our community, we wish Ngaire every success continuing her future studies. We are all incredibly proud to have been a part of Ngaire’s school journey and look forward to what is next.
