Student Achievements - 2011

OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS for 2011

Dux of Year 7 - Profita Keo
Second Place in Year - Brian Manansala
Third Place in Year - Linh Ngoc Anh Nguyen

Dux of Year 8 - Jarita Lay
Second Place in Year - Josephine Leong
Third Place in Year - Amanda Nguyen

Dux of Year 9 - Hasti Saeedi
Second Place in Year - Andrew Lu
Third Place in Year - Khang Le

Dux of Year 10 - Juline Bou Obeid
Second Place in Year - Samantha King
Third Place in Year - Naramsen Isaac

Dux of Year 11 - Vanessa Luu
Second Place in Year - Steven Quach
Third Place in Year - Nadia Axisa

Dux of Year 12 - Stephanie Nguyen
Second Place in Year - Shannen Rowland-Clarke
Third Place in Year - Aaron Jolley

 *** Click here for the list of students who received SPECIAL AWARDS for their outstanding achievements at our 2011 Annual Presentation Evening.

 *** Click here for a full list of all students who received awards for their outstanding achievements during 2011.

 

PRAIRIEWOOD’S GOT TALENT: Congratulations to Katrina Loau and Richard Loau who, from almost 400 applicants, have been selected in the final sixty students from across the state being considered for one of twenty places in the state level Talent Development Program. Following their success and current achievement level, they have been invited to attend a special two day performance workshop in Sydney. We wish them well in the final round of auditions!

CHAMPION VOLLEYBALLERS: A first for Prairiewood – with three of our students (Gaby Pese of Year 9, Nazli Hocaoglu from Year 11 and Year 12 student Fatafehi Fa) being members of the Sydney South West Regional Volleyball team which won the NSW State Championships last week. What a fantastic achievement. Well done, girls – and also “well done” to their PHS coach, Miss Pool.

TALK OF THE TOWN: Prairiewood is a buzz with the news that two of our outstanding Year 12 students, Fanulla Sapountzis and Nazli Hocaoglu, have won the regional final of The Sydney Morning Herald Plain English Speaking Awards. A fantastic effort. Good luck ladies. Prairiewood is with you all the way!!!

LOGITECH ROCK THE SCHOOLS: This an Australia wide music and performance education initiative aimed at inspiring thousands of students across Australia to follow their passion and provide them with direction and knowledge regarding various careers in the music industry. As part opf this program, four PHS students were selected to attend the recent Katy Perry concert in Sydney – as well as being invited backstage to speak with the stage manager and be present for the sound check session prior to the concert.

SYDNEY TAFE STUDENT OF THE YEAR FROM PRAIRIEWOOD. Selina Riva (Yr 12) has recently been announced the TAFE student of the year for Sydney. She was nominated by two of her Hospitality teachers at Wetherill Park TAFE. The process for this award was firstly to submit a written application that focused on why she chose her area of study and what she has taken out of it. After this, Selina was selected in the top 8 out of 2000 students where she had to undergo an intense interview with a panel. After the interview process, Selina was announced the winner of the prestigious title “TAFE student of the year – SYDNEY 2011”. Selina has now been nominated to compete at the next level - TAFE student of the year – NSW. We wish Selina all the best for her upcoming competition and congratulate her on this wonderful accomplishment. Good luck Selina!!!!

STOCKMOTION PROJECT: Every Thursday night for the past six weeks five students from Prairiewood have been involved in a Stocklands Stopmotion project. This has involved them in creating a short animation using cameras, computers and in their case play dough to create a story. They have worked tirelessly every week and on Thursday 7th they finally finished. There will be a premiere performance of all the animations at Stocklands Cinemas in May. They will show their finished product to the rest of Prairiewood next term.

SCHOLARSHIP SUCCESS: Congratulations to Year 12 student Emily Martin-Bell who was awarded a NSW Housing Department Youth Scholarship. She travelled into Parliament House to collect the award from the then Housing Mnister Frank Terenzini.

BOYS OPEN SOFTBALL: It was the 'bottom of the ninth' (last innings for those not familiar with baseball terms. Miller at bat. They needed two runs to win, Prairiewood needed one more out to seal a victory. Miller sent in their heavy hitter. The pitch came and the sound of willow smacking against leather echoed across the field. The ball went soaring out into right field. It looked beyond catchable but not for Anwar Al-Abedi who, for the third time in the game, jumped high into the air to take a magnificent catch and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Congratulations boys on a great effort and good luck in the next round.

ENGINEERING EXPO: On Thursday 10 March 2011 an Engineering Day was held here at Prairiewood High School. A number of other schools including: Hurlstone Agricultural H.S., Canley Vale H.S., Fairvale H.S., Thomas Hassal Anglican School and John Therry Catholic College attended the day that was organised by Engineers Australia and the Institute of Industrial Arts Education in the school hall. Altogether there were about 170 students who attended the day from Prairiewood and various other schools around the area.

SWIMMING CARNIVAL 2011: Yet again, a large number of students were actively involved in our annual swimming carnival this year, with new records set by our up and coming new breed of swimmers: STEVEN TRAN set new records for 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle,50m backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly events in the 14 years age-group and was also the age-champion for 2011. Other records were as follows: Kenneth Lim (50m breaststroke and Linh Nguyen (50m breaststroke, butterfly and breaststroke and 100m freestyle). Our congratulations to these students.

SWIMMING AGE CHAMPIONS for 2011
Boys 12 years - Aaron Pesic
Boys 13 years - Christopher Van Kampen
Boys 14 years - Steven Tran
Boys 15 years - Cody Nugent
Boys 16 years - Ricky Gillon
Boys 17 years - Justin Mercieca

Girls 12 years - Linh Nguyen
Girls 13 years - Corina Leef
Girls 14 years - Anh Nguyen
Girls 15 years - Marcia Riva
Girls 16 years - Alicia Gaffey
Girls 17 years - Monica McNally

SCHOOL CERTIFICATE 2010: Our celebration of student achievement for academic success in 2010 continues... with our top students in the 2010 School Certificate as we congratulate: Vanessa Luu (Dux for 2010), Amy Mayorca, Benita Lay, Cynthia Tan, Steven Quach, Jessica Ta, Joseph Babana, Steven Catanzariti, Sonya Chhorn, Emma Hodgson, Mihajlo Novkovic, Michelle Sihapanyaxay Emily Tam, Emily Tran, Diana Truong and Adrian Ciancio.

2010 HSC RESULTS
We are very proud and celebrate the outstanding achievements of our "Top 31" students in the 2010 HSC:
MATTHEW CIANCIO , CLARE MELVILLE, TONY PAVIA, AMY MELVILLE, JASON HUANG, MAI DANG, JANE LU, NEWMAN SEE
MARYO FARIS, MARTIN SHAKIR, AYLIN MUSTAFA, AZHER AL-ABEDI, DANNY TANG, ANDREW VUONG, BRYCE JOHNSON
SASA OTOVIC, SYLVIA DUONG, LACHLAN WALLACE, WESLEY LEONG, ANNA QUACH, STEVEN CAO,JIMMY BOU OBEID
NATASHA SHOKO, RAWIN KEO, SOPHIA HENG, ALENA MALYUGINA, ALEXANDRA HOROSKO, THOMAS PUTRUS
KIRSTY GAFFEY, NICOLE KOVACIC, HANSEL REBELLO

We also congratulate our Year 12 students who achieved outstanding ATAR scores in the 2010 HSC : Jane Lu, Matthew Ciancio, Jason Huang, Mai Thien Dang, Anna Quach, Bryce Johnson, Tony Pavia, Amy Melville,,, Clare Melville, Martin Shakir, Azher Al Abedi, Maryo Faris, Jimmy Bou Obeid, Steven Cao, Newman See, Wesley Leong and Aylin Mustafa.

2010 ACADEMIC and SPECIAL AWARDS

DUX of Year 7 - Jarita Lay

Dux of Year 8 - Stefanie Italiano

Dux of Year 9 - Juline Bou Obeid

Dux of Year 10 - Vanessa Luu

Dux of Year 11 - Stephanie Nguyen

Dux of Year 12 - Martin Shakir

Click here for full list of students recognised for their outstanding achievements at our Annual Presentation Evening 2010

 

2010 ANNUAL SPORTS AWARDS
Congratulations to the following students who received the following awards for their excellent achievements in sporting programs this year:

Pierre De Coubertin Award
- Amy Melville

Zone Blues
- Kane Clark (AFL), Gavin Tu (Athletics), Michael Luong (Rugby), Steven Tran (Swimming), Jonathon Masiasomua (Volleyball) and Gaby Pese who was presented with the President's Award for her outstanding achievements in Volleyball.

Sneakers Special Recognition Awards
- Peter Bui and Jessica Paulic

Denise Beckwith Award
- Ricky Gillon

Sportsman of the Year
- Gavin Tu and Jonathon Masiasomua

Sportswoman of the Year
- Gaby Pese


Highlights from Student Achievements during 2010

2010 UNSW PRICE WATERHOUSE COOPERS Business Studies Competition
Results for Prairiewood students in this prestigious competition for 2010 were as follows:
Year 12 - 1 HIGH DISTINCTION and 3 DISTINCTIONS
Year 11 - 1 DISTINCTION

2010 SOCIAL SCIENCE TEACHERS' GEOGRAPHY COMPETITION
Some outstanding results were achieved by our students in this competition with four of our students gaining HIGH DISTINCTIONS and another thirteen students achieving DISTINCTION results in this competition.

2010 STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS - ENGLISH FACULTY
Select above heading link for full details...

2010 STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS - HISTORY FACULTY
We have received the results of our History Teachers Competition which was a state wide competition...
* Two students gained a High distinction- they were in the top 4% of the candidature.
* We had 4 students receiving Distinctions- this included the top 15% of candidature.

2010 STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS - VOLLEYBALL

Boys: Finished in 2nd place in Sydney South West Knockout Competition, which qualified them for the NSW Combined High Schools State Knockout Finals (Final 16 teams). The team also finished in 7th place in NSW Combined High Schools Knockout Finals and 2nd place in NSW Schools Cup, which qualified them for the Australian Schools Cup 5-10 December, 2010 in Melbourne.
Also, on an individual basis, four boys Jonathon Masiasomua, Mikey Avery, Joshua loau (Year 12) and Kevin Fiu (Year 11) represented the Sydney South West Regional Team at the NSW Combined High Schools Championships in Nowra and won the gold medal for winning the tournament, whilst Kevin Fiu won the coaches's award. Jonathon Masiasomua was the first boy from Prairiewood to be selected in the NSW Combined High Schools Boys Team which played in Napier, New Zealand, in the Trans TasmTasman Tournament - finishing in fourth place.

Girls: Finished in 4th place in Sydney South West Knockout Competition. On an individual level, two girls, Nazli Hocagolu (Year 10) and Gaby Pese (Year 8), represented Sydney South West Regional Team at the NSW Combined High Schools Championships, finishing in second place and winning the Silver Medallion. Gaby Pese was also selected in the NSW All Schols Under 16 Team which competed in the Australian Championships in Canberra. She became the first student at Prairiewood High School to win a National Medal in volleyball, with the team finishing in third place to be awarded the bronze medal. Additionally (beyond the schools' competition), Gaby was chosen to captain the Under 15 NSW Team in Albury at National Under 15 Championships where they finished in fifth place.

HIGHER SCHOOL CERTIFICATE 2009

Congratulations to our top-achieving students in the 2009 HSC: Tijana Novkovic, Danielle Sihapanyaxay, Tammy So, Mitchell Wong, Lee Canta, Igor Stevanovski, Danny Huang, Kylie Tran, Biljana Boskic, Prayag Lagan, Shane Kingsbury, Melissa Petrovska, Jaime Ross, Lucy Tran, Tanya Davood, Abir Farhat, Monica Keo, Manda Khudhir and Louise Simonetta.

Overall results in Biology, Economics, English Extension 1, Mathematics Extension 2, PDHPE, Senior Science, Community and Family Studies, were excellent when compared to statewide results.

More than 50% of our students achieved results in the top two bands for the following courses: English Extension 1, Community and Family Studies, Mathematics 2 Unit, Maths Extension 1 and Maths Extension 2.

Results for students in the following HSC courses were excellent with between 73% and 91% of students gaining results in the top three bands: English Advanced, Economics, Community and Family Studies, Information Processes and Technology, Mathematics 2 Unit, Music Course 1, PDHPE, Biology and Senior Science. The 2009 HSC results were better than last year in sixteen courses - a continuing improvement trend in recent years.

 

SCHOOL CERTIFICATE 2009

In recent years we have seen an improvement trend in School Certificate results and overall results compare favourably with those of "like school groups" in the state. Official DET feedback indicates that the “value-added” statistics reveal that student achievement levels at the School Certificate are significantly higher than would normally be expected – based upon testing in Year 5 at primary school. In fact, many of these results are much higher than an average of the school’s results in the past five years, and could be considered as “outstanding” when compared to figures for like school groups.

The following students are to be congratulated for achieving excellent overall results in the 2009 School Certificate Examinations: Stephanie Nguyen (Dux), Danny Cao, Stephanie Croucher, Stephanie Garzaniti, Kenan Huseyin, Whoopi Hutman, Sibel Ilker, Stefan Ivanisevic, Aaron Jolley, Gina Jung, Stefan Lay, Antony Le, Anthony Luu, Ivy Ly, Michelle Maiuolo, Kirsty Nguyen, Linda Nguyen, Matthew Porpiglia, Jessica Ribbons, Fanulla Sapountzis and Michael Sprod.

 

Click here for details of Student Awards and Achievements at our 2009 Annual Presentation Evening

Other student achievements for 2009 included...

SCHOOLS' DEBATING and PUBLIC SPEAKING - 2009
Our school's Year 8 debating team finsihed as winners of both the Zone and Interzone competitions in 2009.

TAFE VET AWARD for 2009
Matthew Fletcher was successful in being recognised as the TOP PERFORMING STUDENTS at Wetherill Park TAFE in 2009.

PwC BUSINESS STUDIES COMPETITION (UNSW) 2009
The following PHS students gained DISTINCTION results: Lee Canta, Dominic See, Danielle Sihapanyaxay,
Mitchell Wong, Prayag Lagan and Lourene Chan

UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS for NSW and ACT SCHOOLS
Forty-five students from Prairiewood High School received offers of university course placements in 2009.

LANSDOWNE ZONE "BLUES" SPORTS AWARDS - 2009
The following awards were presented to PHS students for 2009:
Jonathon Masiasomua (Rugby Union), Gaby Pese (Volleyball), Saia Tanginoa (Sports All-Rounder)
Shane Kingsbury (Swimming), Open Bpoys' Rugby Union Team. SHane Kingsbury was also honoured by being presented
with the award for Sportsperson of the Year.

AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS' MATHEMATICS COMPETITION - 2009
Congratulations to Justin Mercieca, Jessica Ta, Andre Fathalla Yousiff, Anna Quach, Newman See and Martin Shakir
who received Distinction Awards in the Australian Schools Maths Competition - 2009.

AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS' SCIENCE COMPETITION - 2009
Congratulations to Daniel Shephard, Amirah Todor, Nasma Lazym, Steven Quach, Stephanie Garzaniti and Danny Huang
who received Distinction Awards in the Australian Schools Science Competition - 2009.

NATIONAL SCHOOLS' CHEMISTRY COMPETITION - 2009
Congratulations to Dominic See and Jason Huang who received High Distinction Awards and Newman See
a Distinction Award in the National Chemistry Competition - 2009.

AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS' A.C.E.R. COMPETITION - 2009
Congratulations to Stephanie Garzaniti, Ivy Ly, Jessica Prestipino and Selina Riva who received
a High Distinction for Italian in the A.C.E.R. Awards for 2009.

NATIONAL SCHOOLS' ENGLISH COMPETITION - 2009
Congratulations to Bianca Croucher, Ashly Dahdal, Hasti Saeedi, Samantha King, Jessica Lisciotto
and Stephanie McCann-Hoey who received Distinction Awards in the National Schools English Competition for 2009.

SOUTH WESTERN SYDNEY REGIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS - 2009
Alicia Gaffey - 6th place in Girls' 14 years 200m Freestyle event
Alicia Gaffey - 11th place in Girls' 14 years 100m Freestyle event

 

 

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS for 2008 included...