Jamison High School student Claire Fassoulidis tops state in HSC Greek

CLAIRE Fassoulidis has topped the state in modern Greek continuers – and she did it all for her beloved grandmother.

The Jamison High School student studied Greek at the Saturday School of Community Languages at The Hills Sports High School for the HSC.

The 18-year-old has also topped her high school with an incredible ATAR of 99.25.

Claire said she would often speak Greek over the phone with her grandmother Georgia during her HSC studies.

“I did this for my grandmother. My grandmother passed away three weeks before the exams,” Claire said.

She said tough times were no excuse and as well as grieving for her grandmother, she had to cope with her parents’ divorce.

“You can do anything, no matter what hardships you face,” she said.

“All my hard work paid off and I have been acknowledged for all my hard work.

“It is important to know that even if you don’t have the financial luxuries that some people have – anything is possible.”

Claire, who lives in St Marys, is a former York Public School student. She said she had also topped her school subjects during the year.

She plans to study physiotherapy at the University of Sydney next year, but also hopes to teach Greek.

PENRITH Selective High School has again achieved outstanding results in the HSC.

The school had 11 students who became HSC All Rounders after achieving more than 90 per cent in their best 10 units and more than 250 results in individual subjects with a mark above 90 per cent.

Principal John Elton said he was proud of his students’ results.

“Overall results are excellent and are what we expected from a hard-working and talented year group,” Mr Elton said.

“The teachers are excited about the achievements of their students and looking forward to hearing about their ATARs.”

Mr Elton said 100 per cent of students had scored in the top two bands in subjects including history extension, drama, extension 1 English, mathematics extension 1 and 2, music 1, society and culture and Italian extension.

He said there were also many standout performances, including Owen Morris, who scored full marks in extension music and whose trumpet performance was shortlisted for encore, and Jessica Washington and Siri Anderson, who achieved particularly impressive results in every subject.