EDUCATION, THE NUDGEE COLLEGE WAY

With ‘education’ a popular topic in public discourse, one voice that is often less prominent is that of the students themselves. As such, Year 12 student Yashodhan Rayani has taken this opportunity to share his thoughts on his educational journey at Nudgee College.

Prior to attending the monolith that is Nudgee College, I was a student at a relatively small primary school in the north of Adelaide. I loved attending school for the depth of opportunity available, from music to art. I fell in love with the fact that with time, effort and commitment, I could better myself in so many ways.

It was the summer of 2017 when I began attending the College as a fresh-faced, wide-eyed, Year 7 boy. Settling into a school of more than 1,500 students, after attending one which had little more than 100, felt daunting at first. Part of me felt that I might just be swallowed up by the sheer number of students, be forgotten and have opportunities disappear. Quickly though, I came to realise that this wasn’t the case. Despite the wide range of students and the sheer number of peers, I always felt tended to and well cared for. Then, it happened.

It was a particularly warm May afternoon in the middle of Term 2 during my first year at the College when my first big academic challenge emerged. As it drew near the end of the period, my teacher at the time, Mr John Christie, sat me down, looked into my eyes, and told me what I thought was apocalyptic news –I had failed my final Term 1 Maths test. Of course, my first reaction was to break down in tears. As you would expect, Mr Christie comforted me and told me that I would do better in the future if I worked harder. At my other schools, this is where the conversation would have ended. But not at Nudgee College. For the rest of that term, Mr Christie stayed behind each and every class when I needed help, going at my pace and tailoring the information to make it as easily digestible as possible to my 12-yearold self. Back then, I thought he was getting some sort of extra compensation for the help he was giving me, or something along those lines. After all, why would a teacher lose lunch hours, free periods and personal time to help a single struggling student? It’s only now, as I reflect, that I realise he was doing it because this was, and is, the Nudgee College way.

My next academic adversity came two years later as a Year 9 student, at the conclusion of Term 1. By this time, I was much stronger academically, thanks to the tireless efforts of my teachers over the past two years. However, this presented a novel issue; I didn’t feel challenged enough. I started to grow frustrated with the classwork due to it becoming, for lack of a better term, monotonous. Little did I know that the Learning and Teaching staff had noticed this and were working behind the scenes on something special. Later that term, two programs were introduced to the student body: Delta Maths and English Honours. My life was never the same.

Walking into the English Honours classroom – and soon after, Delta Maths – on Monday of Week 3, Term 2, I found a home. Along with the new classes, two truly exceptional teachers entered my life: Ms Lauren Nolan and Ms Bonnie Becker. Every day felt like a genesis of a new part of the English language, the enlightenment of my soul to the beauty of calculus, the marriage of two concepts to create a pregnant theory. Admittedly, I might be exaggerating a bit, but that was truly a time of great growth for my peers, as well as myself. Then, everything changed (again).

In 2019, Queenslanders received some unexpected news. The Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE), under a government directive, was switching from the very familiar Overall Position (OP) system to a completely new, entirely different Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) system. Gazing at that headline only a year before I was to enter senior school, was truly a little unsettling. Fretful conversations amongst my peers became commonplace, asking questions of “what’s going to happen?” and “has it all been for nothing?”. Despite our fears, we knew that we had a strong ally beside us in this journey – the Learning and Teaching department. Even though the system had changed drastically entering Year 10, my peers and I never felt a big jump in style or complexity. Unbeknownst to us at the time, the Learning and Teaching staff had been hard at work rewriting the information to make it feel familiar in style whilst slowly assimilating us to the new system, a task that undoubtedly went above and beyond.

As I gaze back on my Nudgee College journey, only one thing truly comes to mind that describes my entire experience: gratitude. Through all the trials and tribulations, through all the victories, defeats and reluctant draws, Nudgee College stood beside me, unwavering. I am so very fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend this wonderful, opportunity-filled, loving school. I have met so many wonderful people. Looking at the rest of the school, I just know that Nudgee College has a bright future ahead. To current and future students, I have but one piece of advice, a promise: give to Nudgee College and it will give back.

WRITTEN BY YEAR 12 STUDENT YASHODHAN RAYANI