Gippsland Grammar Old Scholar Thomas (Tom) Condron received top honours this week for his outstanding VCE results in 2021.

Tom received a Premier’s VCE Award for excellence in Furnishing, making him the top Furnishing student in the state last year.

Gippsland Grammar Acting Principal Michele Wakeham said the entire School Community was proud of Tom’s achievement.

“The final year of schooling is always challenging for every student but there have been additional challenges presented to students over the past two years,” Mrs Wakeham said. “This only makes Tom’s outstanding results even more notable and worth celebrating.”

Tom’s parents Ellen and Gary Condron both attended Wednesday’s Premier’s Award ceremony at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and said they were busting with pride at Tom’s achievements.

“Tom worked so hard throughout the year, and particularly during the Learn@Home period, to finish his project, which is a gorgeous side table for our kitchen,” Ellen said. “We are incredibly proud of his achievements.”

Gippsland Grammar Furnishing and Wood Technology teacher Nick Kuch agreed the award was well-deserved recognition for Tom, who is currently doing a traineeship with Turnbull Toyota, Sale as a parts interpreter.

“This was a wonderful achievement for Tom after what was two very difficult years of schooling,” Mr Kuch said. “He was a very mature and dedicated student who thoroughly deserves all the accolades coming his way.

“Just attending the ceremony itself was an achievement and as a teacher it was incredibly satisfying seeing students from regional areas being recognised in such a prestigious awards ceremony.”

“And of course this is fantastic timing with this year’s Furnishing and Wood Technology students now using the first-class facilities in our brand-new building featuring brand new wood technology classrooms.”

Gippsland Grammar’s new Art & Design Building opened for students at the start of Term 2 this year and features seven purpose-built learning classrooms for Visual Arts and Technology subjects.

Tom becomes the fifth Premier’s Award Furnishing recipient since the subject was introduced at Gippsland Grammar in 2013. Previous award winners for this subject include Ben Commins (2014), Solomon Jones (2015), Campbell Meade (2016) and Robert McNeilly (2019).

Gippsland Grammar’s five Furnishing Premier’s Awards are a proud achievement for Mr Kuch who started teaching Wood Technology at the school in 2011 before introducing the Furnishing subject at VCE level in 2013. Mr Kuch is a carpenter and joiner by trade but in 2008 completed a State Government program called ‘Career Change’ which saw him transition into teaching.

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Gippsland Grammar background:

Gippsland Grammar is one of Australia’s leading co-educational Anglican schools, with a tradition of excellence in education extending almost 100 years. Located in the heart of Gippsland, the School has more than 1100 students across three campuses including St Anne’s junior campus and the Garnsey senior campus, both at Sale, and the Bairnsdale junior campus in East Gippsland. Enrolments at both junior campuses begin with a 3s and 4s kindergarten program at their respective Early Learning Centres (ELC) and Garnsey caters for students from Years 7-12. Gippsland Grammar is also the only boarding school east of Melbourne’s suburban fringe and is a home-away-from-home for students from far East Gippsland, South Gippsland, Victoria’s High Country and the Latrobe Valley as well as for a cohort of international students.

Gippsland Grammar’s 2021 VCE results:

Gippsland Grammar’s class of 2021 was among some of Victoria’s highest achieving Year 12 students. An amazing 21 per cent of the School’s Year 12 students achieved an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) above 90 and 38 per cent above 80, which places them in the top 10 percent, and 20 per cent, in the state respectively. Gippsland Grammar’s Dux for 2021 was Demi Edward with an ATAR of 99.2, two students achieved a perfect study score of 50 while 28 per cent of students achieved a study score above 40. Gippsland Grammar is also proud to acknowledge the 21 students from the 2021 cohort who made a successful transition into the workforce through an apprenticeship or traineeship.

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