Three Golds
From One Class
Last year Jaskiran Rahi, Nishka Parekh and Divya Srinivasa
each achieved the top ICAS examinations grade in Year
4 for New Zealand in Writing, Mathematics and Digital
Technology, respectively. All girls were invited to Auckland for
a special ceremony where they received Gold Medals for their
achievement.
Nishka, Jaskiran and Divya say they were hoping to win a Gold
Medal but were still very surprised when they did.
“We prepared for the tests by practising with past papers. Some
of the questions were very hard,” Jaskiran explains.
Nishka was also awarded High Distinction in English, Writing,
Mathematics, Digital Technology and Science, and Distinction
in Spelling. Jaskiran was awarded High Distinction in Writing
and Mathematics, and Distinction in Science. Divya was awarded
High Distinction in Digital Technology and Distinction in English,
Spelling, Writing and Science.
Queen Margaret College had exceptional ICAS results in 2015
with 21 High Distinctions and 94 Distinctions. Students earn High
Distinction if they are within the top one percent of participants
followed by Distinction Certificates if they are in the next top ten
percent of participants.
These young polymaths have also demonstrated their abilities
outside of the classroom by taking part in the College Learning
Enrichment and Acceleration Programme (LEAP).
Through LEAP, the girls have taken part in Writing Workshops,
Art Enrichment sessions and the Junior School Writers Group.
Three of our Junior School students achieved outstanding results in the 2015 International
Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS).
Divya and Jaskiran also competed in the Tournament of Minds
Competition.
Divya’s Language/Literature team received Honours and
Jaskiran’s Social Sciences teamplaced first in the RegionalWellington
Competition.
Jaskiran, who won her medal for writing, has aspirations of one
day becoming an author and illustrator of her own books.
“Writing is a way to express yourself, to be creative. I like to put
my ideas down on paper,” Jaskiran says.
She also has a passion for coding and constructed her very first
robot last year using a 3D printer.
Nishka and Divya would like to become scientists, an occupation
where their strength in Mathematics will certainly come in handy.
“I like the idea of experimenting. I think it would be very
interesting,” Nishka explains.
A shared love of reading will also be useful for these budding
scientists, who enjoy nothing more than a good book.
“When I start a book, I cannot put it down,” Nishka says.
If a career in Science does not work out, Divya says she would
like to pursue her passion for running by becoming a professional
athlete.
“I’m good at Mathematics but my favourite subject is Physical
Education,” she says.
“I like to keep active.”
With many more years ahead of them, the sky is the limit for our
three medal winners.