The following article recently appeared in the Stonnington Leader on 11 January 2011.

IT seems Douglas Adams’s supercomputer, Deep Thought, got it slightly wrong: the “answer to life, the universe, and everything” might not be 42, but 45.

That’s a perfect score in the International Baccalaureate Diploma, which four Lauriston students have achieved: Susan Lee, Ellen Smith, Alex Wormald and Jennifer Zhou.

In the IB, a 45 is equivalent to a VCE ranking of 99.95. To achieve a diploma, over two years students must study a broad curriculum (two languages, two science subjects, mathematics and humanities) plus a program of “creativity, action and service”, said Lauriston’s IB co-ordinator Eirwen Stevenson.

“The IB is meant to be for everyone ... not just the academically gifted,” Ms Stevenson said. Former students had often told her the “CAS” program was the diploma’s most useful aspect, she said.

The weekly three-hour community service component “takes them outside the classroom and turns them into more rounded people”, she said. “It’s a very demanding thing, but teaches them a lot about life other than academic studies. If you don’t do your CAS properly, in the spirit of it, you don’t get your diploma at all.”

Susan Lee, 17, of Glen Iris, included music in her IB, composing Yearning, a work for solo viola and cello.

“I knew I’d done my best, which is the best you can hope for,” she said of her results. She enjoyed the IB as it “gave me an opportunity to experience things I never would have. It encourages you to try new things”.

Jennifer Zhou, 17, of Ormond, won many honours for drama, writing, maths and participation in school life, often working late into the night, yet said the result came “as a bit of a surprise”. She chose the IB because of its rounded approach: “That was important to me because I didn’t want to spend year 12 just studying.”

Class of 2010 achieves outstanding results

We are delighted to congratulate the Class of 2010 on their outstanding results.

Our students have achieved outstanding academic results in both the VCE and International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma. We would particularly like to acknowledge Susan Lee, Ellen Smith, Alexandra Wormald and Jennifer Zhou – all of whom achieved an IB perfect score of 45. This equates to an ATAR of 99.95.

Overall, more than one-third of all Year 12 Lauriston students were in the top 5% of the state.

• 13% of students were in the top 1% of the state with an ATAR of 99 or above
• 36% of students were in the top 5% of the state with an ATAR of 95 or above
• 49% of students were in the top 10% of the state with an ATAR of 90 or above
• 75% of students were in the top 20% of the state with an ATAR of 80 or above.

More information on these amazing results will be published shortly.