Address to the Top Scholars Ceremony at The Banquet Hall, Parliament, 2009
14 May 2009
Kia Ora Koutou.
Good morning everyone, it's a great pleasure to be here today.
My name is Sue Suckling and I am the Chair of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority Board.
Before I begin, I would like to thank Minister Tolley for hosting this event at Parliament.
I also want to acknowledge Their Excellencies the Honourable Anand Satyanand and Mrs Susan Satyanand for their ongoing support of the Top Scholar Awards.
Ministers, dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen it is my pleasure to welcome you to this event. And, of course, welcome to our Top Scholars.
On behalf of the Board of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and our Chief Executive Karen Poutasi, I would like to thank you for joining us today in this celebration of these Awards which honour New Zealand's brightest young minds.
At last year's Awards, I used the promise of the Beijing Olympics as an analogy for the high performance of our Top Scholars.
I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the world is a different place 12 months on.
We are facing challenging times - as a nation and as a world. Life has become a little more demanding, and now, more than ever, that means going to that extra level with the skills and talents we have.
As the highest achieving students for 2008, you are already making the most of what you have - and your challenge is the future.
As a small nation, New Zealand has a proud reputation for doing great things, from innovation with No 8 fencing wire to Rutherford splitting the atom and MacDiarmid with the discovery of conductive polymers - that's based on a tradition of doing a lot with a little.
The Top Scholar Awards are part of this tradition. They're about making the most of potential. About standing tall - and then standing taller, still. Kia Kaha is the call.
In the current environment, competition is greater than ever - competition for jobs, competition for further study - but the fact that you are here today, is proof you are all capable of excelling under pressure.
Skill and talent have no value unless they are put to good use. That means working towards difficult goals, and thriving in tough times. I would encourage you to see a Top Scholar Award as the start of a journey for you - a journey well begun. We should remember Thomas Edison's comment, "sticking to it is the genius".
Your future will be to nurture the passion for knowledge that you've already demonstrated, and to channel it into your chosen careers.
You will need endurance to see your dreams become realities, and the drive and passion to continue to your goals.
You've already shown yourselves able to learn, able to adapt your approach to achieve a final outcome, able to deal with obstacles. These skills will help you in the future as you will continue to fine tune these throughout your glittering careers.
It's quite obvious to me, and everyone here that you epitomise what NZQA defines in its Scholarship literature as:
students who have demonstrated, within complex situations, higher level critical thinking, abstraction and generalisation and the ability to integrate, synthesise and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas.
That describes young people who will press on to further achievement.
Some of our Top Scholars have already shown that drive.
Heath Vinicombe, from Westlake Boys' High School, is a Premier Award winner this year, with 5 scholarships in total, 4 of these outstanding scholarships. He also achieved, as a Year 12 student in 2007, Scholarship in calculus and physics and Outstanding Scholarship in statistics.
Similarly, our Top English Scholar for 2008, Jonathan Mahon-Heap, from Auckland Grammar School , was a Year 12 student last year, and is continuing his secondary study this year.
Along with drive, diversity of achievement is also a common theme for our Top Scholars.
Tom Wilkinson, from Papanui High School , is a Premier Award winner who is described by his Principal as a "Renaissance man".
Not only is he someone who achieves exceptional academic results, and is studying Health Sciences at the University of Otago , but he is principal trumpet in the Dunedin Youth Orchestra, and was also student representative on the board of trustees.
Another skilled musician is Xiaoxiao Michelle Ye who is a Premier Award winner and Top Subject Scholar in Maths with Calculus. She is studying towards a Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Auckland and was also a member of the College strings group and Senior Orchestra.
Kane Christopher O'Donnell from Saint Peter's College, Cambridge , is currently studying for a Bachelor of Science at the University of Canterbury , and he has also achieved Silver in Men's Club Singles at Rowing Club Nationals.
Let me put into perspective the achievement of our Top Scholars.
Around 9000 students entered Scholarship examinations last year, an exam designed to test the most gifted students in our secondary schools.
From those entries, 19 have gained Top Subject Scholar Awards and just 10 have gained Premier Awards. Of course, some have done both.
You are indeed the high performers in an already high-performing group.
Through all this, we must also remember the work and dedication of your parents, teachers and extended family in your learning, and the struggle and sacrifice that some families have gone through to see you grow into some of the highest achieving young men and women of today.
Ultimately, this Top Scholar event, and the overall growth and success of Scholarship is proof of its effectiveness as a motivator for students, and of the impressive work being done in schools across the country.
As Top Scholars you can look back on the success of one chapter of your lives, and for most of you, the end of your secondary school life, and look forward to the challenges of the rest of your life.
I'm sure you will rise to these.
Congratulations to you all.
Page updated: 03 June 2009