Jayden Turnor admits he didn’t really have a goal when completing his year 12 exams, he just tried to do the best that he could.
His efforts paid off, recording an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) score of 98.65, which was the highest in his cohort at John Wollaston Anglican Community School.
The 17-year-old was one of the youngest in his year and credits his amazing results to plenty of study and the support of his teachers and peers.
“Sometimes it is easy to study, but most of the time it is really hard and I really have to try to focus,” he said.
“I sometimes listened to music while doing study that did not require reading or writing, like mathematics, to block out other distractions.
“Other times I would set myself goals for how much work I had to get done and after I completed these study goals I would allow myself a break.”
Jayden’s mother Robyn Molloy said she is extremely proud of how he balanced his study, his casual job and his involvement with Byford Scouts.
“While he’s always been clever, it wasn’t until year 10 that he really started to shine,” she said.
“I do recall him telling the carers at Serpentine Child Care Centre when he was three or four years old that he wanted to be a palaeontologist, they probably had to look it up.
“He was an avid reader from a very young age.”
The teenager will now turn his focus to future study at the University of Western Australia where he will be completing a Mathematics and Statistics degree.
Jayden’s ATAR result puts him in the top 10 per cent of students in the state.
Other great achievements at John Wollaston Anglican Community School included Caitlyn Morrison (96.85), Daniel Rodic (95.85) and Emily Blott (94.6).
