THEY are proud to be trailblazers in the history of The Armidale School, but these students say starting as the first secondary TAS girls yesterday was more about gaining the best HSC they believed they could.
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When the TAS Board announced in May the school would move to full co-education in 2016, Holly Tearle thought it would be too late for her to return to the school where she spent her “very happy primary years” at its co-ed Junior School.
“So when it was decided that day girls going into Year 12 would be able to start in Term 4, I was just so excited at the opportunity,” she said.
The four are already quite familiar with TAS. Holly, Elyssa Rogers-Ellis and Maddy Dennis have all had older brothers go through the school, while Elyssa, Maddy and Emily Blackbourne have been studying some subjects at TAS since the start of Year 11, as part of a combined subjects arrangement TAS has had with other Armidale secondary schools for many years.
“I’m not really daunted – I’ve lived in a house with three brothers and it certainly helps that we know some of the teachers and the current students; for me the only difference, at least in Economics, is I’ll now be wearing a TAS uniform,” Elyssa said.
Headmaster Murray Guest welcomed the school’s newest students.
“We admire their courage and enthusiasm as they take this historic step,” he said.
Girls from Years 6-11, including boarders, will start at TAS in Term 1.