High Achievement Awards for Cambridge International AS Level were awarded to Tiana Thompson-Ratahi for English General Paper and Paige Pullman for Psychology.

Tremain, who was one of the school’s highest-performing students, received two awards for top in the world for Cambridge International AS Level marine science and high achievement for Cambridge International A Level marine science, said her jaw dropped when she found out.

“I was very shocked, very surprised, but extremely grateful for this award … it’s super exciting.”

Tremain was passionate about marine science and said growing up by the beach was part of her motivation.

She was inspired by the idea of kaitiakitanga (guardianship and protection of our wild spaces), but also David Attenborough, she joked.

Tremain hoped the awards would open up more opportunities for her in the marine space, which was her chosen career path.

High achievement award winner Chenuli Hettige-Dona was equally passionate about the subject she had excelled in – biology.

Hoping to move into medicine one day, she loved learning about the human body.

“I was pretty surprised but really grateful, because it’s a nice feeling to know that when you put a lot of work into something, you can get recognition for it. So that was pretty cool.”

Top in New Zealand award winner for Cambridge International AS Level English General Paper, Eliana Richling, said she’d put a lot of work into her studies.

During the second part of her paper, she answered an essay question about how the Government should prioritise spending in healthcare.

Assistant principal Rebecca-Amy Muir said it’s not just academic ability but an “awful lot of hard work” that went into achieving at such a high level.

“I think that it [Cambridge] gives them the skills to be able to critically think and to analyse information and to hear and process what they’re learning.”

Muir said the school, though academically strong, worked hard to prioritise pastoral care.

“… It’s a real partnership, I think, between staff and students.”