General News
21 December, 2025
From struggle to success: Benjmain Holland named Warracknabeal dux
Benjamin Holland is the 2025 DUX of Warracknabeal Secondary College, and said while it was exciting to achieve such a high ATAR result, he wanted to acknowledge the important role Warracknabeal College played in his achievements and the opportunities it had provided him.
Benjamin Holland is the 2025 DUX of Warracknabeal Secondary College, and said while it was exciting to achieve such a high ATAR result, he wanted to acknowledge the important role Warracknabeal College played in his achievements and the opportunities it had provided him.
However, Benjamin's path to DUX at the College has not been without its challenges.
From a student who struggled to get his assignments in on time to DUX of the school, it involved a lot of hard work.
Still, a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was the missing piece of the puzzle.
"Once I had that diagnosis, I understood why I had difficulty organising myself and my studies. It made all the difference," he said.
"The staff at Warracknabeal College were very supportive and not only helped me with my studies but also helped me in planning and keeping on track."
Parents David and Fiona said they are very grateful to the staff, whose commitment to Benjamin's needs has been instrumental in helping him learn to manage his time and studies, resulting in this wonderful outcome.
Benjamin enrolled at WSC in January 2020 at the Tregear Street site just before the pandemic.
The college provided Maths Pathways (the self-paced program) which allowed Benjamin to develop his skills at a pace that suited him, identified the need for Benjamin to start his VCE in Year 9 with General Mathematics units 1 and 2 and provided the opportunity to spend term 3 of Year 9 at Alpine School for Student Leadership at Dinner Plain near Mt Hotham where he developed valuable interpersonal and leadership skills.
On November 30, Benjamin attended the Warracknabeal Secondary College graduation at the Palace Hotel, where more than 20 students celebrated completing VCE.
Benjamin said he was particularly grateful to Principal Casey Phelan, Assistant Principal Melissa Thompson, Year 12 Co-ordinator Rikki Nitschke, and math teacher John Bish for their ongoing encouragement.
Late in Year 8, Mr Bish could see that Benjamin would finish Math Pathways early in Year 9, so he suggested that Benjamin undertake VCE General Maths 1 & 2.
Benjamin went on to complete 3 & 4 General Maths in Year 10 and then decided to do VCE Maths Methods. Late in year 10, Benjamin approached Miss Thompson about enrolling in Specialist Maths.
After consultation with Miss Phelan, he enrolled at the Centre for Higher Education Services.
The campus is based in Chapel St, South Yarra, and was established to provide senior government secondary students from across the state with opportunities to stretch, challenge, and accelerate their studies, aiming to bridge the gap between Secondary Schooling and University.
It enables access to first-year university-level studies and selected VCE subjects.
Benjamin studied Specialist Maths at CHES, where he attended a seminar day once a term in South Yarra and completed online lessons and tutorials each week.
He achieved a raw score of 31 in this subject, which scaled to 43.9, indicating that it was more challenging than other subjects.
On November 21, the graduation ceremony was held at the Astor Theatre on the corner of Dandenong Rd and Chapel Street, St Kilda.
CHES had three awards for this class: one for outstanding academic achievement, one for connecting and collaborating with others, and one for outstanding improvement.
Benjamin was awarded the “Connection” award for actively fostering collaboration and interaction and learning among peers and reflecting the CHES value “we connect."
Benjamin was one of 57 students who completed VCE Units 3 and 4 Specialist Maths.
He began Biology 3 and 4 in 2025, but after term one, he decided it was better to channel his energy into four subjects rather than five.
During VCE, Benjamin worked in a casual capacity at Ritchies IGA and was also the State Youth Leader for Venturers, part of the Scouting Movement.
While he has not fully decided what the future holds for him employment-wise, his first preference is to study Professional Engineering at Swinburne in 2026.
The cut-off for this course was 82 last year, so he said he feels confident about being offered a place, having received an ATAR of 92.25.
While very proud of Benjamin's achievements, his parents acknowledged that not everyone may have received the ATAR result they wanted.
Still, at the end of the day, it’s just a number that may unlock opportunities in the short term, but it doesn’t define your whole life.
