‘It’s the teachers that have gotten me through’: how one public school is celebrating its HSC results

Noah Smith, Barrenjoey high’s first Aboriginal school captain, says getting an Atar without his father – who died while he was in primary school – is ‘such a big achievement’. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Noah Smith was thrilled to receive his Atar on Wednesday, but he’s prouder of a scar tree he created at the front of his high school, which will remain there long after he’s gone.

The Gomeroi teenager was the first Aboriginal school captain at Barrenjoey high school on Sydney’s northern beaches, and says its the support of his teachers and the school that have gotten him through the six years.