MEDIA RELEASE 7 February 2017 Premier awards Tennyson Medal at SACE Merit Ceremony The Premier of South Australia, the Hon. Jay Weatherill MP, awarded the prestigious Tennyson Medal for excellence in English Studies to 2016 Year 12 graduate, Ashleigh Jones at the SACE Merit Ceremony at Government House today. The ceremony, in its twenty-ninth year, saw 996 students awarded with 1302 subject merits for outstanding achievement in SACE Stage 2 subjects. Subject merits are awarded to students who gain an overall subject grade of A+ and demonstrate exceptional achievement in that subject. As part of the Merit Ceremony, His Excellency the Hon. Hieu Van Le AC, the Governor of South Australia, presented the following awards: Governor of South Australia Commendation for outstanding overall achievement in the SACE (twenty-five recipients in 2016) Governor of South Australia Commendation — Aboriginal Student SACE Award for the Aboriginal student with the highest overall achievement in the SACE Governor of South Australia Commendation – Excellence in Modified SACE Award for the student with an identified intellectual disability who demonstrates outstanding achievement exclusively through SACE modified subjects. The Tennyson Medal dates back to 1901 when the former Governor of South Australia, Lord Tennyson, established the Tennyson Medal to encourage the study of English literature. The long list of recipients includes the late John Bannon AO, 39th Premier of South Australia, who was awarded the medal in 1961. For her Year 12 English Studies, Ashleigh studied works by Henrik Ibsen (A Doll’s House), Zhang Yimou who directed Raise the Red Lantern, and Tennessee Williams (The Glass Menagerie). As well as enjoying English literature, for her individual study, she examined Women at Point Zero, a novel by Nawal El Saadawi, which was published in Arabic in 1973. The novel is based on Nawal’s experiences as a psychiatrist in Egypt, studying the psychological effects of prison on female prisoners. In her personal time, she read Hard Jacka, the story of Gallipoli legend Albert Jacka VC, Australia’s first Victoria Cross winner during the Great War. The late Albert Jacka is a late relative of Ashleigh, who was the focus of her SACE Research Project in Year 12. Ashleigh intends to study a Bachelor of Commerce and Law at the University of Adelaide in 2017. During the next few years, she also hopes to volunteer and travel overseas. Quotes attributable to Dr Neil McGoran, Chief Executive of the SACE Board “Today’s Merit Ceremony was a wonderful celebration of South Australia’s high achieving young men and women from the Class of 2016.” “The students performed at an exceptional level and I congratulate them on their efforts,” Dr McGoran said. “These are SACE results that the students, teachers, schools and parents should be very proud of!” Media Contact Rachel Rodda, Media and Communications Coordinator, SACE Board of South Australia 0448 671 050 or email: [email protected] .