Thursday, 3 September 2020
Government House, Sydney
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of New South Wales

The Governor has sent the following letters to NSW Year 12 students through their school Principals. There are three formats of the letter: one for HSC students, one for RoSA students and a third for IB students. There is a link at the bottom of each letter for a downloadable PDF version.

Letter for NSW Year 12 HSC Students

Dear Year 12 student,

I am sorry that I cannot write to you individually but I did want to make contact to wish you well as you come up to the final weeks of your school life, so I trust you will forgive this ‘generic’ message. 

Year 12 is always a challenging year but what a year you have managed to navigate!  Remote learning, uncertainty over exams, the cancellation of those events that were going to cap off your year - 2020 has been one of the most challenging presented to a high school graduating class for a long, long time. And yet, here you are coming to the last weeks of school having survived the craziness of it all.

You may be wondering who I am and why am I writing to you. My name is Margaret Beazley, and as the Governor of New South Wales one of my roles is to recognise the achievements of the people and communities of our State. What I want to say to you today is that I stand in admiration of you. You have shown resilience and grace, you have been caring towards each other. You have demonstrated your adaptability to extraordinary change. 

One of the important goals of education is to prepare you for life’s challenges. You have had more than your fair share of those this year and you have already passed with flying colours!  With your Trial exams completed and your last days of school coming up, your HSC journey is drawing to a close. If your experience is anything like mine was, (in a different century I have to admit), the coming three weeks of study between the end of term and the first exam on 20 October will drag a little but then the exams will fly by in a flash.

None of this is to deny the stress and anxiety of this past year – not only the usual HSC stress but on top of that the anxiety caused by COVID-19.   Look after yourself.  Go for a run in the park, do some Zoom yoga, recite some poetry, or just do whatever it is that gives you that ‘mindspace’ that is so important at this time.  In the coming weeks it will be a matter of one step at a time. 

Congratulations for ‘sticking with it’ and thank you for the way you have responded to this difficult year. This coronavirus period will pass.  The future is yours to shape and as I meet young people around New South Wales I know that in your hands, our community will be in good hands.

All the very best for the months ahead.  On behalf of the people of New South Wales and personally please know that we are very proud of you.

Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC

Governor of New South Wales

Download the Year 12 Letter for HCS Students (PDF) 76 KB

Letter for NSW Year 12 RoSA Students

Dear Year 12 student,

I am sorry that I cannot write to you individually but I did want to make contact to wish you well as you come up to the final weeks of your school life, so I trust you will forgive this ‘generic’ message. 

Year 12 is always a challenging year but what a year you have managed to navigate!  Remote learning and uncertainty over exams, the cancellation of those events that were going to cap off your year - 2020 has been one of the most challenging presented to a high school graduating class for a long, long time. And yet, here you are coming to the last weeks of school having survived the craziness of it all.

You may be wondering who I am and why am I writing to you. My name is Margaret Beazley, and as the Governor of New South Wales one of my roles is to recognise the achievements of the people and communities of our State. What I want to say to you today is that I stand in admiration of you. You have shown resilience and grace, you have been caring towards each other. You have demonstrated your adaptability to extraordinary change. 

One of the important goals of education is to prepare you for life’s challenges. You have had more than your fair share of those this year and you have already passed with flying colours!  Now, your high school journey is drawing to a close. If your experience is anything like mine was, (in a different century I have to admit), the coming weeks will fly by in a flash.

None of this is to deny the stress and anxiety of this past year – not only the stress of assessments, but on top of that the anxiety caused by COVID-19. Congratulations for ‘sticking with it’ and thank you for the way you have responded to this difficult year. This coronavirus period will pass.  The future is yours to shape and as I meet young people around New South Wales I know that in your hands, our community will be in good hands.

All the very best for the months ahead.  On behalf of the people of New South Wales and personally please know that we are very proud of you.

Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC

Governor of New South Wales

Download the Year 12 Letter for RoSA Students (PDF) 76 KB
(PDF) 76 KB

Letter for NSW Year 12 IB Students

Dear Year 12 student,

I am sorry that I cannot write to you individually but I did want to make contact to wish you well as you come up to the final weeks of your school life, so I trust you will forgive this ‘generic’ message. 

Year 12 is always a challenging year but what a year you have managed to navigate!  Remote learning and uncertainty over exams, the cancellation of those events that were going to cap off your year - 2020 has been one of the most challenging presented to a high school graduating class for a long, long time. And yet, here you are coming to the last weeks of school having survived the craziness of it all.

You may be wondering who I am and why am I writing to you. My name is Margaret Beazley, and as the Governor of New South Wales one of my roles is to recognise the achievements of the people and communities of our State. What I want to say to you today is that I stand in admiration of you. You have shown resilience and grace, you have been caring towards each other. You have demonstrated your adaptability to extraordinary change. 

One of the important goals of education is to prepare you for life’s challenges. You have had more than your fair share of those this year and you have already passed with flying colours!  With your last days of school coming up, your International Baccalaureate journey is drawing to a close. If your experience is anything like mine was, (in a different century I have to admit), the coming weeks will fly by in a flash.

None of this is to deny the stress and anxiety of this past year – not only the stress of the IB program, but on top of that the anxiety caused by COVID-19.   Look after yourself.  Go for a run in the park, do some Zoom yoga, recite some poetry, or just do whatever it is that gives you that ‘mindspace’ that is so important at this time. In the coming weeks it will be a matter of one step at a time. 

Congratulations for ‘sticking with it’ and thank you for the way you have responded to this difficult year. This coronavirus period will pass.  The future is yours to shape and as I meet young people around New South Wales I know that in your hands, our community will be in good hands.

All the very best for the months ahead.  On behalf of the people of New South Wales and personally please know that we are very proud of you.

Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC

Governor of New South Wales

Download the  Year 12 Letter for IB Students (PDF) 76 KB