Narrabeen Sports High School Year 10 student Maiia Salbieva is the youngest public school student to sit an HSC exam at the age of 13, having just completed HSC Advanced Maths. She started at the school at the young age of 10.
Maiia was home-schooled for her primary years as her parents were on a bridging visa, and she completed the curriculum at her own fast pace.
“Year Seven was a struggle, as I didn’t have many friends at the very beginning of the year,” said Maiia. “I spent a lot of my time studying in the library and didn’t do many extracurricular activities,” she said, noting she was the second shortest person in the whole school.
“But I gained confidence because I was at school and ended up blending in and making friends along the way,” she said.
While Maiia appreciated the new experience of having teachers and other students in class learning with her, she found she was also well ahead in Year Seven maths.
“I realised I knew everything that they were talking about, and I was bored. The school put me in the Year Eight class, so then I was learning new stuff,” Maiia said.
The following year, Maiia joined an accelerated program, doing Year Nine maths in Year Eight, and tackling HSC maths in Year 10.
Maiia is what deputy principal Tracy Postle describes as ‘twice exceptional’ as she excels academically and in tennis, requiring a high-potential and gifted education plan to enable her to succeed.
“We meet regularly with the high-potential gifted education team to make sure that things are working for Maiia,” Ms Postle said.
This plan, along with remarkable time management skills, sees Maiia balance 20 hours a week of tennis training with her studies.
“I train for five hours straight, but also ensure that I keep up with all my schoolwork. I don’t like to get behind on any work,” Maiia said.
With an interest in marine biology, Maiia is planning on studying science and playing college tennis in the US after finishing high school, when she will be just 15 years old.
