Dubbo School of Distance Education teacher, Frank Xia's dedication to delivering his lessons has paid dividends, with three of his students earning the top three places in the state for the Higher School Certificate (HSC) German Beginners for 2019.
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Mr Xia's class of eight were his first-ever HSC students and had been with him since he started teaching in 2018.
One of his students, Jacinta Smith, whose home school is Orange High, topped German Beginners ahead of 95 other students.
Two more of his students: Saskia Dorsman (Denison College Bathurst High Campus) and Miya Chesterman (Springwood High) also finished in second and third place, earning a rare trifecta for Mr Xia and Dubbo School of Distance Education.
"It came through in dribs and drabs - I did not hear all the results at once," Mr Xia said.
"I found out Jacinta came first and I was more relieved to hear that than surprised.
"She is an absolutely amazing student, and I was relieved I had done the right thing by helping her to achieve what I knew she was capable of.
"When I heard I had placed two and three as well, that's when the surprise started to kick in.
"I'm not sure what reaction is appropriate and to be honest I'm still processing it, but my initial reaction was relief that I had done the right thing and the students had achieved.
"I have the opportunity to teach each of them individually, so I try to use that to my advantage.
"For eight students doing the same unit of work, I would have taught that unit in slightly different ways, depending on what I had identified as needed by each student."
Miss Smith said she "immediately wanted to tell Mr Xia" when she had learned of her results because of how much he had helped her.
"He's so nice, and he is always willing to help you understand stuff - no matter how complicated, he is always going to find a way to explain it to you - because he wants all his students to learn," she said.
Miss Smith thought learning to speak in another language would be "really cool" and later this month she will be putting her top-grade language skills to the test when she flies out for a gap year in Germany.
Dubbo School of Distance Education Principal, Deb Murray, said she's delighted with the distinguished achievements produced by Mr Xia's dedication.
"It's Frank's first HSC year," Ms Murray said.
"He loves teaching German and Japanese, and he is really gentle and lovely with the kids.
"Frank has tailor-made the course and materials to the way students operate, learning their best learning style and adapting the course so the students can learn to their maximum potential."