BOGANGAR Public School brothers Hamish and Conor Brett are “D students” – D for distinction that is.

The pair achieved high grades during recent Inter- national Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) testing.

ICAS is a non-compulsory range of testing including areas such as computer skills, English, mathematics, science, spelling and writing, provided by University of New South Wales for a fee.

Principal Cath Lalor said a selection of the tests were offered to 26 of the school’s 265 students.

“We sponsored the students who had performed strongly in NAPLAN testing,” she said.

The Brett brothers achieved distinctions in the computer skills and science categories.

Ten-year-old Hamish achieved a distinction in the science exam while 12-year-old Conor scored distinctions in both science and computer skills. But there was no hard feelings or competition between the brothers.

“We were both really happy and excited when we found out,” the boys said. “And our parents were very happy and proud of us too.”

Mrs Lalor said ICAS had proven to be a positive motivator for students.

“It’s been great because we get to acknowledge our high achieving students and to assess their progress and find ways to extend their learning,” she said.

“We have also had students say I’m going to do really well in NAPLAN next year so I can do the test.”