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Tournament of Minds

Tournament of Minds is a fun and rewarding club that allows people to use their individual talents to solve problems in a group of likeminded and enthusiastic students. This exciting co-curricular is available to students from Year 4 – Year 10, during Term 2 and Term 3.

 

What exactly does TOM involve? Teams of seven students in two age divisions (Years 4-6 and Years 7 - 10) are required to present solutions to given problems in the form of a skit for a maximum of ten minutes. They are given 6 weeks to prepare this long-term skit. They will have a team facilitator who will be able to help them along the way. As a team, they are also required to solve an unseen spontaneous problem on the Tournament day. They may be given as little as 2 to 5 minutes to solve this problem and then are asked to present a solution within a time limit.

 

TOM has a section for every type of student. The four sections are:

  1. The Arts
  2. Language Literature
  3. Social Sciences
  4. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)

To join Tournament of Minds, students will need to complete an application form on ASTRA, then come along to our try-out sessions.  An email with the link has been sent to all students.  Applications are open from Wednesday April 24th – Monday May 13th. Auditions will then run during Weeks 4, 5 and 6 on Thursdays from 3:30-4:30 in the Junior School Library. These tryouts are easy to get involved in and lots of fun, so come along even if you’re not sure and you might just surprise yourself!

 

At the trial nights students will complete a range of group and individual activities with the TOM staff. The staff will observe the students to ensure that the successful applicants will work well in the TOM teams. After the trial nights all students will be notified as to whether they are successful in securing a place in a team.  All students will be notified on Monday 3rd June if they are successful or not.  Rehearsals will then continue every Thursday after school until the end of Term 3.

We have some very enthusiastic staff, wonderful past TOM students and parents who support and encourage our students involved with Tournament of Minds.  Any interested parents are most welcome to assist.

 

The cost to be in Tournament of Minds is $30.  This amount covers all registration and team costs, as well as some of the material costs used to create props and costumes for the Regional Tournament. Below are some dates to assist you for future planning:

  • Thursday 16thth, 23rd and 30th May - Tournament of Minds auditions 3:30pm – 4:30pm
  • Thursday 6th June – Thursday 15th August – Thursday rehearsals 3:30pm – 4:30pm
  • Thursday 9thAugust and Friday 17th August - Full day rehearsals 8:45am – 3:30pm
  • Saturday 17th August - Regional Final - La Trobe University, Bendigo
  • Sunday 8th September - State Final - La Trobe University, Bundoora
  • Saturday 12th October - Australian Final – Hobart

 

Mrs Bath (TOM MiC) and Flynn Edwards (Captain of TOM) 2019