Magis report

The Year 7 and 8 Magis Option Personal project Opening is on Wednesday 24 June at 7:30am in the Library. A light breakfast will be served followed by a welcome ceremony including talks by three students on their projects. All  23 projects will then be on display with their creators providing insights into each project.  The display will then be open to all students at recess and lunchtime.  An invitation will go out to parents on Monday.

This coming week will see the start of the next Magis-run academic challenge, the Arts and Humanities Challenge which will include 30 questions from geography, literature, drama, politics, history, music, religion and art. This Wednesday will see the Year 11 and 12 students compete, followed by Year 9 and 10 next week, and finally Years 7 and 8. There will be different questions of course at each year level. This is a House Championship event with teams of at least four from each house. Koolyangarra currently leads the Magis academic section of the House Championship from Loreto and Campion, but all houses are still potential overall winners at the half way mark where Academic Spelling, Creative Writing and Mental Maths have now been completed, and Public Speaking plus Academic Challenges in Arts-Humanities, and STEM are coming up.

One of the major Magis events is of course the John XXIII Public Speaking Competition, and nominations are now open to compete in the heats which will be held late in this term and early next, leading up to the grand final in week 2 of next term. This is also a house event, and homerooms are normally limited to two students. Thus 12 students from each year will compete in heats, with the top three then making the grand final which will be judged by a panel of top Alumni public speakers and debaters.

There will be plenty of Magis action at the start of next term. Apart from the Public Speaking grand final,  Opti-MINDS and Tournament of Minds Challenges will be distributed on day one, British parliamentary debating teams will be formed, and the Magis Year 7 and 8 Camp will be held at Point Walter campsite on Friday afternoon 7 August , and Saturday 8 August.  Several outstanding guest speakers have also been organised for the three Magis Seminar Breakfasts planned for Term Three.

Jim Miller

Magis Gifted and Talented Program Coordinator