Year 8 Interschool Academic Challenge Day

In October, eight students represented Oxley at a Year 8 interschool Academic Challenge Day at Kingswood College. In this competition, pairs of students from three different schools were placed in a team and competed with teams from numerous schools across ten different events: General Knowledge, Cultures, Engineering, Code Breaking, ‘Off the Cuff’ Public Speaking, Poetry and Art, Mathematics, Science, Spelling and ‘Identify Me’. 

Students were challenged in a variety of ways, both academically and personally, as they were required to collaborate with team members who they had only just met.

Congratulations, Elijah L and Steffan S, on contributing to the team that placed 3rd overall out of many teams from various schools in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

The Year 8 Oxley students who participated in this competition were: Ruth B, Jonathan H, Elijah L, Nicole M, Priscilla P, Sherah S, Steffan S and Reuben T. 

Student Reflections

I enjoyed the opportunity to try something new and different and develop my teamwork skills. I was challenged by the time restraints of the tasks and delegation of the topics. Elijah L

Out of the ten disciplines, my favourite had to be code-breaking due to the creative and logical thinking we had to utilise to crack the codes. However, all ten events posed challenges that were difficult to overcome. Despite the stress of the day, it was a great chance to stretch our thinking, become involved in a different experience and connect with other students. Priscilla P

There were so many things I enjoyed on the day. Being able to collaborate with participants from different schools was fun. This was an adventurous challenge because we didn’t know each other’s skills or capabilities until we were completing the tasks. Elijah and I were able to fill in the missing gaps on the periodic table and break some codes, but other students in our team were able to create a beautiful artwork including a painting of an ivy-filled garden. Although we had different skills, the discipline I thought we were all good at was the engineering one in which we constructed a strong chain out of paper and masking tape. Overall, I enjoyed this educational and entertaining day. Steffan S

Mrs Sharon Sandison

Head of Learning Enhancement