Magis Report 

Welcome back

Term 3 is set to be another exciting and busy time for Magis with competitions and events galore. With so much happening, it is important that students are diligent in reading their Monday GATE student newsletter (the ‘Magis Memo’), Teams notices, and attend all practice sessions, development seminars and team meetings. Most competitions are team events, and so individual commitment to a group effort is vitally important. We warmly welcome a new cohort of students to our Magis elective classes and look forward to hearing about their endeavours over the course of the semester.

Update: WA Debating League

The WA Debating League (WADL) have announced the top teams from each division, who will be progressing to the final rounds of the Schools Debating Competition (SDC). The first finals round will be held this Tuesday, 29 July at Shenton College. Communication has been sent to students and families. We congratulate our champion debating teams and wish them the best of luck with their debates:

Public Speaking Grand Final

Over the course of Term 2, students from Years 7 to 11 took part in the heats of the College Public Speaking Competition. Students were charged with speaking for three-minutes on a topic of their choice. Students spoke passionately on a broad range of topics from Lego to Prime Ministers and everything in between. Suffice to say, the standard was exceptionally high, and we would like to commend all students who took part. Public Speaking is a valuable skill to have and to hone, and I would strongly encourage all participants to take on board the feedback they have received. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff who assisted in adjudicating the heats.

We are excited to announce our 2025 College Public Speaking Grand Finalists:

The Grand Final of the College Public Speaking Competition will be held this Wednesday, 30 July (Week 2) at 6:00pm to 7:00pm in the Gonzaga Barry Lecture Theatre (GBLT).

Invitations have been sent to the parents and guardians of our grand finalists, but we would like to extend the invitation to the wider College Community. It is sure to be a wonderful evening with the extraordinary talents of our students on display. We are excited to have a panel of esteemed Magis Alumni, who will have the difficult task of deciding the top public speaker from each year group. 

What else is happening in Term 3?

The Magis Program will be hosting The Players, from the Bell Shakespeare Company, for a wonderful afternoon of Shakespeare immersion. A key aspect of our GATE program is providing opportunities for our students to learn 'more'. It is important for our students to be exposed to a wide range of genres, styles, and topics. Learning about Shakespeare gives students a glimpse at another world, and it helps improve their logical thinking processes, emotional intelligence, and cultural awareness. The incursion will be held on Friday, 22 August (Term 3, Week 5), during periods 5 and 6. Students will take part in a short activity, followed by a performance of Macbeth: The Rehearsal and then a Q&A with the actors. We will also be extending this opportunity to a selection of English students. 

Further details can be found on the flyer below.

A selection of Year 8 Magis students will attend the Junior Stretch and Challenge Conference, in conjunction with Oxford University and Thriving Minds. This transformative event is crafted to unleash the full potential of gifted minds, with a specific focus on philosophy, science and ethics. Speaking of ethics, our Junior Ethics Teams will take part in a Training Clinic, where they will hear from global experts from Harvard University, the New School of Social Research in New York, and the Ethics Centre in Sydney, to name a few.

Our academic challenges continue for all secondary school students, including the STEM and Music Challenges. 

Competition-wise, we have the finals of the WA Debating League (WADL) Schools Debating Competition (SDC), the British Parliamentary Debating Competition, the Tournament of Minds, and UN Youth events. 

We will also be welcoming, academic in residence, Fr Frank Brennan SJ, and Magis students will be encouraged to attend his lectures in conjunction with our Politics and Law ATAR students. We also look forward to welcoming a new cohort of Years 7 and 8 Magis Elective students. And we will finish the term as one, celebrating Magis in our Week 10 Community Mass.

You can keep up to date with our schedule of competitions and events by viewing the Magis calendar, which can be accessed by clicking on the link below.  

Daisy Farley

Head of Magis – Gifted and Talented

Magis: Opportunities to do more!

British Parliamentary Debating

British Parliamentary Debating is an excellent opportunity for students to develop their public speaking skills and learn a new style of debating. It is a niche and intensive competition that encourages teamwork and thinking outside of the box. The skills gained in this competition can transfer across all subjects and other co-curricular activities. Students will receive a crash course on the day of the competition and will be assisted in preparing for their first debate. With that said, we strongly encourage students to read through the BP Handbook and view the WADL/BP YouTube Channel before submitting an expression of interest. Students can find further competition details on Magis Teams. Expressions of interest close Monday, 4 August (Term 3, Week 3).

International Debating Championships

The International Debating Championships offer high-quality debating instruction and tournaments for Australian and international schools, continuing to develop students’ public speaking skills, analytical abilities, and general knowledge. The tournament will be held entirely online via Zoom on Friday nights during Term 4 of the NSW school term. It is open to students in Years 7-10 across Australia, New Zealand and Asia and will be conducting two divisions; Junior (Years 7-8), and Senior (Years 9-10). The tournament will be adjudicated by qualified and experienced university debating adjudicators. We will be holding debate development training seminars in Term 3, leading up to the Term 4 competition. Expressions of interest are to be emailed to the Head of Magis by Monday, 4 August (Term 3, Week 3).

The Craig Silvey Award for Young Writers

The City of Subiaco proudly presents the 2025 Craig Silvey Award for Young Writers. This award recognises and celebrates the talent and potential of WA's young writers from Years 1 to Year 12. Stories submitted must be an original piece of prose writing, no more than 2000 words in length. Entries close Monday, 11 August at 5:30pm. Please note: There are winter writing workshops scheduled for the school holidays. Visit the city's events page for more information. 

The Haiku on Hay Poetry Competition

The City of Perth Library and the WA Poets Inc. invite students to submit an entry in the annual Haiku on Hay Poetry Competition. One entry per poet will be accepted. Entries will only be accepted via Microsoft Forms. Monetary prizes for the top entry in both the junior and secondary age divisions. For full Terms and Conditions, please visit the Visit Perth website. The competition closes Thursday, 31 July 2025.

Astronomy Club

Calling all stargazers and astronomy lovers! Join our College’s Astronomy Club, where you’ll learn more about the night sky and the history behind constellations, gain confidence with telescopes, and discover tips to make stargazing more enjoyable. It is a great social club where you’ll meet like-minded people of all ages, who share a passion for learning and stargazing. The Astronomy Club meets on the College Oval on various evenings throughout the year – and has a few events booked with the Perth Observatory. For more information, please email the Club Coordinator, Mr Peter Mazur (Mathematics Learning Area), or the Head of Magis.