Magis

John XXIII College fielded three teams in the prestigious Da Vinci Decathlon competition held at Wesley College over the past week.  Competing against about 30 top schools in each age-group, the Year 7, 8 and 9 teams all represented the college admirably.  A full report will be released when the final complete results are received, but two outstanding successes were winning both the Year 9 Mathematics and the Year 7 Creative Producers sections. Congratulations to all three teams, and special thanks to Ms Kath Negus, Mr Simon Carello, and Ms Wing Chan for their splendid assistance with training the students for several key sections of the Decathlon.

Warmest thanks to everyone who has contributed to the development of Magis and Altiora this term, especial the Year 12 leaders Bella Spiro-Harrison, Amelia MacMillan, Roberto Vitali, the Magis committee, and the teachers who have been involved in the wide range of different gifted and talented programs offered within the school.  Pleasing achievements this term have included the setting up of a Magis committee, two excellent Magis Academic Breakfasts, the first with WA Creative Edge Director, Katthy Boyatzis and the second with National public speaking champions Sophie Hellemans and Pauline Chiwawa,  the outstanding Year 12 victory in the WA Creative Edge competition at Curtin University and strong performances in the Da Vinci Decathlon, as well as initiation of the Magis competitive  academic challenges program with Academic Spelling, Goal-setting and Learning Styles challenges being offered.

Jim Miller

Gifted and Talented Coordinator

Public Speaking and Creative writing competitions

Entries for the John XXIII Public Speaking and Creative writing competitions, both run by Magis, close this week. Winners  of the short story section will be announced after the holidays, whilst Public Speaking heats for each year group will take place in week 12 next term. The Grand final will take place at 7:00pm on Wednesday 9 May, and will feature the top three speakers from each age group and  adjudicated by three national public speaking champions.

Upcoming events in Term 2 

Highlights for next term include senior students attending the Julie Arliss Gifted and Talented program at St Hilda’s,  middle school teams representing the College in the World Scholars Cup at Sacred Heart College in June, the new Catholic Schools  Mooting Competition at Notre Dame, the Magis and Altiora Senior Camp at Rottnest after the exams, our   participation in the Commonwealth Public Speaking and Leadership competition, and of course the  next rounds of  two major events, the WADL interschool debating, and Mock Trials.