Magis report

Last Friday, a group of Year 7 - 10 Magis students departed for the annual Magis Camp to Point Walter. The Magis Camp is designed to meet the needs of our Gifted and Talented students – providing them with an opportunity to extend and enrich their learning further. The students participated in a range of activities including: a motivational talk from one of Australia’s Top 100 Young Leaders, David Castelanelli; a workshop run by Kathy Boyatzis, Director of Creative Edge Thinking; a talent show; and genius quiz, in which students competed in vertical teams – providing a fun environment for our younger students to work closely with our senior students. Magis Captain, Genevieve Fergusson-Allen delivered an inspiring keynote address, describing her growth within the Magis program, the life-long skills she has learnt, as well as advice to students going forward. Was very moving and, as one Year 7 student remarked, ‘encouraged them to follow in Gen’s footsteps and one day deliver the keynote address’. What a great goal!

The weather didn’t dampen our spirts, though at times, it did dampen our clothes. But that just made archery and flying fox even more fun! Congratulations to Year 10 student Amber Armstrong for being the first to hit the bullseye! The Camp wouldn’t be possible without the wonderful support that I receive from my colleagues. Special thanks to Ms O’Connor and Mr Munns for helping make this a memorable experience for all.

Phoebe Walsh – Year 8

I love the Magis Camp because we’re a tight-knit group. We all share a love for learning, critical thinking, and pushing ourselves to do more – to be Magis. This makes the workshops and lectures we get to attend that much more interesting, because your discussing topics and completing activities with like-minded people.

Joseph Nankivell – Year 8

The Magis Camp experience, especially this year, was a blast in terms of the activities we did, and all the people who came to the Camp (teachers, students, lecturers) were very welcoming and fun to be with. Probably my favourite part of the Camp was the Talent Show, where everyone came up and performed something with a reference to their passion. My favourites were Deiran Raman’s speed Rubik’s cube solving, and Phoebe Walsh’s solo singing performance. Thank you for all the fun times that the camp provided!

In support of National Science Week, the Homeroom/House Challenge this week has tested students on their STEM general knowledge. Was great to see student representatives getting into the House spirit and pushing themselves ‘to do more’. Congratulations to our Year group winners:

Year 7: Joshua Macfarlane (St Louis)
Year 9: Jackson Bosnich (Loreto)
Year 10: Gemma Bailey (Loreto) and Xavier Jeffrey (Ward)
Year 11: James Mitchell (Kooly), Marie-Claire Hickling (Kooly), Liam Stewart (Kooly)
Year 12: Kady Wall (Kooly)

Best of luck to our Year 8s who’s turn it will be next week!

The heats of the FameLab Academy Competition were held on Thursday in the Gonzaga Barry Lecture Theatre. Students in Years 9 and 10 presented a three-minute talk on an area of STEM that they feel passionate about. Presentations ranged from colour psychology, calculating pi, to Schroder’s cat (quantum mechanics). It was an exceptionally difficult task for judges to pick a winner – with the presentations generating much discussion. Congratulations to Poppy Hartfield (Year 9) for her presentation on ‘Women in STEM’. Poppy will represent the College at the State Semi-Final. Special thanks to Maths and Science Teachers Mr Williams, Mr Carrello, Ms Galati, Ms Casadio and Ms O’Grady – for their assistance in judging.

Magis: Opportunities to do more!

Students are encouraged to submit an entry in the 2022 Eileen Thompson Memorial Poetry Competition. The theme for this year’s competition is: 'Reflecting on the past'. For further details please click on the link below. Entries are due Monday 29 August.

2022 ETM Poetry Competition .pdf

Grab a camera, get outdoors and start photographing WA’s biodiversity! Entries are now open for the 2022 Chevron Focus Environment Competition. For further details please click on the link below. Entries are due Friday 23 September.

Find out more

Ask a Question this National Science Week! Students are invited to submit of video of themselves asking a question about science. The Deputy Premier and Chief Scientist of Western Australia will answer your science questions! For further details please click on the link below.