Magis report

The House Championships in Mental Mathematics, a Magis event open to all students, has been an outstanding success with a total  of  184 students from Years 8 to 12  (plus  three House coordinators)  competing. Koolyangarra House had an outstanding victory ahead  of  St Louis and Loreto,  but all Houses produced some excellent performances. Three students  Daniel Doran, James Mitchell and Matthew Gardner achieved a perfect score, as did Mr Yates! See the full results including photos of the winning homeroom team from each year on the link below. I was particularly delighted with the support of Year 11 and 12 students with over 60 competitors. Special thanks to House coordinators and homeroom teachers for their great enthusiasm and assistance. The next  Magis House event  will be the Academic Knowledge challenge in the ARTS (humanities, literature, media, music  drama and art) which will be held in weeks 7 and 8.  It will consist of 30 questions as per the Academic Spelling and Mental Mathematics.  The STEM Challenge plus the John XXIII Public Speaking Competition will be held early next term, although some heats of the public speaking will be held in the last two weeks of this term.

 

Team are now being organised for both Opti-MINDS and Tournament of Minds for next term.  The challenges will be available on the first day of Term 3.   Because of COVID-19  the competitions will involve creating a video of team performances and submitting them to the judges. There will be no finals at Curtin University or ECU for either event this year. Further details will be published in subsequent newsletters when teams are finalised.

 

Depending  on the changing regulations regarding the coronavirus, it is still hoped to hold the popular Magis Years 7 and 8 Camp at Point Walter, which is booked along with several key presenters.  The WA Debating League is deciding on the viability and format for British Parliamentary Debating  next term, and we intend to nominate John XXIII College teams from Years 8 to 12,  whilst holding a House debating competition for Year 7 students.

 

Jim Miller

Magis Gifted and Talented Program Coordinator