Magis Report 

Junior Stretch & Challenge

Last Friday, a select group of Year 8 Magis students took part in the Junior Stretch & Challenge. This event celebrates intellectual exploration and is designed for motivated and ambitious students eager to elevate their skills to new heights. This year’s focus revolved around empowering bright minds to adeptly navigate ideas and establish connections across various academic disciplines. The students benefited from the expertise of accomplished educator, Julie Arliss, from Oxford University, who guided and inspired the students throughout the day. 

The students took part in a series of academic sessions, which included:

• Session 1: Genetics, Epigenetics Transhumanism
  • Exploration of the frontiers of genetics
     
• Session 2: Interactive guided community inquiry
  • The Ring of Gyges Challenge
     
• Session 3: Unlocking Virtue
  • A journey into Aristotle’s philosophy
     
• Session 4: Debate
  • Topic: This House believes that the finely tuned design of the universe points to the existence of God

Student takeaways:

Junior Stretch was such an exciting and interesting day. We learnt a lot and were exposed to new and innovative ideas and ways of thinking. It really encouraged me to think outside the box and engage in critical thinking. I really enjoyed the experience and would love to do it again. 

Zachary Sartorello

The topics we discussed were thought-provoking and beyond the subjects we learn in school – so I certainly felt stretched academically. I particularly enjoyed learning about epigenetics and transhumanism. It was also great to meet other like-minded people with a love of learning and natural curiosity.

James Sommerfield

I very much enjoyed the conversations we had in our break-away groups around Plato’s The Ring of Gyges. It was an amazing experience being able to dissect a more than 2,000 year old text.

Charles Tegg

Junior Stretch Day was an enlightening program that really extended my knowledge. Many of the discussions challenged my ways of thinking, and I really enjoyed being able to engage and interact with GATE students from other schools.

Sophie Graieg

It was a fantastic day. The program definitely fulfilled expectations of being ‘stretched’ and ‘challenged’. I’m so grateful for the opportunities that Magis offers students.

Rose McLoughlin

Tournament of Minds - Regionals

Congratulations to our STEM Team who competed in the Regional Finals of Tournament of Minds (TOMs) at Edith Cowan University last Saturday. TOMs is a program for primary and secondary students providing the opportunity to solve authentic, open-ended challenges that foster creative, divergent thinking whilst developing collaborative enterprise, excellence, and teamwork. Our students presented a long-term challenge solution in which they designed and created a prototype that would mitigate plastic pollution in waterways. The judges commended the team on their creative performance, use of poetic verse, and great engineering skills. Congratulations to our brilliant STEM team who have been selected for the State Finals, which will be held on Saturday 14 September: 

• William Clarke 
• Henry McGlue
• Minh Nguyen
• Luke Nicol 
• Charles O’Toole 
• James Sommerfield 
• Christopher Tan

There is a lot of preparation involved in the lead-up to the competition, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the students who, despite their busy schedules, enthusiastically attended meetings and rehearsals. I would also like to thank Mr Massey who supervised the team on the day, and to Ms Joyner and Mrs Plummer for their tutelage in spontaneous challenge solutions. 

WADL Debating League

The Grand Final of the WA Debating League (WADL) Schools Debating Competition (SDC) was held on Monday evening at the Perth Town Hall. It was heart-warming to see so many Magis students, friends, family, and staff who came in support of our grand finalists. Thank you everyone! Over 200 teams took part in this year’s state debating competition, across regional and metropolitan areas – and I would like to take this opportunity to commend all our debating students who took part in the 2024 season. Debating equips students with lifelong skills and the confidence to pursue their potential, and I encourage any student who is interested to sign up for WADL in Term 1 next year. 

Our debating grand finalists were Luke Nicol, Henry McGlue, Zachary Sartorello and Christopher Tan. They competed against Perth Modern School and debated the topic: ‘This House believes that social movements should prioritise targeting youth over targeting older audiences.’ The quality of the debate was exceptionally high, and the arguments that were raised, made it hard to imagine that these students are only in Year 8. It is a wonderful indication of the future with young bright minds such as these. In the end, Perth Modern School was awarded the title of 2024 State Novice Debate Champions, with John XXIII College as the league’s runner-up. We congratulate Luke, Henry, Zachary, and Christopher on an extraordinary achievement! These students have been strongly encouraged to try out for the State Debating Team, which competes at both National and International levels.  

British Parliamentary Debating

We congratulate Orlando Ligovich and Nicolas Orugun (both Year 8), who took part in the British Parliamentary Debating Competition held at Methodist Ladies College last Sunday. We have another team who will compete this Saturday at St Stephen's, with a further three teams competing at Hale School on Sunday. Unlike the School’s Debating Competition, the BP Tournament requires that teams participate in three debates over the course of one day in a distinct style of parliamentary-based debating. Best of luck to all of our teams.

Save the date!

Next Friday 13 September is our Magis Community Mass. This provides us a wonderful opportunity to come together as a community in celebration and support of the Magis Program. Some students have nominated to take an active role in the mass, and we thank them in advance. We look forward to seeing our Magis students and their families next Friday.

What’s happening next week?

Next week will be our final academic challenge to decide the winner of the 2024 Magis Academic Cup. This challenge will test student knowledge on Music and Years 7 to 12 Homerooms have put forward representatives who will take part in this quiz. We wish all students participating in the Music Challenge the best of luck! Besides the State Finals of the Tournament of Minds, we also have a delegation of Year 11 Politics and Law ATAR students who will attend the WA Schools Constitutional Convention – and we look forward to sharing highlights in next week’s College Newsletter.

MAGIS: OPPORTUNITIES TO DO MORE!

TEDxYouth

Win your own TEDx talk! If you’re a West Australian aged 14 to 21 with an idea for change, TEDx Kings Park, in partnership with Curtin University, can help. Your idea could be small and handy, or big and world-changing, for people, for the environment, maybe for the world. If you’re one of the five selected finalists, you’ll share your idea on the main stage of the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia at the TEDx Kings Park Youth Event. The winning idea will also be turned into a six-minute TEDx talk, and be published on the official TEDx YouTube Channel! 

Entry is easy: Simply upload a 30 second video of yourself, explain your idea, by 1 September 2024.  

For more information, visit 30-Second Ideas - TEDxKings Park) or speak with the Head of Magis. We will be taking a group of students to the TEDx Kings Park Youth Event to watch the finalists – with further details, including how to reserve your seat in the audience, to be released closer to the date.

Chevron Nature in Focus Photography Competition 

Entries are now open for the 2024 Chevron Nature in Focus Photography Competition – so grab a camera, get outdoors, and start photographing Australia’s natural wonders and unique biodiversity. It could be as simple as some spring wildflowers or capturing a native lizard having a crawl. Include a short caption with your photo and submit it online – under one of the following categories: Oceans, Wetlands and Rivers; Sustainability; or Species and Habitats. For further details please visit Chevron Nature in Focus Photography Competition! - Conservation Volunteers Australia. 

Photographs must be submitted in digital format and should not be digitally altered beyond standard optimisation (e.g., colour correction, cropping). The competition closes at midnight on 1 November 2024, AEST. There’s over $10,000 worth of prizes up for grabs across five age categories – head to the website for details of prizes on offer for students and their schools. 

Ethics Olympiad Case Writing Competition

 Ethics Olympiad are holding a case writing competition with prize money to be won. Submissions should follow the general format for Ethics Olympiad cases: a scenario, between 400 and 800 words long, which highlights a clear moral issue and is appropriate for middle or high-school students and is written in a way that encourages civil discourse. The scenario should be framed so the central issue is clearly moral and not simply or primarily legal or professional. Knowledge of the structure of the Ethics Olympiad competition is important, and it is for that reason that we would recommend the case writing competition to students who have previously participated in an Ethics Olympiad. For more information, please click on the link here or view the flyer below.

Harvard Crimson

The Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition provides a platform for young, ambitious high school students to exercise their writing skills and compete with students from all over the world. This competition encourages students to challenge themselves and explore different writing styles to ultimately strengthen their writing skills. The competition features two key rounds, the regional qualifiers held throughout five regions, followed by the global finals. To compete in the global round, participants must go head-to-head with local participants and place in the top 15 of the regional qualifiers. The top 12 submissions of the final 75, will be recognised in the global final and will win awesome prizes. As Harvard registration opens 1 October 2024 and closes 31 January 2025, we asked that students (aged 13-18) submit their expression of interest to the Head of Magis by Monday, 9 September 2024. This will be followed by a series of meetings and training seminars in preparation for the competition. Regional qualifiers will be held in February 2025, with Globals held in March 2025. For more information, please click the link below or speak with the Head of Magis. 

Daisy Farley

Head of Learning Areas – HASS & Magis