Thriving Minds high ability excursion

High ability students from Year 9, accompanied by Ms. Sheedy and Ms. Ind, attended the Thriving Minds Junior Stretch and Challenge conference at Ivanhoe Grammar School in Doreen on 31 July. 

The keynote speaker was Julie Arliss, who addressed students about topics including genetics, epigenetics, transhumanism and philosophical thinkers including Aristotle and Plato. 

Students had opportunities to collaborate with participants from other schools to discuss ethical scenarios and they participated in a debate which considered the proposition: ‘This House Believes that the Finely Tuned Design of the Universe Points to the Existence of God’.  

Student feedback 

Megan K:

I enjoyed listening to the speaker and students who spoke during the day. It helped me with understanding different point of views, as well as building upon my own ideas.

Yenuli:

It was genuinely interesting with many important notes about how even in a philosophical manner that our fate can always be modified by our choices.

Han:

The positive aspects of the excursion to me were the group discussion and the debating sections when we could contribute our ideas and see what other people had to say.

Ollie:

I enjoyed listening to the presentation in a lecture format and it was interesting to have an obviously very learned professor to listen to.

Brad:

The genetics session was quite engaging, and meeting new, like-minded students was also pretty epic.