Tournament of Minds

Four Teams Heading for State Finals!

Tournament of Minds is a rigorous activity demanding high levels of creative and critical thinking, careful planning and outstanding teamwork. 

Last Sunday, 27th August, four BMGS teams competed at the Sydney West Regional Tournament of Minds. The teams of seven students had spent six intense weeks collaborating on the development of a creative solution to an open-ended Challenge in their choice of discipline. A great deal of time and effort had gone into preparing ten-minute dramatic presentations that thoroughly addressed the scoring criteria, and team members are to be congratulated on their commitment and determination.

In addition to the Long-Term Challenge, teams contested a Spontaneous Challenge on the day, during which they had less than 5 minutes to generate clever, creative ideas to solve a previously unseen problem. Teams are judged on their teamwork and thinking processes as well as the quality of their responses. Practice also paid off in this aspect of the Tournament. 

Team members demonstrated admirable adaptability, composure and grit throughout the day. Their sophisticated and creative solutions were well received by the judges. 

In an extraordinary and unprecedented outcome, all four of our teams were victorious in their disciplines, with our Primary Arts, Primary Language Literature, Secondary Arts and Secondary Language Literature teams all progressing to the State Final to be held at UNSW on Sunday, September 10! I am very proud of our teams’ dedication and outstanding achievements and wish them well as we launch into preparation for the upcoming State Final. 

Sincere thanks to families who provided wonderful support and got behind their team members, enabling them to apply themselves fully to this challenge.

I am also extremely grateful for the service of Year 11 students, Amelie Hugo and Aleesha Naumann, who volunteered to serve as judges at the Tournament (obviously not for the disciplines in which we were competing!). Their considerable past experience in TOM equipped them to play a valuable role, and their contributions to the day and representation of BMGS were greatly appreciated.

Dr Elissa Drew

BMGS TOM Facilitator