External academic competitions

Rising to the Challenge: ICAS and the Prime Minister's Spelling Bee

This term our students have taken on two significant academic challenges, and the response from across the school has been outstanding.

In August, Cheltenham East ran the ICAS Assessments for the first time. 71 students from Years 2 to 6 took part, sitting a combined 175 assessments across English, Science and Mathematics. Remarkably, 47 of those students sat all three subjects.

What makes ICAS different is the standard it sets. These are not tests of the year level curriculum. Students are given unfamiliar problems that ask them to apply what they know in new ways, and their results are benchmarked against high-performing students from schools right across Australia. Sitting an ICAS paper means measuring yourself against the country's strongest performers in that subject. That takes courage as much as ability.

We were equally proud of the students across Years 3 to 6 who entered the Prime Minister's Spelling Bee this year, working through increasingly difficult word lists under time pressure. Five of those students qualified for the State Final, a genuinely impressive result and one that reflects a lot of quiet, consistent practice.

What we want to celebrate here is not only the medals and the qualifications. It is the decision so many students made to put their hand up for something hard, knowing they might not come first. That willingness to be challenged, to sit with difficulty and keep going, is exactly the disposition we want to grow at CEPS.

Certificates and results reports will be distributed to families as they arrive. Congratulations to every student who took part, and thank you to the families who encouraged them to give it a go.