Magis Report 

WADL Debating League

The quarter finals of the WA Debating League (WADL) Schools Debating Competition (SDC) took place on Tuesday evening at Perth Modern School. Many thanks to the family and friends who came in support, on what was a very cold and wet evening.  We are very excited to announce that one of our debating teams has made it through to the State semi-finals. Commiserations to JTC7 who were outstanding in a very close debate against Mercedes College - missing out on a semi-finals place by only one point! Over 200 teams have taken part in this year’s competition, and we have a debating team who are in the final four- an outstanding achievement to be sure. Congratulations to:

JTC 4

• Luke Nicol
• Henry McGlue
• Zachary Sartorello
• Christopher Tan

The semi-finals will be held this Tuesday, 27 August, at Mount Lawley Senior High School. Our debate team will verse Methodist Ladies College (MLC 7), with the debate commencing at 6:15pm. As the debate format is impromptu, team members will be required to arrive at the venue an hour and 15 minutes before their scheduled debate time (5pm). A copy of the finals draw can be found on the WADL website. We wish our debating finalists best of luck.

Ethics Training Clinic

On Wednesday, our Junior Ethics Teams took part in an Ethics Training Clinic in preparation for the Middle School Ethics Olympiad Competition which will take place next term. This Clinic provided our ‘eth-letes’ (as they are known in the competition) with a unique and fascinating opportunity to hear from global experts. In the morning program, students heard from Archie Stapleton of Harvard University, Dr Andrew Cullison of De Pauw University, and Jack Wells from the New School of Social Research in New York. In the afternoon, students heard lectures from Dr Rachel Robinson-Greene of Utah University on Consequentialism and Dr Tim Dean, a Senior Philosopher at the Ethics Centre in Sydney on ethical principles and rules. These lectures were followed by breakaway mentor sessions with academics from Australia, New Zealand, the US and India. A thoroughly rewarding experience and invaluable learning opportunity for our Ethics students.

Creative Edge

Our Creative Edge Team has been very busy rehearsing and putting the final touches to their props and costumes this week. I commend the team members on their dedication and hard work throughout the Term and we wish them the best of luck as they compete in the regional finals of the Creative Edge Competition this Saturday at Curtin University. 

Special thanks to Ms Anne Joyner and Mrs Dawn Plummer, from our wonderful Learning Enrichment Team, who have provided spontaneous challenge preparation for both our Creative Edge and Tournament of Minds Teams.

What’s happening next week?

It is going to be another very big week for Magis! Besides the semi-finals of WADL SDC, we have a GATE symposium scheduled for Thursday, and a select group of Year 8 Magis students will be attending the Junior Stretch and Challenge GATE excursion on the Friday. Our TOMs STEM Team will be competing in the Regional Finals of Tournament of Minds at Edith Cowan University on Saturday – so a busy week of rehearsals in the lead-up to the competition. And we also have a team competing in the British Parliamentary Debating Competition at MLC on Sunday. Certainly, there is a lot happening, so I would reiterate to students the importance of wellbeing. With that said, it’s wonderful to see so many of our Magis students taking up the opportunities our GATE program offers. 

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. 

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