Wellbeing News
Enrichment and student engagement at MPWPS
What is Tournament of Minds (TOM)?
Tournament of Minds (TOM) is a problem-solving program for multi-aged teams of students who work together to solve a demanding, open-ended Long-Term Challenge. Students will also need to solve a second, unseen Spontaneous Challenge on Tournament Day.
Tournament of Minds’ aim is to enable students to develop diverse skills, enterprise, time management, and the discipline to work collaboratively within a challenging and competitive environment.
Moonee Ponds West will soon be obtaining student interest to participate in the Tournament of Minds, with this process commencing in Term 2. This will be communicated directly to teachers and students, as well as through the newsletter.
Who can be involved? Students from any year level
How many in a team? Up to seven students
How long does it run for? 6 weeks
What is required? The team will work on answering a problem as creatively as possible. They will then have 10 minutes to present this to an audience and a panel of judges. They will also be required to undertake a spontaneous challenge, which will be presented to a panel of judges only. The judges will score teams on teamwork, creativity of responses and thinking skills.
Students will be required to meet often during the 6-week period, supervised by the facilitators. This will most likely be during student breaks.
Who are the facilitators from MPWPS? Elisha Katsonis & Hayley Wedge
When is the final presentation? 24th and 25th August, 2024 @ La Trobe University, Bundoora.
An example of a STEM long term challenge:
Please visit the following links to obtain further information about the Tournaments of Mind.
Victorian High Ability Program (VHAP)
VHAP consists of ten-week online courses in Mathematics and English for both primary and secondary levels. Students engage in synchronous Webex classes with their teachers. They can also engage with the course material on Virtual Schools Victoria Online outside of the class time.
The VHAP classroom provides students with the opportunity to:
- explore and express their ideas freely
- make their own decisions about their work
- be inspired and challenged by each other
- gain confidence in their choices and abilities
- feel excited by their learning.
Students are selected to the program based on previous NAPLAN and PAT Reading & Maths results. Families will be provided with consent forms if their child has been nominated and accepted into the program for Term 2.
Elisha Katsonis