In the Know

School Highlights

Mathematics Talent Quest Award Ceremony at RMIT

Tania Whitehead, Talent Development and Enrichment Coordinator

 

Junior School students who were awarded High Distinctions in the Mathematics Talent Quest (MTQ) Competition were invited to attend an award ceremony at RMIT University on Thursday 17 October. I am pleased to share that Kilvington also received an ‘Outstanding School’ award from MTQ.

Congratulations to all students who entered this competition. It was certainly an opportunity to apply their mathematical knowledge and skills to a real-life problem solving and inquiry project! 

 

Well done to Isaac Pramudya (Year 2), Kai Araki-Walker (Year 6), Lachlan Klarin (Year 6) and Jacob Le-Phan (Year 6) for achieving High Distinctions in a challenging competition and for being recognised at the formal awards.

Future Problem Solving Competition 

Tania Whitehead, Talent Development and Enrichment Coordinator

 

Future Problem Solving (FPS) is a national competition designed to develop essential skills in problem-solving, collaboration, critical and creative thinking, research and effective communication. The program challenges students to consider potential global issues and equips them with the tools to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

This year, several Kilvington students from Years 5 to 10 were selected to participate in the FPS Scenario Writing competition. In this individual competition, students craft short stories set 20 to 30 years in the future, focusing on one of the annual topics. The 2024 Scenario Writing topics included Antarctica, Autonomous Transportation, Currency, Tourism, and Urbanisation.

For the first time, we also had a Year 9 team enter the Community Problem Solving section. This part of the competition allows students to identify a real-world issue and follow a structured six-step process to create and implement an action plan. 

 

The Kilvington Year 9 team — comprising Addi Sey, Hugo Blair, Jesse McGregor and Millie Hurst — developed a project titled StressLess, aimed at creating strategies and resources at the school level to address the impact of stress and anxiety on academic achievement, particularly during formalised assessments.

I am pleased to announce that 14 Kilvington students involved in FPS were selected to participate in the National Finals, held at Carey Grammar School from 18 to 20 October. The National Finals weekend brought great success for Kilvington, with several students receiving awards:

  • Lili Metz, Year 5 – Member of the winning Scenario Writing team
  • Jacob Le-Phan, Year 6 – 3rd place in the Junior Division Scenario Writing
  • Ewan Harrison, Year 10 – Best Writer in the Senior Division National Finals Writing Competition
  • Henry Hu, Year 10 – 2nd place in the Senior Division Scenario Writing

A special congratulations to Ewan Harrison and Henry Hu, who have both qualified to compete in the 2025 International Finals at Indiana University, Bloomington, USA!

 

Well done to all our students who participated in this year’s FPS competition. I am incredibly proud of your hard work and achievements!

Bionics Girls in STEM presentation 

Louise Macfarlane, Academic Dean of Science

Throughout this year, four Year 11 students — Alexis Liew, Alyvia Liew, Avery Liew and Grace Mossman — teamed up with Professor Kate Hoy and PhD student Jacqueline Noonan from the Bionics Institute.

 

As part of the Bionics Girls in STEM program, the students met regularly with their mentors and were assigned research papers to deepen their understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and brain function. In October, they presented their findings to the senior VCE Biology class, showcasing insights about Alzheimer’s.