Cocurricular News

da Vinci Decathlon

In Week Six, 24 students from Years Six, Eight and Ten had the privilege of travelling to Perth to compete in the annual da Vinci Decathlon hosted by Methodist Ladies College, at UWA. da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition where teams of eight students compete against students from their year from different schools and is made up of ten disciplines: English, Mathematics, Science, Art and Poetry, Engineering, Code Breaking, Legacy (general knowledge), Ideation (using a design process to solve a problem), Cartography (using and designing maps) and Creative Producers (drama and performing). 

The challenges in the Decathlon have a different theme each year, and this year’s theme was ‘Utopia’, which means ‘perfect world’. Many of the tasks involved this year were themed around the idea of living in a perfect world, where people live together in harmony and everyday problems like climate change have been resolved.

The Decathlon was held on the top floor of UWA's stunning Winthrop Hall, complete with its bright yellow stained-glass window of a flower. Soon enough, the competition was underway. The tasks from each discipline were handed out in the form of booklets, and more than one booklet was handed out at once. This meant that everyone had to work together to get each set of booklets handed out completed in two hours. Assigning discipline ‘captains’ and ripping apart booklets so team members could work on different activities from the booklets were helpful strategies. A highlight of the day was every round of booklets starting and ending with the beloved ringing of the gong, which student volunteers from different schools were given the opportunity to hit. 

We are excited to announce that the GSG Year Eight team was awarded first place in Cartography, second place in English and third place in Ideation, a thrilling achievement as Great Southern Grammar has never sent a team to the Decathlon that has come first, second or third in more than one discipline.

Great Southern Grammar was also recognised as the furthest-travelling school to compete in the Decathlon.

The GSG students who competed would like to thank the staff that travelled with them including Mr Rose, Mrs Franklin, MsYouens and Miss Wienand.

Hannah Hull | Year Eight student