Deputy Principal News: Maths Olympiad and Ethical Olympiad Results
Maths Olympiad and Ethical Olympiad Update
Last week we received our official results from the Australian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiad program. We had 30 students across Years Four, Five and Six take part in the competition, which is designed to extend and promote students who excel in the subject of
Mathematics. This was the eighth year in which students at St Joseph's have taken part in the competition, and yet again, our students have achieved incredible results for which they should be very proud.
As a school, our team of students finished in the top 10% of all schools who took part in the competition. A wonderful achievement and one we’re very proud of. This takes into account
the scores and performance of all the students in the group that took part this year.
Over 36,000 primary-school aged students took part in the Olympiads this year, of which, only 126 achieved a perfect score. We’re very proud to share that Spencer not only topped the St Joseph's tally, but was one of these 126 students across Australia and New Zealand. This is an incredible effort that was achieved through an exceptional desire to improve and develop throughout every lesson across the two terms of the program. Closely following Spencer in second place was Seri who was one mark off a perfect score. Seri also applied herself incredibly well throughout the competition and should be immensely proud of her achievements in recording a score in the top 3% of Australia and New Zealand.
Alongside Spencer and Seri, we also had Xavier, Cara, Flossie, Will S, Will W, Angus, Sofia, Jasmine, Leo, Maggie, Harrison, Sid and Olivia who were also acknowledged for their efforts. These students achieved a score in the top 10% of the competition. A wonderful achievement. Maddy, Clementine, Josh, Oscar, Charles, Kira, Arlo and Ava were also celebrated for achieving a score in the top 25% of the competition. These scores are compared to all students who took part in the program across Australia and New Zealand.
As part of our weekly Maths Olympiad sessions at school, we also run an inter-school competition with the students working in teams to earn points. This aims to develop the collaboration and teamwork skills of the students. This year the team of Seri, Jasmine, Lottie and Sofia were the winners. We have a perpetual shield to recognise the winners of this annual competition, which we have engraved with the names of the students in recognition of their work in this area.
On Friday we also celebrated the students who took part in the Ethical Olympiad debating competition at the end of Term Three. Congratulations to our incredible ethical debaters - Flossie, Harrison, Liza, Sofia and Olivia. After a very mentally stimulating day of debating, our team came 6th out of the 20 schools to compete. They were also awarded an honourable mention for their efforts. The students took part in three debates across the day, via zoom, against schools located around Australia, debating issues such as lying, leadership, friendship and needs versus wants.
We congratulate all of our students who took part in the Maths Olympiad and Ethical Olympiad competitions this year and look forward to competing in them both again in 2025.
Tom Hartney,
Deputy Principal and Teaching and Learning Leader