Gifted Education Program News

Academic Co-curricular Programs Term 1 2022

Week 6 Update

Future Problem Solving 

Year Levels: Students in Years 10-12 interested in critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork. 

Registrations: Open Monday 7 February – Week 3. New registrations are still welcome for the Term 1 Practice Problem.

Meetings: Tuesdays Break 1.

Location: Room 402

OzCLO - Australian Computational and Linguistic Olympiad

Year Levels: Students in Years 9-12 interested in critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork. 

Registrations: Closed.

Meetings: Wednesdays Break 1, starting Wednesday 9 February. 

Competition Date: Wednesday 2 March – good luck to the 5 teams competing.

Location: Room 403

Australian Brain Bee Challenge

Year Levels: Students in Year 10 only, who are interested in Science.

Registrations: Closed.

Meetings: Monday and Tuesday afternoons – 3:30-4:30.

Venue: Room 403 (CLE)

Competition: Term 1, Week 10

Maths for Young Australians – Challenge Program

Year Levels: Students in Years 5-10 who have an interest in Mathematics and problem-solving. 

Registrations: Open Monday 7 March – Week 7 and close Friday 18 March – Week 8. 

Booklets available: Tuesday 26 April – Week 2 and are due back on Tuesday 24 May – Week 6. 

Qld da Vinci Decathlon

Competition Dates: Years 5-6 – Tuesday 31 May; Years 7-8 – Wednesday 1 June; Years 9-11 – Thursday 2 June

Training Dates: to be advised. 

Invitation-only event.

Maths/Science Club

Year Levels: Years 5-10

Registrations: Registration is NOT required. Attendance is voluntary. 

Meetings: Science Club this Thursday 3 March – 3:20pm-4:30pm; Maths Club Thursday 10 March – 3:20pm-4:30pm

Topic: Paradox

Location: Science Centre Foyer for Science Club; Room 403 for Maths Club

Ashgrove’s Model United Nations Club - ASHMUN

Year Levels: Years 7-10

Showcase: Congratulations to Joseph Lewis 11F and all those involved in the Showcase on Monday 21 February. Report and photos follow.   

Meetings:  Meetings will usually be held fortnightly, on a Wednesday afternoon. Next meeting is Wednesday 2 March, 3:20pm-4:45pm.

Registrations: Registrations are encouraged. Email Joseph Lewis (23lewisj@marash.qld.edu.au) or Ms Stevens (stevensm@marash.qld.edu.au) if you would like to participate. No experience is necessary. 

Location: Room 402 

Public Speaking Program

Year Levels: Years 5-10

Meetings: Weekly on Tuesday afternoons. First Meeting: Tuesday 1 March – Week 6. 

Registrations: Registrations will open on Wednesday 16 February 2022. Email Majella Stevens (stevensm@marash.qld.edu.au) to register.

Location: Room 402 (Secondary CLE).

Cybert – Cyber Security Club

Year Levels: Years 7-12

Meetings: Weekly – 7:30am each Friday.

Registrations: Please email Ms Stevens (stevensm@marash.qld.edu.au) or turn up on Friday. 

Location: Room 403 (CLE)

 Any enquiries about these programs should be directed to Majella Stevens – stevensm@marash.qld.edu.au

Model UN Showcase Event

Monday 21 February 2022

The Question of the Russo-Ukrainian Crisis

A complete and accurate demonstration of an Ashgrove Model UN Security Council. The Chamber debated The Question of the Russo-Ukrainian Crisis, calling on the Council to condemn any and all actions by any Member States that might prompt the outbreak of an armed conflict, along with eleven other resolutions. 

For those who don’t know what Model UN is all about, this showcase event was the perfect opportunity to have their questions answered. This is a program run by students at the College so that others with an interest in international politics and current affairs might have a vehicle to demonstrate their knowledge and to argue their point of view. 

Congratulations to Joseph Lewis 11F who stepped up to pull the event together on Monday 21st February. Thanks also to his support crew – Isaac Lynn 11G, Archie Bathe 11H and Ben Kumaru 11E and the delegates of the Member States who prepared for and participated in this event. 

New students are always welcome to MUN. You don’t need any experience. ‘On-the-job’ training will be provided. The security council will meet again tomorrow, Wednesday 2 March from 3:20pm-4:45pm in Room 402. Students in Years 7-12 are welcome. 

Lions Youth of the Year

Club Final - Tuesday 22 February 2022

The Lions Youth of the Year Program is designed to foster, encourage and develop leadership qualities in our youth. These traits are fostered in conjunction with other citizenship qualities at an age when the students are about to enter the fields of higher education or employment. 

The LYOTY Program provides the students with the incentive to pay greater attention to the general qualities that are so vital in developing them into first-class citizens. The qualities sought, apart from academic attainments, are those of leadership, sportsmanship, public speaking and good citizenship. The importance of public speaking is recognised at all levels with a specific award to the candidate judged to be the best speaker. 

The LYOTY Club Final is divided into three elements: the interview, impromptu questions and a prepared speech. Three community members make up the judging panel who assess each student on their efforts in the three categories. The interviews, which take approximately 15-20 minutes, were conducted on Saturday 19 February. They allow the judges to find out more about the individual – their community service involvement, academic achievements, participation in sport, as well as their general knowledge about issues that affect their local community now and into the future. The impromptu questions, each of two minutes duration, and the prepared speeches (five minutes) were conducted on Tuesday 22 February. 

MCA was represented by Samuel Allpass 12G and Douglas Cowlishaw 12I. In his prepared speech, Sam spoke on the need for schools to offer community service programs to develop, among their students, a culture and attitude of service and caring for others. Dougie challenged the audience to not simply accept the negative perceptions around nuclear power, but rather to objectively compare the costs of all types of power generation.

The standard of competition was again very high this year and any of the students would be a worthy winner. The public speaking prize went to Zahri Day from The Gap SHS, and overall winner for the Club Final was awarded to Samuel Allpass. Sam will now proceed to the next round, the Zone Final, in March.