Gifted Education Program News

Da Vinci Decathlon

The da Vinci Decathlon, started in 2002 by Knox Grammar School in Sydney, has grown to become an international event. The competition starts on the day of registration – places are limited and generally fill within a few hours. The Qld competition was again hosted by Nudgee College, but was run remotely this year, with the students staying at their own schools.  With more than 37 Queensland schools participating, more than 1080 students competed for the ultimate prize – an invitation to Knox Grammar for the National Finals. Only one team per year level would receive that invitation.

The competition ran over three days, with the Year 5 and 6 boys on Tuesday 31st May, Years 7 and 8 on Wednesday 1st June and Years 9, 10 and 11 on Thursday 2nd June. Teams competing on the same day completed the same challenges, none of which were easy. The theme for 2022 was Patterns, so all of the challenges focussed on patterns in some way. 

Working in teams of eight, students are faced with ten challenges throughout the day, covering the disciplines of Art and Poetry, Cartography, Code Breaking, Creative Producers, Engineering, English, Ideation, Legacy, Mathematics and Science. The day is broken into three sessions so several of the challenges have to run concurrently. Teamwork is the key, as is the ability to think laterally and creatively. Time is always an issue – there is never enough of it. Energy can be an issue – there is sometimes too much of it! 

Congratulations to all of our teams for your work in preparing for the challenge and for the enthusiasm, determination and cooperation that you displayed on the day. The Year 5 and 6 boys were asked about their experience and their comments included:

“There was a lot of work to get through, so it was a bit stressful at times.”  - Oliver Petrie 

“Very academically puzzling and very enjoyable overall.”  - Charlie Kelly

“Heaps of hard questions but overall really fun.”  - Christian Manning

“It taught us about teamwork.”  - Kayden Kyoung

“It made learning all day fun.” – Nicolas Cienfuegos

“Really tests your skill and knowledge.”  -  Lucas Weigl

I think the students in the other year levels would echo these sentiments. 

Results finally came in yesterday and the boys were definitely keen to know how they had fared. Unfortunately, our Primary boys didn’t place in the top three for any of the disciplines, but will certainly have benefited from the experience. For our Secondary teams, the results are:

Year 7: 3rd in Art & Poetry

Year 8: 1st in Science

Year 9: 1st in Code Breaking; 3rd in Ideation

Year 10: 1st in Ideation; 1st in Engineering; 3rd in Mathematics; 3rd in Creative Producers

Year 11: 1st in Engineering; 1st in Code Breaking; 2nd in Mathematics; 3rd in Ideation

 Sincere thanks to Mrs Anntoinette Restell who gave up three days to help with the supervision of a team and the management of the submissions, and to Mr Brett Carroll who provided the supervision and management of submissions for the Year 10 team on Thursday. Thanks also to all of the senior students who came along each day to support and encourage the younger teams.  

Year 5 Team: Matthew DAVIES, Oliver PETRIE, Nicolas CIENFUEGOS, Cooper CHASELING, Jackson LACY, Ethan WU, Percy HEDE (absent), Isaac RUFFINI (absent). 

Year 6 Team: Christian MANNING, Kayden KYOUNG, Henry WALKER, Thomas SHAXSON, Charlie KELLY, Lucas WEIGL, Eoin DOYLE

Year 7 Team: Hamish ANSELL, Julian CASSAR, Curtis CUDDIHY, Sam MAPLEDORAM, Julian LEWIS, Harry VICKERY, Matthew ALVAREZ, Jacob NEWMAN

Year 8 Team: Alessander JAVIER, Luke GARVEY, Fletcher WESSLING, Matthew STOWER, Hugh AMBROSE, Jack PURCELL, Daniel THIRGOOD, Harper FRAZIER

Year 9 Team: Aidan PHILLIPS, Lachlan VINK, Sebastian GARDINER, Kian DICKMAN, Andrew WOODWARD, Ben HARTFIEL, Ben MEAD, Elliot SCHANZL

Year 10 Team: Max BATHERSBY, Harrison DYER, Alex APELT, Ashley KANI, Tristan WOODS, Jesse PATTEL-BROWN, Liam BOURKE, Harry LEE, Remy VERSACE (absent)

Year 11 Team: Angus BOSSE, Roman AH LOY, Oliver LEE, Louis REBULA, Alem FITZGERALD, Oliver GORDON, Ben KUMARU, Will MOON

Tournament of Minds 2022

Workshop - Mini State Challenge

The TOM 2022 season has commenced. To kick things off we are having a mini State Challenge workshop tomorrow evening – Wednesday 8 June. The workshop will start immediately after school at 3:20pm and we will be finished by 6:30pm – plenty of time to get home for the State of Origin.

Boys will be placed in mixed-age teams so that the older students can guide the younger boys in the process of solving a challenge. This will give those students, new to Tournament, a taste of what is involved. Following a 75-minute preparation stage, the teams will present their solutions to their audience.

Students should bring some snacks and water bottles. All other materials will be supplied. 

Presentations will be in Room 402, which is part of the Secondary CLE – Building 13 on the College Map. Parents and siblings are welcome to attend the presentations, which will commence at 5:30pm.

Please contact Majella Stevens – stevensm@marash.qld.edu.au if you have any questions or would like to register your interest in this program.

Academic Co-curricular Programs Term 2 2022

Maths for Young Australians – Challenge Program

REGISTRATIONS  HAVE  CLOSED

Question and Response booklets have been given out.

Students should, by now, have returned their solution booklets to Ms Stevens.

Public Speaking Program

Year Levels: Years 5-10

Meetings: Weekly on Tuesday afternoons

Location: Room 402 (Secondary CLE)

Presentation Evening: Thursday 16 June

Maths/Science Club

Year Levels: Years 5-10

Registrations: Registration is NOT required. Attendance is voluntary

Meetings: Next meeting (Science) is Wednesday 9 June – Heart Dissection.

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

Cybert – Cyber Security Club

Year Levels: Years 7-12

Meetings: Weekly – 7:30am each Friday. Next meeting is Friday 10 June.

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

Location: Room 403 (CLE)

Ashgrove’s Model United Nations Club - ASHMUN

Year Levels: Years 7-10  

Meetings: Next meeting will be Wednesday 8th June. JCC – The Great Schism of 1054.

Registrations: Registrations are encouraged. Email Joseph Lewis (23lewisj@marash.qld.edu.au)

Location: Room 402

English Speaking Union’s Public Speaking Competitions 2022

Year Levels: Year 11 and Year 12 students can register now 

Competition Dates:

Seniors - Years 11-12 – Heats are Thursday 21 July 2022

– Registrations are open now.

Registrations: Contact Ms Stevens (stevensm@marash.qld.edu.au) to register. Speech topic is “The duty of a newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Anon.

Queensland da Vinci Decathlon

Our Year 5-11 teams participated enthusiastically and produced some excellent results. Please read the report above.

IEU Literary Competition

Year Levels: Years 5 – 12

Open Division: Teachers and School Officers

Entries due: Friday 10 June

See College Learning Portal for further details and prize money.