Aitken College Newsletter

Extension Programs

This term students from Aitken College participated in the following extension and enrichment competitions.

Da Vinci Decathlon 2022

On Tuesday 3 May, a team of very enthusiastic Year 7 students competed against 52 other schools from across Victoria in the online 2022 Da Vinci Decathlon. The Decathlon competition challenged students to work in teams of up to eight to embrace a range of academic challenges across ten discipline areas: Art & Poetry, Cartography, Code Breaking, Creative Producers, Engineering, English, General Knowledge, Ideation, Mathematics, and Science.

 

Our Aitken team worked well together, sharing their knowledge and skills to complete each challenge. At the end of the day, the Da Vinci Decathlon was declared to be a wonderful experience and lots of fun. We congratulate our Year 7 team for showing determination and commitment as individuals and team members.

 

The members of the Aitken team were: Makayla A (7S), Rafael B (7B), Lucas D (7S), Ronan K (7B), Layla H (7L), Kisali P (7S), Mia P (7C) and Lachlan R (7S).

 

Below are some student reflections:

I really enjoyed participating in the Da Vinci Decathlon because it was really fun working in teams and having a laugh with my peers. It was definitely a very challenging competition because the questions were out of the ordinary and harder than my peers and I expected.
Lachlan R (7S)
 
I really enjoyed the Da Vinci Decathlon Day, it was really challenging but lots of fun and I learnt many new things. I got to work with new people and make new friends.
Makayla A (7K)
 
In the Da Vinci Decathlon we got a chance to take part in a variety of subjects, and each subject had a task/s that required creative and analytical thinking and problem solving skills. I enjoyed the fact that we all got to do something that interested us, and that the tasks involved hands on projects such as writing a script for a performance based on Shakespeare, and performing it. I learned a lot about teamwork and how to think creatively as well as the important lesson which is to always check the criteria. It was a very fun day, and even though it brought many challenges, we as a team learnt how to overcome them, and learnt a lesson or two in the process. 
Kisali P (7S)

Senior School Ethics 2022

On Friday 27 May, select students from Year 10 participated in the Senior School Ethics Olympiad. During the day, the students engaged with each other and schools across Victoria via Zoom. They worked as a team to respond to questions while building and critiquing their own and others’ philosophical arguments on the cases below:

  • Case 1 – University Admission by Lottery
  • Case 2 – Anti Natalism
  • Case 3 – Homophobic Discrimination and Freedom of Speech
  • Case 4 – Statues
  • Case 5 – Something Fishy about the Para-Olympics
  • Case 6 – Wholesome discipline
  • Case 7 – Killer Art
  • Case 8- The Medical Brain Drain

Our team, consisting of Aoide A (10M), Deborah B (10M), Amy G (10W), Mustapha Z (10W), Devmi P(10H), Joelle S (10C), and Sahez S (10H), dedicated time one lunchtime per week to prepare for the eight cases that they had to undertake on the day.  They are to be congratulated on the respectful behaviour that they demonstrated to each other and their competitors. Whilst not winning, the Ethics Olympiad provided students a creative vehicle for developing important skills in communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. 

 

All the students involved are to be commended on their participation and effort in what was a wonderful opportunity to be a part of.  A special thanks to Mr Brook Marsom for his assistance in coaching the students for this event.

 

Student Reflections:

I feel as though participating in the Ethics Olympiad this year was a very worthwhile experience. It taught me about all of these ethical theories that I had never even heard of before then. The program challenged me to think thoroughly about worldwide problems such as anti-natalism and the debate on statues. It also forced me to view these issues from all possible perspectives, making me analyse how the other side would view our arguments, and how they’d possibly argue towards us. On the actual Olympiad day, our team was challenged to think on our feet, making quick decisions and bouncing off each other’s ideas. I very much enjoyed the teamwork aspect of this program, and how working as a team helped our overall performance during the heats. Despite not achieving the outcome we all desired, this program was a great experience, teaching me so much, and also helping me with my confidence whilst public speaking. Devmi P (10H)
 
I have enjoyed being a part of the Ethics Olympiad team this semester. I was challenged to think outside the box, question my own beliefs and values and discuss things in different ways. We learnt about some ethical frameworks and the competition day gave us a chance to represent our school and work together. I enjoyed the program and got a lot out of it.  Amy G (10W)

Ethics Olympiad Case Writing Competition

The Ethics Olympiad conducted their first-ever Case Writing competition. This was an exciting opportunity for students in Years 7- 12 to write cases for the Ethics Olympiad. The Ethics Olympiad, which the College is also a member of and participant in, received many entries from NSW, Tasmania, Victoria, North and South Island New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The quality was outstanding overall and the winning entries will provide a rich mix of possible cases in future Ethics Olympiads. Hirundi I (8O) participated in this competition and received an honorable mention for her case, ‘Why you should adopt a pet’. 

 

Congratulations on your success, Hirundi! We are incredibly proud of you!

 

Mrs Mary Ann Di Martino

Head of Faculty Extension Programs