Magis

Welcome back

Welcome back to all Magis and Altiora students and best wishes for a happy and successful year in 2020.  Congratulations to all Magis students on the excellent results achieved at the end of 2019. In particular two of our Year 12’s deserving special commendation are 2019 Magis Captain Rory Hewson, the College Dux,  who scored the highest John XXIII ATAR score,  99.65, a superb effort. Our top Altiora student Charlie Richards  gained a splendid ATAR of 98.55.  Rory and Charlie demonstrated Magis and Ignatian values in their leadership last year, and continue to do so in 2020 – both signing up to coach Interschool Debating teams.

Many highlights are planned for Magis this year including of course the Space Camp in America at the end of this term, and participation in World Scholar’s Cup Global rounds.  Among the many changes are that  Magis-run John XXIII Competitions events open to all students such as Public Spelling, the Academic Challenges and Creative Writing will now count for  House points.  There are also changes to membership of Magis as delineated  in the first weekly Magis Memo  (attached below). A reminder too of  the opportunity for high performing students at each year level to join up as an Altiora member if they did not qualify via MYAT testing.  Our first two major competition students are invited to nominate for are WADL Interschool Debating and the Da Vinci Decathlon. Both are outstanding opportunities, and information handbooks will out soon. Debating starts in Week 6 and Da Vinci Decathlon is on 7 & 8 April.

The glossy hardcover 2019 Magis Chronicle is available for purchase, and the following handbooks  are available free from the Magis office and electronically from the Magis resources folder: They are  key resources for our Magis program:

•  2020 Magis handbook
• Magis resources Handbook
• Australian Gifted student Competitions handbook.

An exciting video giving an overview of the Magis program has been produced, and I am extremely grateful  to Ms Lisa Martella and Sam Tout on their great  assistance with production,  and Ms Kirralee Dawson and  Mrs Anna Gingell for their key roles in it.  Please take the time to watch the seven minute video via the link below to get a deeper insight into what the Magis program offers.

Best wishes,

Jim Miller

Magis Gifted and Talented Program Coordinator