Academic Excellence

Tournament of Minds

Our team finally got to unleash ‘Dave’ during the long challenge of Tournament of Minds, after working tirelessly to make him. He is a thought-to-be extinct animal hybrid of an ant, leech, jellyfish, snail and scorpion. Dave, built entirely from recycled materials, can drink ‘blood’, move stealth-like due to his camouflage and make chime-like sounds to attract friends.

The judges were very impressed with Dave and how he worked, the students' edited video of Dave in the bush and that they had managed to not spend a cent of the $75 allocated budget to make him.

The students should be proud of their efforts in both the Long Challenge and the previously unseen Spontaneous Challenge. They worked as a cohesive team, communicating well and encouraging each other to do their best.

Well done on your fine effort - Isabella Hulm, Sophie Griffiths, Ayden Ratnasekera, Varun Shivnani, Mya Oppelaar, Alyssa Yang and Tony Ngo.

Thank you to a number of staff for your assistance in the lead-up to the challenge and to Miss Macoboy for coming to support our team on the day.

Our task as a team was to create a creature and incorporate three different animal phyla into it, while making the creature be able to move, eat and make noise, without spending a cent. ​I thought that this challenge was quite far-fetched and difficult when I first heard it, but it progressively got easier as I started to get to know my team more and more. The highlight of being in the TOM team was in fact how fun it was to participate and make this unusual creature. We did this challenge successfully and named our creature 'Dave'. Even though I was one of only two Year 7s on our team of seven students, I was still included in the making of Dave and writing the script for our performance. I had so much fun and I hope to participate again next year!

Sophie Griffiths (K5)

I enjoyed my Tournament of Minds experience as I got to explore and meet new people. I also created good friendships and learned a lot throughout the course. It helped me to gain a new perspective of myself. In summary, this competition provided a very valuable experience, as well as inspiration to step out of my comfort zone. 

Alyssa Yang (K4)

Australian Geography Competition

Year 8 and Year 9 HASS Extension students tested their geographical skills and knowledge against students from all around Australia in the 2018 Australian Geography Competition. We have now received the results. A number of students at our College should be commended for performing to a very high level in the competition.

Congratulations to Danika Hampson (Year 9) for gaining a High Distinction. Excellent effort!

Four Year 8 students received Distinctions. Congratulations to Jaslina Pereira, Guntaas Ranu, Ayden Ratnasekera and Abira Wolf. Well done!

Congratulations also to a number of students that gained Credits:

Year 8 - Amelie Boyle, Paige Hale, Bob Watson

Year 9 - Rachel Bruyns, Alina George, Connor Le Dain, Isioma Onyemgba, Mya Oppelaar, Matilda Seroney, Zeta Stevens.

UNEP-DHI Eco Challenge

The UNEP-DHI Eco Challenge competition presents an exciting and fun activity for pairs of students to play and learn about water at the same time. The students will be given the opportunity to play an online serious game called Aqua Republica, compete with participants around the world and at the same time have an engaging and meaningful discussion with their classmates and teachers on the topic of water and environment.

Four St Norbert College Year 7 HASS classes have participated in this competition so far this term. The students were enthusiastic, enjoying the different way of learning about water and sustainability.

The best placed St Norbert’s teams so far are:

Team 38 – 1284pts - Venzhel Mungrah; Matthew Sanchez

Team 58 – 1207pts - Kym Dela Cruz; Roohani Sharma

Team 28 – 1035pts - Amelie Anderson; Chanelle Min

Thank you to the HASS staff who used their class time to allow the students to play Aqua Republica.

Write4Fun Competition

Write4Fun encourages young student writers with Australia-wide competitions. They have many great prizes. A number of St Norbert College students have been busy putting their literary talents to the test to write poems or short stories to enter the competition. Our students' entries display fantastic imaginations and great creativity. We wish them good luck and hope for positive results.

Assessment of Languages Competence (ALC) - Japanese

This test is comprised of a suite of online tests designed to assess the language competence in learners of additional languages. Since its inception in 1990, the key aim of the program has been to celebrate and enhance the learning of languages in the Asia-Pacific region. The ALC Test includes listening to and reading comprehension tasks in a multiple-choice format designed to challenge and enable students to experience success.

Congratulations to the selected group of Year 10 to Year 12 students (Ethan Ricafranca, Amanda D’Cruz, Yen Ngo, Elsa Tan, Selina Tan, Shania Cura, Chelsea Dato, Dylan Wemyss and Maria Lunas) who recently sat the Assessment of Languages Competence (ALC) Test for Japanese. Each student was aiming to achieve one of three possible certificates of competence in Japanese. We now eagerly await the results.

Mrs L Cardenia (Academic Excellence Coordinator)