Tournament of the Minds

You may read the title and wonder to yourself what on earth is Tournament of Minds or too many TOM?  TOM is an international educational competition that challenges the mind, encourages creative thinking to solve difficult problems and promotes the importance of working together.  Challenges for students are in the following disciplines: The Arts, STEM, Language and Literature and Social Sciences with this year’s challenges being some of the trickiest yet..  

Over many years Mount Carmel has had a strong connection with TOM and in the past have been successful in winning the State final and participated in the National final.  Last year the competition was run but not in the manner that students were used to, as it saw participants record their responses to the problems and send them through for judging.  However, this year we are back to normal with competition being held on Saturday 4 September at Ogilvie High School with a full contingent of both Primary and Secondary teams entered.  

Students from Years 4 - 10 are busily reading the problem, looking over it with a fine tooth comb to ensure that they are answering the problem correctly and writing scripts.  Soon props will be made, costumes organised and lines rehearsed all presented in a 3 x 3 metre square, all whilst juggling a normal school day.  

Thanks must go to the parents of the team members, as well as Melanie Sluyters, Julia O’Rourke and Aimee Woodward for all their support.

Primary TOM Teams

Secondary TOM Teams