Gifted Education Program News

2022 Australasian Association of Philosophers’ Philosothon       

A Philosothon is a conversation, a discussion, a Community of Inquiry. It is an opportunity for students who share an interest in exploring the ethics of a particular issue, to come together and offer opinion, question and probe so that each person in the community can gain a better, deeper understanding of the topic. It’s not about winning a debate; it’s not about proving to others that you are correct and they are wrong; it’s not about having all of the answers; it is about working with others to explore, analyse and learn more about the topic. 

On Friday 19th and Saturday 20th August, five students from Years 8-11 participated in the invitational event. Seventeen schools from NZ, Qld, NSW, Victoria, NT, SA and WA engaged in online discussions, covering four topics. Prior to the event, the students were provided with the stimulus and research links to discuss the ethics of issues surrounding Artificial Reefs, Impact of AI on creativity in art, Australia Day on 26th January, and Time Travel. 

The program was a challenge for our younger boys who haven’t had a lot of training in Philosophy, but all enjoyed the opportunity to engage in discussions on a deeper level. Particular congratulations to senior students – Joseph Lewis and Archie Bathe who finished 6th and 10th in their respective groups. 

UN Youth’s EVATT Trophy 

Congratulations to our two teams – Joseph LEWIS 11F and Isaac LYNN 11G, and Harrison DYER 10D and Remy VERSACE 10E who will participate in the State Finals of the EVATT Trophy on Saturday 27th August. Each team is allocated a country and the team members act as that country’s delegates to the Security Council of the UN. Delegates will propose and discuss amendments to Resolutions and negotiate with delegates from other countries. Good luck on Saturday gentlemen. 

CyberTAIPAN 2022

Sunday 21st August saw our cyber security students compete in Round 1 of the annual CyberTAIPAN competition. Part of an international competition based on the US CyberPATRIOT program, CyberTAIPAN launched its pilot in Australia in 2018, when we became involved. The competition involves two rounds of competition and a national final. Students are required to find and fix vulnerabilities in systems. This year we have two teams participating and, following Sunday’s effort, Team 1 is sitting in 6th position and Team 2 in 28th. There are approximately 140 teams in the competition. Congratulations to our two teams:

Team 1 – Zac APELT 12D, Ben HARTFIEL 9G, Will JOHNSON 12E, Luke NISBETT 12G, Michael NOLAN 12H.

Team 2 – Alex APELT 10D, Max BATHERSBY 10R, Harrison DYER 10D, Kieran EADES 12E, Harry LEE 10D, Remy VERSACE 10E.

Tournament of Minds 2022

Results from the Regional Final held on Saturday 13th August are not yet available. I am expecting them to be released late this evening, so they will be available tomorrow. 

Congratulations to all of our teams on an excellent preparation and strong performances in the Regional Final. 

Thank you to all of our amazing facilitators for the work, energy and dedication they have shown once again this year. 

Science Club 2022

Thursday 25th August – Science Centre – 3:20-4:30. Guest Presenter – String Theory Specialist.