CELEBRATING Innovation
JUNIOR SCHOOL CONQUERS STEM COMPETITION FOR THE FIRST TIME, CGGS JUNIOR SCHOOL ENTERED A YEAR 5 TEAM AND A YEAR 6 TEAM IN THE DA VINCI DECATHLON, A DEMANDING ACADEMIC CHALLENGE ACROSS TEN DISCIPLINES. REGULAR PRACTICES WERE HELD TO BUILD TEAMWORK AND IDENTIFY STUDENTS’ STRENGTHS IN THE DISCIPLINES. OVER 30 TEAMS REPRESENTED SCHOOLS IN THE REGION, AND BOTH CGGS TEAMS WON SEVERAL SECTIONS, WITH THE YEAR 5 TEAM BECOMING CHAMPIONS ON THE DAY! Lyn Pepper-Budge and Jane Crawford DA VINCI DECATHLON CO-ORDINATORS
The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: engineering, mathematics and chess, code breaking, art and poetry, science, english, philosophy, creative producers, cartography and general knowledge. (www.davincidecathlon.com) Right: At the venue – The da Vinci Decathlon was hosted by Canberra Grammar School Below: Victorious Year 6 team: Eve Anderson, Annie Lloyd, Maddie Klar, Tess Chung, Layla Brady, Amy Andersen, Maia Hehir, Ashwini Sivakumar
What the students had to say about The da Vinci Decathlon “The teamwork and excitement of the tests overrides the stress involved.” Ashwini Sivakumar 6G “It was a great opportunity, and we all had fun challenging ourselves!” Maddi Klar 6N “da Vinci was an experience I’ll never forget. I built new friendships and had a lot of fun whilst doing it.” Maia Hehir 6G “It was a great way to work in a team and have fun at the same time.” Indiana Saunders 5S “Our hearts were pumping with adrenaline during the challenge!” Bella Mun 5E “Our teams were full of wonderful people, and I have gained so much knowledge from both the practices and the challenges on the day. I could not have asked for a better time!” Tess Chung 6G
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