21 June 2024
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, Code Breaking, Art and Poetry, Science, English, Ideation, Creative Producers, Cartography and Legacy. The event is named after Leonardo da Vinci, one of the world’s greatest thinkers and scholars. He demonstrated an ability to perceive the interconnected nature of knowledge and utilised his love of learning and curiosity to uncover the unknown. This competition places a particular emphasis on higher order thinking skills, problem solving and creativity. It connects with our focus in the Junior School of ensuring learning does not happen in isolated learning areas, instead it is interconnected and transdisciplinary.
In Week 6 of this term, eight students (Years 5 and 6) went to St Peter’s Girls’ School for the State Finals. The day was broken into three sessions, with several challenges running concurrently. Students needed to work collaboratively to manage their time and problem-solve independently, as teachers could not assist throughout the competition.
In a field of 24 schools across the 10 categories we finished with a:
– First place in Legacy
– Third place in Mathematics
– Fifth place in Cartography
Overall, we finished tenth in the State Final.
Congratulations to Beau, Hughie, Ryan, Lachlan, Nathan, Luke, Adrian and Henry for representing our school with distinction. Your ability to work collaboratively, while displaying lateral thinking skills and creativity should be commended.
A special thank you to Mrs Carmen Pyragius for her help in organising our involvement and attending the event.
Chris Sanders
Deputy Head of Junior School – Teaching and Learning
Year 5 and 6 Da Vinci Decathlon Team (L-R) Adrian, Nathan, Hughie, Beau, Lachlan, Luke, Ryan, Henry