06 November 2025
On Thursday 30 October, twelve students from Years 7 to 11 walked to Prince Alfred College after school to compete in the South Australian Computational and Linguistics Olympiad (SACLO). SACLO is a statewide competition that challenges students to solve complex linguistic problems by decoding unfamiliar languages through the analysis of phonetics, syntax, and more.
Representing St Peter’s College were three teams across the Junior and Senior divisions:
• Team Hackney Hog Riders – Luke Buttingol, Harry Martin, Ben Burrows and William Edwards (Year 7)
• Team St Peter’s Polyglots – Nazir Rana, Shaivyo Banerjee, Vrish Geddada and Samuel Balogh (Year 8)
• Team SACLO Sainters – Matthew Liu, Quinn Murphy, Jeff Gu and Vinh Lam (Year 11)
All teams participated in an afternoon of problem solving, endurance and teamwork alongside students from many other schools. They tackled puzzles based on a wide range of languages, identifying patterns in unfamiliar linguistic systems to translate and decode meaning.
Guided by Dr Garcia, the students spent weeks preparing for the event, refining their language skills and practising problems from previous competitions. The experience was challenging yet fun and rewarding, with everyone giving their best effort while working steadily under time pressure.
It was particularly pleasing to see younger students step up and show their interest in linguistics by taking part in this competition. Although none of our teams placed in the top three of either division, their participation demonstrated remarkable effort, confidence, and a genuine appreciation for languages. Each team competed with pride and represented SPSC with respect and spirit.
Congratulations to all three teams for their dedication and commitment — you have made our school proud!
Matthew Liu (Captain of the OzCLO Society)
Quinn Murphy (Captain of the OzCLO Society)
Nazir Rana (Year 8 SACLO participant)
