NEWS FROM THE DA VINCI DECATHALON 2022

On Wednesday the 4th May 2022 the St Brigid’s Year 5 and Year 6 team participated in the Da Vinci Decathlon at the Illawarra Christian College. This day provided an opportunity for students from 19 schools throughout our local region and the Sydney region to come together for a day of stimulating academic activity and challenge. 

Student teams were required to solve problems of the highest order in such subjects as Mathematics, English, Science, Art and Poetry, Ideation, Drama, Legacy, Engineering, Code Breaking and Cartography, working against each other, and the clock, to complete each task as successfully as possible. The theme of the day throughout the subjects was Causation.

What a wonderful day of learning it was. I was so proud of the students' efforts on the day, how confidently they worked together, their support of one another and how positively they communicated with each other. 

Our Year 6 team received 1st place in Mathematics and 2nd place in Engineering and the Year 5 team received 3rd place in Mathematics. A fantastic achievement for our small school.

A huge thank you and congratulations to the students:

• Year 5: Eve, Hugo, Reed, Emerson, Lachlan, Zachariah, Anthony and Nicolo.
• Year 6: Cameron, Andy, Sophie, Grace, Vincent, Tayah, Raen and Mason.

THE YEAR 5 EXPERIENCE By Reed, Eve and Nicolo

At the very beginning we were excited, but also kind of nervous. Firstly, we climbed up a million stairs, the reason for this was to get to the humongous hall where the Da Vinci was going to be hosted.They told us the rules and where everything was and then….. THE GAMES BEGUN.

NICOLO’S PERSPECTIVE

This day was extremely fun for the three of us with  lots of learning opportunities and challenging tasks. I loved this day because this was my first time in Da Vinci and I loved the challenges that it offered. My favourite task was English.

REED’S PERSPECTIVE

I loved this day because there was so much fun and exciting rebus puzzles. Really good learning opportunities for everyone. The puzzles were mind-crushing. My favourite was ideation where we created a prototype to clean up the earth with trash collecting hands that could extend.

EVE’S PERSPECTIVE

This day was so fun, I loved all the challenges ( especially the rebus puzzles). My favourite thing was probably …. all of it! The games at the end were a lot of fun as well. The learning opportunities were endless and my favourite was the creative producers section where Anthony, Reed and myself recreated the moon landing.

There was a real buzz of excitement in the hall as everyone was trying to engage with all of the different activities, lots of noise but you really had to focus hard and collabourate with your team.

THE YEAR 6 EXPERIENCE

Da Vinci Decathlon is an academic event full of challenging tasks and difficult inquiries. You compete in ten disciplines which include Mathematics, Engineering, Code Breaking, Ideation, Science, Legacy, Cartography, Art and Poetry, English and Creative Producers. It’s a buzzing atmosphere and a thrilling experience amongst nineteen other schools from Penrith to Nowra. 

On Wednesday sixteen students from St Brigid’s attended the Illawarra Christian School accompanied by Mrs Mewett. My favourite task was Engineering whereby we had to design a rescue drone. We created this by using a prototype using only paper and straws and sticky tape. We also included a detailed reflection on our design features.

Both our teams succeeded by winning awards, our Year Five team achieved an amazing third place in Mathematics out of nineteen schools, and our Year Six team accomplished a stunning first in Mathematics, and a second in Engineering. Overall it was an awesome experience for everyone who attended the day. We are all extremely proud of all of our team's achievements and of everyone who participated.