Students take creativity and collaboration to Tournament of Minds

Two teams of students from the Year 6 Extension Maths and Writing classes competed at the Tournament of Minds competition with overwhelmingly positive feedback from judges.  

Tournament of Minds is a problem-solving competition, developing students’ skills to work collaboratively and creatively within an extremely competitive environment. Student teams prepare a project over six weeks, and present it to judges during the competition. Teams also brainstorm a creative, elaborate idea under time pressure in the Spontaneous challenge.  

Our STEM team worked together to develop a solution to a marine plastic problem, build a prototype and investigate chemical processes for reusing plastic in environmentally friendly ways. Our Language Literature team investigated the biography genre through the character the Lorax, reimagining what the character’s history might be like. 

For Fiona Butler, Director of Learning Enrichment, the process is as important as the result, saying that students showed ongoing commitment to teamwork, and to developing their deep thinking. “They thought creatively in developing costumes and scripts to present their solutions to the judges,” she said. 

The students reflected on the process, with one saying that it helped him to think before he speaks, and to make sure the group is on the same page. Another said, “It’s definitely helped me to be more confident to speak up. I’m really proud of what we achieved together.”  

Ms Butler looks forward to the Tournament of Minds program at NBCS expand and help shape the culture of older students as academic mentors to younger ones. 

Thank you to the parents who helped their children in preparation for the competition. It is exciting to see our Extension programs grow in depth and breadth at NBCS.