High Potential Learners

Science and Engineering Challenge

A group of 30 talented students are being tested to the limit today at the inter school Science and Engineering Challenge at Melville High school. Competing in a variety of activities, the Years 9 and 10 students are demonstrating their tenacity as well as their critical and creative thinking skills. Challenges include bridge building, coding, robotics and much more. Our future mathematicians, scientists and engineers are having a wonderful day collaborating in their teams.

da Vinci Decathlon 2023

On Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th May, a grand total of 67 Years 7 to 11 students from SJRC travelled to St Columba Anglican School, Port Macquarie, for the Mid North Coast Regional da Vinci Decathlon. Throughout the day, students worked collaboratively to solve various challenges across a range of academic disciplines, including; Science, Creative Producers, English, Ideation, Mathematics, Engineering, Art and Poetry, Cartography, Code Breaking and Legacy.

Twenty-five teams from schools across the Mid North Coast were in attendance on the day and our students performed admirably. Some stand out achievements include:

• The Year 11 teams scoring highly in Science, Art and Poetry, Engineering, Ideation, and English
• The Year 10 team performing well in Ideation
• The combined Years 9 and 10 team achieving great results in Engineering
• The Year 7 team, in their first year were ranked 8th overall and 2nd highest Year 7 team on the day. They achieved excellent results across all disciplines, particularly Creative Producers, Art and Poetry, with an outstanding 2nd place in code breaking.
• A special mention to our Year 8 team for submitting a high-scoring Art and Poetry response.

All of our students displayed exemplary behaviour and represented our school community with distinction. 

A special mention to Mrs Claire Goldie, Ms Kathryn Gill, Ms Bronte Mason and Mr George McLeod who assisted the teams on the day.

Student comments from the day:

I had an amazing time at da Vinci, and it was a great opportunity to learn something new.
-Year 9 student

da Vinci, this year was definitely the best year yet! I found the majority of our team worked really well with each other.
-Year 10 student

It was fun and a good day out, I really enjoyed the teamwork that happened between us!
Year 8 student

da Vinci was really good, I wish we brought more snacks, but it was fun, and I had a good time.
-Year 8 student

The da Vinci Decathlon was a very cooperative and supportive environment to work and thrive in. It was such an enjoyable academic challenge and it was fun to meet new people and work together as a team throughout the day.
-Year 7 student

Mrs Amanda Cassegrain
Leader of High Potential Learners