Enrichment

May has been an incredibly busy time for enrichment activities at the College. We are very proud of our students who continue to commit to these activities on top of their academic and sporting workload.

Da Vinci Decathlon 2024

This year Santa Sabina entered six teams from Years 6-11 in the da Vinci Decathlon competition held at Knox Grammar School, a thrilling day consisting of 10 academic pursuits in the spirit of the Olympics. The event is massive, spanning over three days and involving thousands of students from schools across NSW. This year the theme was Utopia and the 10 events included Art and Poetry, Cartography, Code Breaking, Creative Producers, Engineering, English, Ideation, Legacy, Mathematics and Science.

All students displayed collaborative teamwork and enthusiasm in their approach to the challenges. The diverse talents of the Santa Sabina students were highlighted through the commendable achievements of all students. A special mention goes to the Year 8 team who placed 12th overall.

The following teams achieved a place for particular events:

Year 7 team

1st in Art and Poetry
7th in Ideation

Year 8 Team

3rd in Creative Producers
5th in Cartography
11th in Art and Poetry
12th in English
13th in Science

Year 9 Team

7th in Cartography
15th in Engineering
16th in Science

Year 10 Team

7th in Art and Poetry

Year 11 Team

2nd in Engineering
8th in Cartography
16th in Ideation
16th in Code breaking

Congratulations to all students who competed on the day, they worked so hard from very early in the morning and represented the College valiantly.

A special thank you to teachers Brittany Poynting, Jessica Burgess and Brooke Panagopologus who assisted with coaching, supervision and marking of challenges on the day.

Student Reflections

‘Da Vinci was a fun, challenging and inspiring experience for me and the Year 7 team. I think we learnt a lot more from the Da Vinci decathlon than facts about Leonardo da Vinci or complex mathematical formulas – we learnt how to take on challenges as a team, how to enjoy a competition whilst also working hard, and when to change a plan when our original one wasn’t working. We all took so much away from being a part of this team.‘
Jess Price
Year 7

‘Participating in this year’s da Vinci Decathlon was an amazing experience. The day pushed us to think both critically and creatively across all disciplines and we were able to extend ourselves well beyond classroom learning as well as work collectively and collaboratively with our teammates. Thank you to Mr Mountford who oversaw the opportunity, organising the weekly training sessions and accompanying us to the event. Also, a thank you to Ms Burgess who also accompanied us, providing continuous support throughout the day.‘
Claudia Lee
Year 10

Science and Engineering Challenge 2024

The Science and Engineering Challenge was held at Lucas Heights at ANSTO this year. The Challenge involved Years 9 and 10 students interested in turning scientific curiosity into real world problem solving. Thirty-two students attended the event, working alongside university lecturers and engineers from the University of Newcastle and ANSTO staff.

Students built stable bridges, anti-earthquake structures, gliders and turbines and solved complex problems using science, pattern recognition and trial and error.

The competitive and fun environment was palpable and students had the opportunity to make connections with age peers from other schools.

Santa Sabina’s efforts were rewarded with Second place. We are very proud of the students and their commitment to STEM. To achieve such an outcome, quartets of students had to earn points in each of their events.

‘Attending the Science and Engineering Challenge was such a great opportunity and I can say with great confidence that every single student who participated was both challenged and immensely enjoyed all activities. Faced with problems that we would otherwise not encounter within classes, we were continuously pushed to extend our problem-solving skills and think critically. Thank you to Ms Sheehan and Li who accompanied us!‘
Claudia Lee
Year 10

‘We did some great teamwork activities, where students were divided into groups of four to tackle different challenges, testing our skills in Science and Engineering. Our group participated in the bridge challenge. We were tasked with constructing a bridge using a limited selection and quantity of materials and we needed strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills to complete this task. The objective was to design a structure capable of withstanding progressively heavier weights without collapsing. At the day’s finale, the bridges were tested and we were thrilled when our bridge successfully withstood four stages of weights, earning us second place out of the eight competing schools, the best result Santa Sabina has gotten yet. Overall, the day was highly enjoyable and immensely beneficial. It was a great experience that allowed us to apply our classroom knowledge in a practical setting, grow our STEM skills, and connect with peers.’

Senior Ethics Olympiads

We congratulate the 10 students from Years 10,11 and 12 who competed in the Senior Ethics Olympiads in May. The two teams, made up of a mixture of ethics veterans and newbies performed brilliantly. Our teams just missed out on placing, coming 4th and 5th. Students discussed ethical conundrums with teams from other Sydney Schools and were scored by judges using a strict set of criteria.

As always, our students received special commendations from the judges as well as useful feedback for improvement.

‘The Senior Ethics Olympiad was a great experience with a day full of ethical debates and discussions relevant today. I enjoyed being in a team with such well-spoken and articulate peers alongside learning about philosophical theories and new topics to apply and think about in everyday life.‘ 
Anna-Maria Sulukojian
Year 11

The Ethics Olympiad competition is a wonderful opportunity that allowed us to put the skills and understanding accrued over the course of a term and a bit into practice. The competition was an amazing way to engage with ethical ideas relevant to our daily lives and modern world in an enjoyable, meaningful way with students from many different schools across NSW!
Kate Pitman-Fernandez
Year 11

Matthew Mountford
Dean of Gifted Education