Silver Lining at the International Ethics Olympiads 

Congratulations to our Ethics Olympiads Senior School Silver medallists who qualified for the International Ethics Olympiads Finals. They were one of 40 qualifying teams participating in the international final and were awarded the Silver medal at the international level.

The top three places for this event were awarded to

The Gold medal University of Toronto School Canada

The Silver Medal Santa Sabina College

The Bronze Medal John XXIII  College in Western Australia

The students engaged in impressive ethical discourse in big issues such as  ‘University Admission by Lottery’, ‘Anti-Natalism’, The Medical Brain Drain’  and ‘Killer art’ exploring ethical issues surrounding whether artists should ever create unethical , or even illegal artworks. The students addressed contentious questions such as ‘If a film or book leads a person to do something unethical should we hold the Artists responsible? In the case of ‘The medical brain drain’  questions discussed included ‘Should medical conditions be a reason for denying citizenship to otherwise qualified applicants’?

Students Ruby Bron, Ciara Burke, Rosanna Cartwright, Annika Moore, Ellie Ngyuen, Erin Blanchard and team researcher Olivia Nakhle developed sophisticated skills in respectful ethical discourse and are to be recognised for the commendable way they represented their school and country.

Students share their thoughts about the Ethics Olympiad

After placing second in the regional Ethics Olympiad earlier this year, our team was fortunate enough to progress through to the International Ethics Olympiad, which took place on 27 July. The competition was very enriching and involved 40 schools from across the world. This year, the competition was held via Zoom once again and our team overcame the challenge of discussing moral and ethical considerations online with ease. A notable ethics case we discussed was titled ‘Wholesome Discipline’, in which we considered the ethics surrounding restorative justice. The impromptu question posed was: 

Justice is all about people getting what they deserve. Can justice ever be served without punishment? 

In discussing this question, we evaluated the role of deservance as well as the changing nature of human behaviour. As the features of justice vary from one situation to another, we determined that true justice can take several forms, many of which do not necessarily involve punishment. For example, a crucial objective of justice is the prevention of future crimes, and often punishment does not achieve this. Instead, a combination of restorative justice, rehabilitation and education is more ethical from a utilitarian perspective and should be preferred. 

The Ethics Olympiad competition stimulates my passion for ethics as it encourages me to question the ethical implications of real life global scenarios and extend my knowledge of morality. Ultimately, this competition also broadens my international mindedness, enables me to consider different perspectives and enriches my critical thinking skills. Our team was delighted to have been awarded the silver medal in this competition and we hope to compete again next year. 

I have been involved in the Ethics Olympiad over the past four years and, each year, my experience and confidence has grown. I would like to extend sincere gratitude to our wonderful mentor Ms Rugiero, who has facilitated our training sessions and guided us throughout our ethics journey. 

Rosanna Cartwright
Year 11

Ethics Olympiad is arguably the most interesting cocurricular enrichment that I participate in. It is a competition that has helped me develop my skills in public speaking, communication, knowledge in philosophy and ultimately, critical thinking. Unlike the rest of my team who have been competing for a while, I only started competing last year. Despite this, I have had so much fun learning how to compete and everyone in my team has been so kind and forgiving when I made beginner mistakes. Last year, my team and I were lucky to get honourary mentions in the last international Ethics Olympiad so I am ecstatic that all of the work we put into training for this year has paid off! Of course we have had challenges thrown our way inside and outside of the competition and we’ve had many difficult rounds but it was  hard work and persistence that has got us this far. Considering that all of us are in year 11 now, I am not entirely sure whether I will be able to compete next year so really, thank you to Ms Rugiero for being an amazing coordinator and thank you to my amazing teammates! I’m truly grateful I have had this wonderful opportunity. 

Ellie Nguyen
Year 11

The Ethics Olympiad is quite a hard competition to explain. It’s a hybrid mix of debating, discussion, sport and research, with just a hint of performance anxiety and a hefty portion of collaborative teamwork! This year’s competition was particularly special to us; it might end up being our team’s last, despite having been together since year 8. We aren’t sure yet whether or not the pressure of our trials will get to us, so we decided to go into this round with everything we had. And we did just that! The case material ranged from cheating in the Paralympic games to potentially deadly displays of art, and we were equally amazed and terrified by the articulate, well-formulated answers of the teams we went up against. We had spent so much time preparing for this competition, however, I truly believe that the most educational part of this activity is the day itself; getting to hear the viewpoints of individuals who you know nothing about, with entirely different worldviews to you, is just one of the amazing benefits of the Olympiad. We ended up with a great result; second place! As amazing at hearing that news was, the absolute best part of the whole competition was having the ability to think critically, creatively and thoroughly about ideas you wouldn’t normally, with the help of some truly amazing people. I would recommend this competition to anyone who wants the ability to look at life a bit differently, a bit deeper, with high levels of both empathy and logic.

Ciara Burke
Year 11

Rachele Rugiero
Dean of Gifted Education