The Da Vinci Decathlon is an annual event hosted by Knox Grammar School.

As the Knox website says, “The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: Engineering, Mathematics, Chess, Code breaking, Art and Poetry, Science, English, Philosophy, Creative producers, Cartography and General Knowledge. The Decathlon is designed to celebrate the academic gifts of Australian youth by providing a stimulating and challenging competition run in the spirit of an Olympic Decathlon”

Thirty leading schools from the greater Sydney region sent teams to compete in the NSW championships which were held at Knox on Tuesday 24 May.

After internal election trials held last term, Newington entered teams in both Years 7 and 8. In the weeks leading up to competition day the boys attended regular training sessions and also spent much time on their own honing their skills in the various disciplines.

This year’s event was another hard-fought affair, with tough competition (particularly from the selective schools) in each discipline. The hall had a constant buzz as five hundred talented students wrestled with the highly demanding tasks placed before them. The enthusiasm and excitement was a joy to witness as the students relished the opportunity to extend themselves beyond the regular curriculum. The shouts and screams of delight as tasks were completed and results in each category were announced echoed throughout the hall. It real did feel like an Olympics of the mind, complete with cheering crowds, starting and finishing gongs and medals being awarded to the winners.

Results

The Year 8 team were placegetters in Mathematics, Chess and Cartography.

Overall they finished the day in third place (behind Sydney Girls’ High and St Andrews Cathedral School). This is our best ever result at high school level. Each boy received a bronze medallion.

The Year 7 team, while not achieving a podium finish, were still formidable competitors. The Year 7 team won the final event of the day, receiving the highest score of any school in the general knowledge category (which covered everything from Astronomy, Politics, Geography and Popular Culture). However, it was not quite enough for them to achieve an overall medal finish.

Mr Craig Fitzsimmons
Year 7 Mentor