The da Vinci Decathlon is a prestigious inter-school competition. Teams collaborate in groups of eight, working together to complete ten different tasks. The areas which teams compete in are: General Knowledge, Cartography, Creative Producers, Ideation, English, Science, Art and Poetry, Code Breaking, Mathematics and Chess, and Engineering. It is a very exciting event, held at Knox Grammar School. Our two Wyvern teams performed excellently in English, with Year 6 gaining a first place and Year 5 coming second.

Every year, there is a unique theme across the competition – this year it was landscapes, so we began training by researching areas which may relate to landscapes, the ten subjects, and Leonardo da Vinci himself. Training occurred over a period of several months.

When the competition day came, all competing schools gathered into Knox’s vast hall. The opening ceremony started with the arrival of two bagpipe players – a tradition at da Vinci. The opening formality quickly vanished as hundreds of school students across the state furiously scribbled down ideas and answers. Timers counted down increasing the nail-biting tension. Then, with a resounding boom, a golden gong sounded, signalling that time was up.

All the boys had a delightful time competing. Our sincere thanks to Mr Brayley, Ms Harding, as well as Mr Naylor for giving up their time to train the da Vinci team, accompany us to the event, as well as making the Decathlon a thoroughly enjoyable experience.  

Nathan Chong 6K