Today is the third and final day of the Da Vinci Decathlon.
The da Vinci Decathlon is an initiative of Knox Grammar School, and is an inter-school academic gala day designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of our very capable students. Over the last few days our Year 7/8 students, Year 9, 10 and 11 students, and our Year 5/6 students have participated, working collaboratively with their team mates to solve problems and engage in various disciplines including Science, Creative Producers, English, Philosophy, Mathematics, Engineering, Art and Poetry, Cartography, Code Breaking and General Knowledge. Students from schools up and down the coast and from our local Port Macquarie schools have joined us for this fantastic event.
It has been a great experience for all of the students involved, but this feedback from a parent really puts it into context.
“I would like to take a moment to thank you for giving my child the opportunity to become involved in the Da Vinci Decathlon this year. Despite having potential, he has never really considered himself successful in an academic sense and therefore not applied as much effort as he could. Yesterday he came home beaming with the realisation that he was not that unlike those who have had academic success, he just needed greater application and a more positive mindset. The lessons he learned could not be taught, they could only be observed and absorbed. I see this as one of the defining moments in his education and it was not about a teacher giving a lesson, but about a teacher giving an opportunity. Never underestimate the power of a teacher beyond the classroom.”
