³ÉÈ˶ÌƬ’s continued its strong run of recent performances at the Perth Philosothon at UWA last night by finishing in 4th position for the second consecutive year. Competing in the biggest ever competition against 23 other Perth schools, the largely inexperienced team that included a new Year 7 category this year, consisted of Kailyn Sotirov (Year 7), Kai Morrow (Year 8), Maya Best (Year 9), Stella Brown (Year 10) and Sophia Manners (Year 11) had spent many weeks throughout Term 1 and 2 in preparation for this prestigious competition. These preparations consisted of numerous lunchtime discussion meetings, readings and research, and a practice event against our neighbours St James’, who were entering their first competition.
The topics for discussion in the Community Inquiry discussions this year included:
- Eco-consciousness – What does ecological consciousness involve or require?
- The Philosophy of Sport – Is the main value of sport to entertain spectators and participants?
- Robots and Friendship – Can a computer ever be our friend?
- Scared Spaces – In what ways should sacred spaces be respected?
Students were placed in discussion groups in year groups of 12 students for the first two rounds, and then in mixed year groups for the final two rounds. The students were marked on their critical thinking, their creative thinking, and their collaborative thinking, and awards were given at the end of the evening for the highest scoring student in each year category and the highest scoring school teams.
The stand-out performer on the night was Kai Morrow
who placed third in the Year 8 category, and also took out the Don Monro prize awarded to the Most Creative Thinker. This was a huge achievement in his first Philosothon, and is testimony to the hard work and original way of thinking that is often demonstrated at our weekly Philosophy Café.
As a team, ³ÉÈ˶ÌƬ’s finished in 4th place, beating many previous winners of the competition in the process. ³ÉÈ˶ÌƬ’s placed in 2nd for their Creative Thinking, 2nd
place for their Collaborative Thinking and 7th place for their Critical Thinking. This was a wonderful achievement as the students proved themselves to be highly accomplished competitors and were outstanding ambassadors for the School.
Special thanks also go to Mr Kendell for acting as Facilitator on the evening, Taleisha Butler who attended most of the training sessions and was our un-needed reserve, and Chloe Graham for attending many of our training sessions. Thanks also go to previous winner, Jordyn White, for attending many practice sessions to share her expertise and advice.
Final Standings were:
- St Stephen’s - 423 Points
- Willetton SHS – 418 points
- Iona Presentation College – 411 points
- ³ÉÈ˶ÌƬ’s ACS – 407 points
- Sacred Heart – 393 points
- Scotch College – 391 points
Thank you to Mrs Samantha Brown for the photograph of our team.