2023 School Magazine

YEAR 7 INTERHOUSE MATHS

The Year 7 Interhouse Maths Competition is for Year 7s to express their enthusiasm for Maths in a competitive but friendly atmosphere. It started off with an afternoon tea filled with excited Year 7s insisting that their House would win. Year 7s from all nine Houses were encouraged to sign up and compete alongside their classmates. The competition offered four different rounds: speed round; estimation round; individual short answer; and trivia. Each of these rounds included varying question styles. This year, it was an extremely tight competition, with the England team placing first by just half a point. This competition could not have gone ahead without the impeccable organisation by Ms Mazzaglia, Mrs Christie and Ms Bailey. Their time and effort put into organising this competition for the Year 7s is greatly appreciated. The competition was a great success and everyone enjoyed the fun activities and competition. Chloe Liu (7E)

YEAR 8 MATHS

The 2023 Year 8 Maths Competition was held in the Louise McDonald Room in Week 5 of Term 1. The competition was extremely popular amongst students, with over 30 participating. Competing in this competition came with the privilege of organising your own teams, which many students found appealing. We began with afternoon tea provided by the Maths Department before heading into the LMR for the competition. Three rounds were included: the relay, where the teams split into two to answer as many questions as possible within a time limit; the team problems, where teams were provided multiple challenging questions that they could work together to solve; and finally, trivia, where general knowledge questions based around maths, logos and famous faces were given to the team one at a time. It was a close finish, with only a two-point difference between the first and second teams, We are Totally Good at Maths , and the runners up, Bok Choy . Overall, the Year 8 Maths Competition was a highlight of this year and highly recommended for future years to come. Qiwen Mo (8O) and Yihao Zhao (8R)

OPTI-MINDS

Opti-MINDS is a team-based sustainable creativity competition where students are encouraged to think outside the box. Held in Terms 3 and 4, it is coordinated by Mrs Boltman alongside Dr Burnett, and BGGS offers this opportunity to anyone in Year 7 to 10. This year, BGGS again had great success, with Team 1 placing first in Language Literature, while Team 2 and 5 received Honours in their respective categories. Team 1 and Team 6 advanced to the state competition and proudly represented the Brisbane North region in Term 4. We have both participated in Opti-MINDS for numerous years and have returned every year since we started. The competition provides opportunities to improve crucial skills including communication, teamwork, resilience, and creativity, so the whole experience is very valuable. As there are four different categories you can compete in (Language Literature, Media Communications, Social Sciences and Science Engineering), you’ll be sure to find a challenge that excites your creative mind.

Opti-MINDS is a really fun, enjoyable, and healthily-challenging experience that we would recommend to anyone wanting to give it a go. We hope to see you sign up for 2024! Anna Hodge (9L) and Ajin Kyoung (10H)

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