A team from Year 8 came first in the science section and a team from Year 7 came second in the general knowledge part of the sixth Northern NSW da Vinci Decathlon in Armidale.

The competition was designed to bring together gifted and talented students from state and independent schools to challenge them in a range of brain-stretching activities. 

Held in regional venues across Australia, students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: Mathematics; English; Science; Code Breaking; Engineering Challenge; Ideation; Creative Producer; Art and Poetry; Cartography; General Knowledge. 

Fifteen schools sent Year 7 and 8 teams to The Armidale School which hosted the event. 

Schools from Wee Waa, Armidale, Inverell, Tamworth, Scone, Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, Narrabri, Moree, Dubbo, and Glen Innes were involved.

“This is the largest Decathlon we have staged, and this year a noted new addition is Aurora College which is a virtual selective high school which teaches students from all across the state who will be coming to TAS with students from Years 9 and 10,” said TAS organiser Ms Catherine Boydell. 

“It is a wonderful extension and enrichment opportunity that strengthens students’ skills in logic, team building and multi-tasking,” she said.

See also: 600 students set for unique academic challenge