Students put their problem solving skills to the test for state-wide academic decathlon
More than 3,500 of the state’s brightest girls and boys from Years 5 to 11 last week competed in a massive academic challenge called the da Vinci Decathlon at Knox Grammar School in Wahroonga, Sydney.
The Decathlon, which was established by Knox Grammar in 2005, celebrates the academic gifts of young people by providing a stimulating and challenging competition run in the spirit of an Olympic Decathlon.
This year's NSW da Vinci Decathlon overall winners were:
The da Vinci Decathlon is designed to challenge and enrich the learning of the highest performing students in Australia. The competition offers a unique opportunity for students to engage in an interschool competition, to extend themselves intellectually and creatively, to problem-solve collaboratively and to develop their skills as an effective team member.
Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines including ideation, engineering, mathematics, code breaking, art and poetry, science and English.
What began as a small local competition has grown to be a national and global phenomenon, involving thousands of government and non-government students across Australia.
The growth has been so enormous, and interest so high, that chapter schools in regional NSW, the ACT, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria, the Northern Territory and Queensland now run individual local and state competitions, with a national final held in June each year at Knox Grammar School.
Across Australia, more than 16,000 young people will compete in da Vinci Decathlon events throughout 2019.
Every two years an international da Vinci Decathlon and ‘Race Around the Renaissance’ is held in Europe, with the next competition due to take place later this year, with participation from schools across the globe.
For more information, please see the da Vinci Decathlon website, www.davincidecathlon.com.
24 June 2025
Titration Club launched in Term 2 with great success, attracting more than 40 Years 11-12 Chemistry students. Each week, students performed precise analytical titrations in preparation for the NSW National Titration Competition, held on Friday 13 June at the University of Technology Sydney.
20 June 2025
Knox Grammar School’s Senior School Instrumental Ensembles have delivered exceptional performances across all divisions at the 2025 Sydney Eisteddfod. Returning to a full suite of Eisteddfod performances this year, our Knox Academy of Performing Arts (KAPA) proudly celebrates our best overall results to date, including first place in every Secondary School Premium Section entered.
18 June 2025
Competitors from 262 schools and organisations across the world gathered at Indiana University Bloomington in the USA, for the World Finals at the Future Problem Solving International Conference.
