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.
07 August 2025
Each year, the Knox Basketball program offers the NBA Coach Clinic. On Tuesday, our basketball students had the opportunity to train with Noel Hightower, Player Development Coach for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
06 August 2025
The teams at Knox Prep performed well at the first VEX IQ ‘Mix and Match’ event of the 2025-26 season.
05 August 2025
The 2025 Cricket Tour of the United Kingdom was an unforgettable experience. Our students travelled across the UK, with the 1st XI team playing in 11 competitive fixtures. We spoke with Year 10 student Sean about the tour; here are his reflections on the journey.
