PR E PA R ATORY S C HO OL
Prep School creative thinkers
A group of students from Years 4–6,
took the challenge and competed in the
Opti-MINDS Creative Thinking Competition
which was held at Curtin University on
Saturday 25th August, 2018.
Fifteen enthusiastic students and four slightly
crazy staff members, comprising of Miss
Fiona Marsh, Mr Clark Wight, Mr Jamie
Fagan and Mrs Carol Ray, were chosen to
represent the School.
Both teams performed a ten-minute
presentation at Curtin University,
demonstrating their ability to write a script,
GGS Team 1
Focus: Language and Literature
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Max Cugley
Omal Deeyagaha Waduge
Riley Wight
Minudi Umaya Karunawardena
Dhinuk Gonapinuwala
Levi Rosetto
Avani De Santis
GGS Team 2
Focus: Science and Engineering
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Blair Parnell
Daniel Nelson
William Stoker
Georgia Crossen
Michael Minchin
Joshua Heffernan
Albert McNamara
Patrick Gannon
answer questions posed in a creative
way, entertain the audience and to
work collaboratively as a team. The GGS
performances were of a very high standard,
with staff and parents feeling very proud
of all involved. Congratulations to GGS
Team 2 who were awarded Honours and
presented with medals for their long term
and spontaneous solutions.
friends. We were all proud of ourselves and
each other when we performed and the hard
work paid off when we received honours for
our presentation.
Michael Minchin (Yr 4): I loved everything,
but my favourite part was going to Curtin
University and just going through the
excitement of the long term challenge.
Joshua Heffernan (Yr 4): My favourite thing
about Opti-MINDS was finding out that I
could be a mad scientist in our team’s script
and being allowed to go psycho! Georgia Crossen (Yr 4): My favourite thing
about Opti-MINDS was meeting new people,
not only from our team, but from the other
team as well. I also made friends with the
teachers. Along the way Mr Fagan became
less like a teacher and more like a mentor.
Blair Parnell (Yr 6): I liked being part of a
team, especially working with people I didn’t
know. We made strong bonds and by the
end of the competition we were all great Max Cugley (Yr 6): My favourite thing about
Opti-MINDS was being able to just let my
creativity flow out of me and not having to
hold it back.
Thoughts from participants
Max Cugley
In the last edition of the Forward we profiled three of the 2018 Preparatory School
leaders. In this edition we profile Head Boy Max Cugley.
What are the most important attributes to
being a leader?
I think in order to be a good and effective
leader you have to be kind and respectful to
everything and everyone. You can’t become a
leader if you’re not nice to people. I also think
it is important to be a good decision maker,
and to listen to everyone’s opinions.
What have you enjoyed most about being
a leader this year?
The thing I have enjoyed the most about being
a leader are the opportunities. I have valued
being able to work more with Mr Budler and
Mr Wight, and also opportunities like the
Halogen Leadership Day, which was inspiring
and motivating. I have actually enjoyed having
duties at recess and lunch, because it means I
get to know lots of people across the school
and different year groups.
What advice would you give anyone else
considering a leadership role?
Take nothing for granted, and always try your
best in everything you do. Throw yourself into
every opportunity and listen and take on board
the opinions of others but in the end make the
best decisions you can.
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