"Every Picture Tells a Story" — Qwenton McKenzie, William Hubbard, Tom Rasmussen, and William MacPherson collaborate on a short piece of writing inspired by the picture "Tai Shun and the Elephants" by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.  by Michele Rodger

Tackling the “What if…” Scenarios of Life

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Year 7 and 8 students have been participating in workshops to develop creativity, problem solving, and team work; within a range of real-world and imaginative open-ended predicaments.

Term two has seen the emergence of a new kind of learning experience for our Year 7 & 8 boys. Participation in Tournament of Minds workshops has meant that for one period a week the boys, who have chosen to join, are challenged to come up with solutions to open-ended problems. Sometimes, the challenge to accept that there is not one correct answer has been challenging enough! They are developing effective thinking and decision making strategies to help them collaborate with others effectively, while coming up with creative, original, and appropriate solutions.

The goal is for a selected team of boys to represent John McGlashan College at the regional champs in Christchurch on 2nd September. A team of 7 will work on a long term challenge for six weeks prior to the event and present the solution on the day. They will also take part in a spontaneous challenge, such as the example below. Teams are judged on their creativity, team-work skills and thinking processes.