The Launch Program begins in Term 3 of Year 7 as students inducted into the Launch Program will be grouped together to better cater for enrichment and extension learning activities. At times throughout the year, students will also participate in special events and competitions. Students in the Launch Program will also participate in a specialised ‘The Big Think’ program to focus on developing students’ critical and creative thinking skills as applied to current ‘real world’ events.
As part of Court Grammar School’s Launch Program, gifted and talented Year 11 students recently attended the Thriving Minds convention. The convention delivered six deep-thinking lectures by Oxford University academics Julie Arliss and Dr Chris O’Neill. The sessions included Examining epistemology and questioning our current understanding of scientific knowledge. Students were then exposed to interview questions they asked candidates applying to Oxford University, and the questions weren’t straightforward. One interview questions Oxford use is ‘How many animals do you think Noah had on his arc?’ These questions are used to ensure applicants can demonstrate an in-depth ability to curate original ideas and solutions. Other sessions included a scientific look at what makes us happy, the power of companies to analyse data collected from our tech devices and a debate to determine if love can be traded as a commodity.
This one-day event left the student cognitively exhausted but allowed them to develop their ideas and understandings about how we think and what we believe; so as future leaders of our country, they can make informed decisions.