CS LEWIS PROGRAM

CS LEWIS PROGRAM

Now into its sixth year, CS Lewis Advanced Learning Program has been running for selected students in Years 7-10 as part of our continuing endeavour to provide a more engaging, interdisciplinary, and differentiated curriculum for our more gifted students in the high school. Named after CS Lewis, a renowned Christian theologian and apologist known for engaging readers in stories containing deep theological and philosophical ideals, this program delivers a learning experience at an appropriate level for gifted students, developing more effectively their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The program is designed to provide flexible learning that is chiefly student centred and catered to their interests. It runs for 4 periods a fortnight and students are withdrawn from their normal classes.

Zombie Apocalypse Challenge

This year, students completed a ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ interdisciplinary challenge (a repeat of a very popular 2020 challenge!) The students were placed in teams representing the countries of Germany, Australia and the USA and were presented with a fictitious scenario where they were survivors of a zombie pandemic that had infected 99.95% of the world.

 As the leaders of their countries, they needed to complete a number of challenges to ensure their survival

1. Make decisions regarding the governance of their country, to unite the people and give them a purpose 

2.  Educate the next generation on how to live in a world filled with zombies (and how to survive!)

3. Grow sustainable crops for the people to survive within their defensive walls.

4.  Program robots to scavenge for useful materials beyond the zombie-proof fence

5.  Design PPE (personal protective equipment) to protect humans wherever they need to go beyond the fence and into the zombie zone.

The students were provided with the tools to complete the challenge and nothing else, using their smarts, teamwork and creative and critical thinking skills to solve them in time!

NRMA Future of Transport Challenge

In Term Two, students in the program participated in the NRMA Future of Transport Challenge, a design thinking challenge aimed to encourage young people to follow their natural curiosity to solve real-world issues by innovating and thinking like entrepreneurs. In small teams, students worked together to creatively address Australia’s transport problems by identifying an issue, brainstorming solutions, prototyping a solution and pitching their solution to a panel of judges. The challenge 

There were many creative ideas pitched by our students, and one of our Year 7 teams (‘Road Repel’) were chosen as finalists. They attended the state final at Sydney Olympic Park and had to present their solution, Shark Tank-style, to panel of judges and room of attendees. 

Their solution was Road Repel, a system of solar-powered poles that repel wildlife from highways. Their presentation was polished and well-received by the judges. Although they did not win their stage, they did a fantastic job representing their school. 

Below is Road Repel’s winning entry and photos from the state final.

Below are some of the other innovations created by students from the program. 

Philosophy and Cryptography

In Term Three, the Year 9 and 10 class examined issues relating to philosophy, exploring the topics of epistemology and ethics, and participated in university style discussions. The Year 7 and 8 class students investigated cryptography and its development over time, completing a number of code breaking challenges.

The Synthesis Project

Lastly, the students in the CS Lewis Program spent several months working on 'The Synthesis Project,' selecting and researching two different academic disciplines before combining the disciplines to create a new area of study. They also had to design a creative product through which to share their new area of study with Australians.

Some of the best project ideas included

• A combination of the topics

  •  ‘Philosophy of Pain’ and the history of the Catholic church to create an app designed to help individuals reflect on the lives of individuals in the Catholic church to help them work through their own pain and suffering. 

  • Theism and Artificial Intelligence to create an AI chatbot designed to engage users by debating with them on theism and philosophical arguments supporting the existence of God. 

  • Quantum physics and sociology of social interaction to create a TED talk that uses social interactions to teach physics.