On Wednesday 15 November, Tara Anglican School for Girls hosted the inaugural Years 9 and 10 History Mastermind Competition bringing together 26 schools, 73 teams, and over 350 students in a celebration of History and learning. Schools came from across Sydney and beyond! Special shout outs to Kinross Wolaroi School in Orange and Nowra Christian School for making the effort to travel hours just to attend this day!

The competition showcased the students' passion for History as they navigated through four rounds of 20 questions, each designed to test their understanding of the people, places and events that are covered in the Stage 5 History Syllabus.

Students were asked questions such as: ‘Name the 1992 High Court decision that overturned the notion of “terra nullius”’, and ‘How many times was Darwin bombed during WWII?’

The competition was fierce! 

In-between rounds to break up the day included Flags of the World, Who am I? and Heads and Tails. 

While teachers were furiously marking and calculating scores, the atmosphere was charged with excitement as top performing teams faced off in a round of 10 questions in the Semi-Final Rounds. The stakes were high, with teams earning 5 points for correct answers and losing 5 points for incorrect ones.

The first Year 9 Semi-Final Round was between 1st placed St Aloysius College A and 4th placed St Scholastica's College A. Questions included: ‘Who is known as the Father of Federation?’ and ‘How many ships were in the First Fleet?’ St Aloysius College A made it through to the Grand Finals for Year 9!

The second Year 9 Semi-Final Round was between 2nd placed The Kings School A and 3rd placed Northmead Creative and Performing Arts High School. Questions included: ‘Who wrote the poem In Flanders’ Fields?’ and ‘What revolution began around 1750?’ Northmead CAPA made it through! 

The first Year 10 Semi-Final Round was between 1st placed Sefton High School B and 4th placed James Ruse Agricultural High School A. Questions included: ‘How many midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour in May 1942?’ and ‘Name the THREE countries that made up the Axis powers in WWII’. Sefton High School were successful in making it through to the Grand Final.

The second Year 10 Semi-Final Round was between 2nd placed St Aloysius College A and 3rd Placed Smith’s Hill High School A. Questions included: ‘In what year was the first Aboriginal Day of Mourning commemorated on 26th January?’ and ‘Name the NSW country town that was the site of the largest POW breakouts in 1944’. In an intense tie-breaker, St Aloysius College made it through to the Year 10 Grand Final. 

The atmosphere was palpable as teams progressed to the Grand Finals. It was extremely close in the Year 9 Grand Final between St Aloysius A and Northmead Creative and Performing Arts High School A. Ultimately, St Aloysius College A walked away with a narrow victory in the final question. In the Year 10 Grand Final between St Aloysius College A v Sefton High School B, competition was also fierce. After an intense round of questioning, St Aloysius also walked away as the Year 10 winners!

Congratulations to all teams involved, and particularly St Aloysius’ College for the clean sweep as Year 9 and 10 Grand Final Winners!

There are so many people to thank for this day including Robyn McKenzie (Past HTA-President) for her enthusiasm and support in making this day happen. We could not have pulled this together without you! To all the teachers who came along to support the day, as well as those who helped with the intensive marking process throughout the day, thank you! To all the students for their enthusiasm and sportsmanship – you are the reason why we do what we do as teachers!

We look forward to seeing you in 2024!

Christine Abadier - History Teacher and Mariam Awadalla - Head of History