Last Friday, 14 students from Years 6–9 attended a Junior Thinkers Conference. Presented by esteemed Oxford lecturer and gifted education facilitator Julie Arliss, we explored complicated and utterly baffling topics.

The first topic was the long-debated philosophical question of the soul. We explored many different ways to understand what a soul is. This session really helped expand my critical-thinking ability.

Next, we had a community of inquiry in small groups with students from other attending schools, where we pondered whether bad luck could make you a bad person. Central to this discussion was distinguishing intention from consequence, and character from chance. I personally found this to be the most engaging section because we were able to have intellectual conversations with people from other schools.

After that, we explored the science of the universe, including the relationship between Fraunhofer lines and the elements within stars. We learned about the origins of our universe and its constant expansion, as well as Albert Einstein and Georges Lemaître, showing how evidence, mathematics and imagination combine in real scientific discovery.

Finally, we debated whether patriotism is a virtue. It started with Ms Arliss presenting the arguments to us, and then students could put their hands up to give a short, impromptu debate speech on the topic. Out of approximately 350 students, only 12 volunteered to share their thoughts. Two of these were Year 9 KDS students, Asha Z and Freya R, who presented their take on the topic.All in all, it was an incredibly valuable educational experience that truly helped broaden everyone’s universe. Special thanks to Ms Bowering, the RISE Program Coordinator, and Mr Kaplan for attending with us.

‍Eli R (Year 9)