Year 9 student, Angelina Curtis who participated in TOM, said:

‘TOM has always been a part of my life. I’ve been participating in TOM since Year 5, and I have found that it really builds intuition, leadership, and confidence.

‘It helps us prepare for problems we may encounter in our adulthood. not only does it help everyday life, but it also helps with song writing! Due to the demand of original songs in the Arts section, we are required to write songs for the six-week challenge   the three-hour challenge. it puts our musical abilities to the test and, with a dominant topic we must write about, we intertwine the main message of the question into it. It’s very fun.

‘My favourite thing about TOM has always been working with new people every year. A strong social dynamic is key to success in TOM. I love seeing people explore their strengths and weaknesses and utilise them when answering the challenge, and I love meeting new people and seeing how their minds work.’

Meanwhile, the RoboCup team said the community spirit of innovation and learning that the competition fosters is what they love about the RoboCup:

‘In our team we’ve learnt to adhere to a strict risk management system. We assume everything that can go wrong will go wrong, and in practice, often does, which has taught us how to adapt quickly and solve problems on the fly. Ultimately, our strong bond and collaborative efforts has led to our success.

‘Our robot was constructed using advanced technologies from Sacred Heart’s modern facilities. The robot was built from Lego four years ago and has now evolved into a metal frame from spare parts from the Engineering room, some 3D printed parts, and a dream.’

Students benefit from TOM by learning about teamwork, developing creative problem-solving approaches and techniques, taking risks, experimenting, and presenting their solution to an audience.

In 2021, Sacred Heart College’s Social Science and ARTS teams won the International Final.