Junior Ethics Olympiad 2025: Critical thinking and collaboration in action
In Term 3, two teams of students in Years 5 and 6 competed in the Junior Ethics Olympiad. Our Year 6 team came away with a bronze medal, and our Year 5 team received an honourable mention from the judging panel.
The Ethics Olympiad is designed to get students thinking, and ultimately working together, on some of the tough moral issues of our time. The aim is to provide a constructive and positive space to not only think through ethical issues, but to do so collaboratively as fellow citizens in a complex moral and political community. This echoes the intention of the International Baccalaureate curriculum framework in place at Wesley, which encourages students to consider what they learn in the classroom in the context of global issues to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of differing perspectives in order to live and work collaboratively.
There was fierce debate on topics as wide-ranging as why we treat animals and humans differently to whether students have a right to privacy when using school internet.
Students worked closely with their coach Alicia Mein, Individual Needs Teacher, to prepare for the competition. Alicia says, ‘I’m really proud of our students and how well they communicated their ideas in front of the judging panel.’
Wesley offers a range of extension and enrichment programs, such as the Ethics Olympiad, to provide challenging and engaging learning opportunities for each student.
