With creativity, strong communication skills and an abundance of grey matter, Wyvern House Prep students called upon the critical thinking prowess they learn at Newington every day to tackle real-world problems at the recent Future Problem Solving Australia National Finals competition. 

What are the challenges and implications of increased surveillance on our population and how can we minimise the sharing of personal data? These were some of the complex ideas probed by our six-strong Prep team during the competition, which is designed to equip students to tackle sophisticated conundrums through research, collaboration and structured thinking. 

Hosted by Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne, the 2026 theme for the cerebral event was ‘Nanotechnology’. Entrants were required to produce their own creative solutions to problems, apply research skills and consolidate their findings into a two-page action plan. This year, students addressed medical, engineering, and societal challenges involving nanoscale technology in the 2040s.  

Representing Wyvern House were deep thinkers and Year 6 students Aaron C, Boston B, Harry Z and Lucas Y. Meanwhile, taking part in the MAGIC (Multi-Affiliate Global Issues Competition) division were Noah V and Oscar L. Instead of competing for their school, each MAGIC team is assembled on the day of the competition and consists of three to four unacquainted students from different schools, bringing together mixed-division perspectives as their team tackles the challenge together. 

‘Our students proudly represented the College as they tackled a futuristic scenario focused on the challenges and implications of surveillance,’ says Mrs Diana Usanmaz, Inclusive Learning Teacher (High Potential) and competition coordinator at Wyvern. 

Working against the clock, students had just two hours to apply the six-step Future Problem Solving process. They identified key challenges, selected an underlying problem, generated and evaluated solution ideas, and developed a detailed action plan. In the afternoon, they had another two hours to prepare and present a three-minute performance that ‘sold’ their solution to a panel of judges. The Wyvern team came up with an innovative prototype designed to minimise the personal data shared within the challenge scenario’s nursing facility. 

‘This competition is very demanding, with a long day full of complex problems and high expectations to be met,’ says Mrs Usanmaz.  

‘Our students demonstrated outstanding perseverance, collaboration and critical thinking throughout the event.’ 

The competition was fierce, and although the Wyvern Prep team narrowly missed a podium finish, Noah and Oscar delivered exceptional performances, with their impromptu teams finishing first and second respectively in the MAGIC Awards Junior division.  

‘It was a real challenge working with people who I’d just met and had different ideas to me,’ says Noah. 

‘I am proud of coming first in my division.’ 

For Aaron, working together as a team was the biggest highlight of the entire event. 

‘I was proud of being there to compete and watching all our work come together was super exciting to experience,’ he says. 

At Newington, our students from Kindergarten to Year 12 are taught to listen, reason and develop independent critical and ethical thought by questioning and investigating claims which engage in life’s big questions. Led by our lighthouse Centre for Critical Thinking and Ethics, critical thinking is embedded across Newington’s Teaching and Learning Framework. 

To find out more about how critical thinking is embedded at Newington, click here. 

To learn more about our Wyvern House campus, click here, and to read more about high potential opportunities at our Senior campus, read our blog High potential opportunities for personalised learning. 

Did you know?

• Our Lindfield and Wyvern House campuses have Learning Enhancement teams and High Potential teachers with specialised training, who are always part of the lesson planning process and can pre-plan extension and enrichment activities that align with classroom activities. 
• Wyvern learning follows a balance of explicit direct instruction and experiential, inquiry-based learning. 
• Our Preps have access to a range of extension and enrichment competitions, including Future Problem Solving Australia, the da Vinci Decathlon, Tournament of Minds, the Maths Olympiad, Australian Maths Trust Competition and International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS). Our Prep campuses also work collaboratively with the Senior school on enrichment opportunities for Preps. 
• Newington’s Senior High Potential Program operates across Years 7 to 10, across and between students’ core and elective academic disciplines.