Critical and Creative Thinking Club is back for 2023!

Critical and creative thinking club is an extra curricular activity aimed at building student skills  to think, create, and communicate through  problem-solving responses to certain challenges. We are hoping that the experience gained through this club will assist students to think more curiously and creatively in the classroom, and to feel confident enough in these skills to consider representing the College in the annual Optiminds Teams Challenge that occurs in Term 3.

Critical and Creative Thinking club will take place

• for a 4 week block
• during Thursday lunchbreak beginning next week, Thursday 25 May.
• In Blue 6
• Students from Years 3-8 are welcome to bring along their lunch and attend.

Following this, nominations will be called for at the end of Term 2 for those interested in participating in Optiminds, with teams finalised at the beginning of Term 3.

What is Optiminds?

Optiminds is a creative sustainability challenge which empowers participants to think, create and communicate through a problem-solving event for teams of 4-7 students. There are a variety of divisions for teams (determined by the year level of the oldest group member) who choose to solve open-ended challenges from one of the following categories:

• Language Literature
• Science Engineering
• Social Sciences
• Media Communication

When is it and what is my time commitment?

• Challenges open 17 July
• Teams have 6 weeks to prepare
• Challenge Day – Sunday 27 August, Toowoomba
• Teams present their solution in a 10-minute presentation to a panel of judges
• Teams also participate in a spontaneous challenge
• Facilitators commit to meeting with their team on a weekly basis for this period at a time mutually suitable to participants and facilitator

At OLSCC, students from Years 3-8 are invited to participate in the Optiminds challenge.