On 4 March, 32 Year 8 and 9 GATE students took part in the Australian Computational and Linguistics Olympiad (OzCLO), testing their linguistics skills and pushing their minds to the limit with language-based puzzles and codes. The eight teams worked tirelessly to attempt to decode five unfamiliar languages, with only two hours to do so. Each team had to learn to work together, communicate effectively, and manage their time wisely. The competition challenged code-breaking, logical thinking, and pattern recognition skills, which all team members used and developed during the event.
“It was just such an amazing experience working together as a team, solving problems, and having fun even under all the pressure. Would 100% do it again!” – Leilani, Year 9
The questions were designed to be exceedingly difficult, and participants were given only some phrases to decipher and use to answer the problems. Even so, the students pushed through the pressure and submitted their answers in time, with results still awaiting.
“OzCLO was a fun and interactive learning experience for me and my friends. It put our language deciphering skills to the test as we tried to figure out these foreign languages. I had a great time solving these riddles and putting my linguistic knowledge against these questions.” – Dylan, Year 8
The competition was an amazing opportunity for students to push themselves and apply their logic, linguistics, and problem-solving skills in a competitive environment, and many look forward to taking part again in the future. Choosing to participate was a big decision, as the competition was not only intellectually stimulating but also mentally challenging. Ultimately, the experience was not only academic but also social, teaching students to work effectively under pressure while still having fun.
