Starting Secondary School on the International Stage
Last week, eight students from Covenant Christian School flew from Belrose to Indiana to compete at the 2026 International Conference World Finals for Future Problem Solving (FPS). Our students were joined by over 2000 students from 14 countries at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana to address how we might protect our vital forests while sustaining forestry for building, medicine and jobs in the future. While this sounds like an incredibly tall order for Year 7, Covenant students Ava, Caleb, Kara and Levi have just joined a distinguished line of Covenant Christian School students who have competed in, and placed, at the International Conference World Finals.
We congratulate this incredible team on achieving 2nd in the World for the Action Plan Presentation!
Since first participating in 2019, Future Problem Solving at Covenant has gone from strength to strength. Established at Covenant in 2019 with just eight students, the program has now grown to include over 75 students from Years 5 to 12. At the helm of FPS at Covenant is Extension and Enrichment Coordinator, Amanda Drain, whose expertise and commitment as a FPS coach was recognised last year when she awarded the Keith Frampton Memorial Award from Future Problem Solving Australia.
Reflecting on the remarkable achievement of the 2nd place team, Amanda said, “they did their very best and came out feeling really happy with their work and their amazing solutions. Super proud!”
“FPS is such a rich learning experience. Students have to collaborate, think flexibly and justify their ideas. We have seen students really come alive in that kind of environment. Some students find their voice because the task gives them room to think in original ways. Others learn that being gifted does not mean things are always easy; they have to persist, listen to others and refine their ideas.” - Emily Smith, Extension and Enrichment teacher.
Our international medalists will return to Sydney to resume their training to qualify for the National Finals in Victoria this October. We wish them and all our FPS students the best of luck.