Nathan (Year 11) has triumphantly returned to Australia with a silver medal.
He recently travelled to Sucre, Bolivia for the 37th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), which sees outstanding students from around the world compete in an algorithmic competition. Students go head-to-head on problem analysis, design of algorithms and data structures, programming, and testing.
Ranking 40th of 329 participants, this result is an incredible step up from the bronze medal earned in Egypt last year. Here are his reflections on the event:
The IOI competition took place over two days. Each day had three problems over five hours – a lot longer than any school exam! Each problem was an algorithmic task where we had to write code that would solve a problem.
For example, a task might provide some cities and the lengths of roads connecting them, and the program would have to find the shortest distance from one city to another.
I particularly enjoyed this year because the problems were more what we call ‘non-standard’ – rather than relying on learnt algorithms, techniques and data structures, they involved more thinking and problem solving than usual.
It was my first time visiting South America, and Sucre has definitely left me a good impression. Although we didn’t really get much of a chance to experience local culture, the locals we encountered, like our team guide, were all really nice. Sucre was also probably the highest city I’ve ever been to, at almost 3,000 metres above sea level! The food was great too; it was very multicultural.
The most memorable thing from the experience was probably not the competition itself but the people from other teams that we met. I made friends with students from teams all over the world, like Canada, China, Japan, the UK and the US. I think the most enjoyable part was being able to spend a week amongst so many like-minded people and develop new relationships.
24 March 2026
This term, Year 9 students Bancheng, Ahaan, Jeremy and Harvey competed in the Middle School Ethics Olympiad International Final.
19 March 2026
Thank you to the Te-Kworo Foundation for visiting our school. Te-Kworo is a community-based organisation dedicated to providing education, healthcare, and social protection for girls and women in Uganda.
17 March 2026
“A centenary is far more than a marker of time. It is a testament to vision, courage, perseverance and the enduring power of community. Today we honour the past, celebrate the present, and look forward with both optimism and conviction to the future.” - Mrs Julie Wiseman, Head of Wahroonga Prep School.
