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.
12 August 2026
Staff and visiting guests gathered at Knox on 12 August for a Twilight Networking Event. Bringing leaders together for an evening of connection and conversation, attendees later heard from internationally bestselling author, former state champion boxer and business owner Luke Kennedy.
10 August 2026
Last Saturday’s final rounds in 2026 Winter Sport season marked the conclusion of another outstanding chapter in Knox Sport.
07 August 2026
“Visual Arts deepens our understanding of ourselves, our communities, and the world around us,” says Wendy Shearer (Visual Arts Teacher and Head of Department, Senior School). “Through creative practice, students explore ideas, communicate experiences, and develop personal ways of seeing and interpreting the world. Art becomes both a form of expression and a means of connecting across time, place, and culture.
