United Arab Emirates, Dubai: This past weekend, Brighton College Dubai hosted the UAE regionals of The Tournament of Minds (TOM), an esteemed Australian educational competition to enhance pupils' critical and creative thinking skills.

Five schools from Dubai and Abu Dhabi participated in the tournament’s latest edition, with over 90 pupils forming 13 teams, fostering a competitive spirit and collaborative environment. Pupils tackled a variety of spontaneous and long-term challenges in global and topical contexts.

The participating schools included: American Academy for Girls, Brighton College Abu Dhabi, Brighton College Dubai, Dubai British School Jumeirah Park and Private International English School Abu Dhabi. Each school showcased their dedication to cultivating their pupils' creative and critical thinking capabilities.

After six weeks of intensive preparation and presentations before a judging panel, the winners were announced. In the Social Sciences Primary category, Brighton College Dubai’s Brighton Clash took first place, and Dubai British School Jumeirah Park’s Primary GenJP earned honours. In the STEM Primary category, Private International English School's Primary Team secured first place, while Brighton College Dubai’s Brighton Saviours received honours. In the STEM Senior category, Dubai British School Jumeirah Park’s JPGeniuses claimed first place, with honours going to Brighton College Dubai’s STEMinists.

Sarah Brannon, UAE Director of Tournament of Minds and Head of Prep at Brighton College Dubai commented on the event's success: “Brighton College is proud to have hosted The Tournament of Minds for another year! It’s events like these that provide an incredible opportunity for pupils to engage in out-of-the-classroom innovative thinking and collaborative problem-solving. It was inspiring to see young minds tackle complex challenges with such enthusiasm and skill – their dedication has been truly remarkable. A big congratulations to all the participants for their hard work and the winners for their exceptional achievements.”

"Participating in the Tournament of Minds was an incredible experience. It pushed us to think creatively and work together as a team to solve challenging problems. In our STEM project we learned so much about the mathematics and science behind how to make an object fly and then had to apply our knowledge in practical ways for the task. It was challenging but, we had a lot of fun along the way!" said Bhadhra Viveka, pupil from Private International English School Abu Dhabi.

During the competition, teams worked independently for six weeks to develop creative solutions to problems within predetermined parameters and criteria. In the STEM challenge, teams were presented with a scenario where an island lost all its birds, significantly impacting their tourist economy. Pupils had to design an exotic bird to "fly" freely and unaided without support or guide wires, explaining the mathematics and science behind their design, whilst in the Social Sciences challenge, teams addressed a time convergence scenario, linking events from different eras and exploring their impact on the modern world.

The Tournament of Minds is acclaimed for its dynamic educational approach, fostering experimentation and problem-solving among talented pupils in primary and secondary education. Pupils are organised into teams and participate in disciplines such as STEM, The Arts, Language Literature, and Social Sciences. Teams are evaluated on creativity, scientific understanding, technology use, application of STEM principles, design and construction, presentation skills, and overall performance, ensuring a comprehensive assessment. Aligning with international curricula, TOM encourages critical and creative thinking, equipping participants with essential skills for the evolving world.

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About Tournament of Minds

The Tournament of Minds (TOM) is an Australian educational programme designed for talented and creative students across primary and secondary school education. TOM emphasises a dynamic approach to learning, encouraging students' enthusiasm for experimentation, problem-finding, and problem-solving. Teams of students from various schools form vertical group structures and undertake challenges within specific discipline groups. The programme aligns with international curricula, fostering critical and creative thinking skills in students.

About Brighton College Dubai

Brighton College Dubai is a co-educational independent school that offers a distinctively British education to pupils aged from three to 18 years old.  As the sister school of Brighton College UK, Brighton College Dubai has strong and tangible links to England’s ‘School of the Decade’, as named in the Sunday Times Parent Power League Table 2020.

Since launching its purpose-built campus in Al Barsha South in 2018 the College has been crowned by Schools Compared Top School Awards as ‘Best New School in the UAE 2018-2024’, whilst Which School Advisor credits the College for delivering “quite possibly the most outstanding early year’s practice in the UAE”. In addition, the College was recently graded as ‘Very Good’ by the KHDA and achieved ‘Outstanding’ in all areas of a recent British Schools Overseas report and has also celebrated outstanding GCSE and A-Level results. Talk Education describes the College as “One of the most desirable schools in the city”.

Brighton College Dubai is operated by Bloom Education, a Bloom Holding subsidiary, and delivers the highest standard British curriculum in the UAE, as well as inspiring pupils to appreciate and value local heritage and cultural diversity. As well as Brighton College Dubai, Bloom Education operates a Brighton College campus in Al Ain, rated Outstanding by ADEK and another in Abu Dhabi, renowned for its outstanding GCSE and A Level results.

For more information please visit: https://www.brightoncollegedubai.ae/

About Bloom Education

Bloom Education supports the development of future generations through partnerships with world-class international education brands, owns brand schools and nurseries, and the operation of UAE Charter Schools and New Generation Schools.

A pioneer in the Middle East education sector for more than 10 years, Bloom Education has introduced and operated leading American, English and International Baccalaureate curriculum education brands in the UAE market and has provided exceptional educational experiences and opportunities to more than 16,000 students. The partner of choice for international school brand Brighton College, Bloom Education has been entrusted to deliver and sustain the highest international standards locally and has been selected by Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) to operate the Abu Dhabi Charter Schools programme. Bloom Education has also been chosen by Emirates Schools Establishment (ESE) to operate schools in the Northern Emirates, as part of the ‘Ajyal’ (new ‘generation’) school initiative.

With a keen focus on providing the best educational opportunities to help craft better futures for the youth of the UAE, Bloom Education launched its first ‘own-brand’ premium IB school, Bloom World Academy, in Dubai in August 2022. The school has introduced many firsts in the UAE, such as Learning Achievement Passports (LAP), individual learning pathways and the later start time of 9am, allowing for students’ learning to be in balance with family life.Bloom Education’s opportunity-rich environments allow it to nurture its community of students so they can reach their highest potential – intellectually, physically, socially, and emotionally and their success is reflected in the high quality of their graduates who continue their studies at leading universities around the world, including Ivy league and Russell Group.

As the population grows and the world becomes more competitive, Bloom Education’s focus continues to be on discovering the world’s best education brands and to provide stellar alternatives to moving abroad for a world-class education.
For more information, please visit https://www.bloomeducation.com/