Building critical thinking ability in the young
We have reached thousands of students, guided by the principle that every child deserves to learn deep and effective thinking skills.
A charity dedicated to equity in critical thinking education
The Consensus Education Foundation is dedicated to developing reasonable, perceptive and empathetic thinkers, while advancing educational equity. We believe effective critical thinking and communication skills are crucial to the success of young people and their ability to navigate a complex world.
To achieve these goals we have developed ThinkTank, a critical thinking program backed by an extensive body of well-targeted resources for gifted and high-potential school-age students. It’s a program that pioneers online learning that is collaborative, enjoyable and constructively challenging.
Our growing parent-paid ThinkTank program for students from affluent communities supports an increasing number of bursary places for students suffering from economic and geographic disadvantage. As a charity, we deeply value the support of the NSW Education Department, the many schools who help identify our students, and the paying families, donors and funders who enable us to provide equitable access to critical thinking education.
Annual results from our ThinkTank program
97%
97%
of our course content
Average rating from students
of our presentation and delivery
96%
of parents say they are likely or very likely
to recommend ThinkTank to a friend
Average rating from parents
of the program overall
What students and parents say
Term 3 2026
"ThinkTank has encouraged me to question things rather than simply accept them, listen to different viewpoints, and think more deeply about the world around me. It has also given me the confidence to share my own ideas and challenge my thinking, which has helped me grow both academically and personally."
"Think Tank has taught me a lot and helped me with different things that I didn't know about before."
"The thing I liked most about the course was the teacher’s encouraging teaching style and the interesting examples given for each topic to make things more enjoyable for my child."
"I really enjoyed my experience of ThinkTank and I relished what I learnt about human behaviour and unconscious biases. I think it was and will be very beneficial to me and my future learning! ThinkTank will benefit any student that experiences the class."
"I learned a lot about how the human mind thinks and perceives things, and it helps me understand more about the people around me and their actions, and how I can make sure my mind isn't biased."
"Participation in discussions with peers from other areas. Exposure to the 'bigger picture' of critical thinking and human behavior. It was a good experience for my daughter. I feel she would greatly benefit from further exposure to this sort of thing. Thanks to all."
"It would be amazing for all kids to expeirence critical thinking. I loved all the classes from start to finish and all the intriguing topics. I would love to do it again every year to continue this amazing experience."
"ThinkTank has taught me about human behaviour. I have enjoyed it as I have been surprised by the topics and it has been presented to me in way that I can understand."
"I like that the topics are varied, and open my child up to thinking about things he wouldn’t have normally. Thank you for running a program that enriches minds!"
"Engaging and interesting classes that help teach me many important things about human behaviour and the world around me. The tutors actively keep me involved throughout the class, letting all students have a chance to express what they think. Overall, ThinkTank is a wonderful class where I can learn and have fun at the same time, challenging my critical thinking skills."
"It was amazing, the tutors were amazing, the experience was amazing, EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING."
"My child found it fun and engaging - especially the quiz sessions!"
"I really enjoyed attending ThinkTank lessons. They helped me learn a lot about the way we behave."
"I liked the discussion aspect, where you don't just take it in, but you have to actually talk about it and express yourself. I also really liked the quiz."
"ThinkTank helped me to understand a lot more things about the world, and it was really unique. It was really engaging, and a really good chance to learn something new."
"I love exploring complex contemporary and historical issues, practical ethical problems, and cognitive biases that aren't typically covered in standard school curricula."
"It was very engaging and everyone was very nice. I loved that you could share your opinion and everyone gets to talk a fair amount of times."
"I really enjoy ThinkTank. The tutors were very nice and explained everything very well so we all understood and the lessons were very fun."
"I liked the quizzes, how the teacher would expand on ideas of other students and be very knowledgeable, and how each lesson there would be a relevant example in the real world to deepen our understanding."
"It was fun to discuss psychological topics and I liked the little quiz breaks which were very engaging, making it easier to go back into learning without being bored"
"ThinkThank was definitly amazing and the topics we learned were very engaging, I loved the way our tutors helped explain all of these topics. I really enjoyed the quizes every week!"
"I liked how the tutors were very kind and understanding while also explaining the topics in a way which helped everyone understand."
"I loved how the teachers didn't just speak; they involved everyone."
"I like how we go through everything in depth, and how it feels like a conversation."
"The thing I liked most about ThinkTank was talking with everyone there and being more social than I am now :D"
"I really liked the way they presented the topics and made it very enjoyable."
"I liked that the topics always had a relation to interesting historial and present events."
"I liked the experience of meeting new people, trying new ways of thinking, and learning new things."
"The teachers are very knowledgeable and engaging. I love the halfway quiz because it keeps me focused."
"I felt that the structure of the lessons were great, the best was the disscussion."
We reach students from many communities
From Sydney's northern beaches to the far west of the state, ThinkTank has reached students in metropolitan, regional and remote NSW, as well as the ACT.
Coordinating with the NSW Department of Education
A core aspect of our work lies in identifying those students who will most benefit from the ThinkTank program while being least able to readily access educational extension opportunities. In this work we are indebted to a partnership with the High Potential and Gifted Unit of the NSW Department of Education, one of Australia's leading bodies for gifted education policy and practice. This extremely constructive relationship enables us, through the Unit’s help, to contact school leaders from across the state and build relationships where schools nominate suitable students for our courses of critical thinking learning.
Empowering employment
Our engagement with empowering young people goes beyond the direct educational experience of our courses and how they help prepare students for a workforce that increasingly values critical thinking and communication skills. We’re also always on the lookout for clever, enthusiastic and personable young people who we can train as ThinkTank tutors. In our work with schools, whether running ThinkTank or debating and public speaking extracurricular workshops, we identify suitable candidates for training. Key to this process is an emphasis on including students from the regions. We’ve already trained several tutors with regional backgrounds who have benefitted from ThinkTank through their senior years of high school and are now contributing to the program as enthusiastic educators.
Supporting student welfare
ThinkTank’s impact is about more than student intellectual development. Our online class structure means that students work closely in groups of peers from different regions and backgrounds, sharing contrasting perspectives and collaborating in examining lesson content. This is particularly valuable for children from regional and remote communities with small peer groups because meeting and working with other engaged learners often bolsters self-belief and enhances confidence in the value of intellectual endeavour.
Community Bank Braidwood & Bungendore
Our founding sponsor, the Braidwood & Bungendore Community Bank's early belief in ThinkTank made it possible to launch the program, develop our rich body of resources, and reach students who would otherwise have had little access to this kind of learning. Their ongoing support is testament to what a company can do when it genuinely invests in the communities it serves.
Our major funders
Our sponsors, grant funders and donors make it possible to keep ThinkTank accessible, take the program to remote communities, and offer bursary places to students who need them most.
Braidwood Lions
A regular donor, Lions has supported our work in the Southern Tablelands since the inception of our charity. Their warm and consistent backing helps underpin our commitment to developing the thinking skills of the young people of this region.
Mary MacKillop Today
A generous grant from Mary MacKillop Today enabled us to offer free in-person, whole-day ThinkTank workshops to students in three regional communities based around Newcastle, Goulburn and Albury.
NSW Office for Regional Youth
Commonwealth and NSW Government funding enabled ThinkTank South-East in 2023, reaching 309 students across four regional LGAs through free, full-day in-person workshops, with a follow-up 10-week online course for 95 students.
Fostering thinking over time
Consensus Education Foundation established
As we work on developing our bank of critical thinking lesson plans, we register with the ACNC as a charitable foundation dedicated to developing and delivering high quality critical thinking resources and classes for Australian school-age students.
ThinkTank launches online
The ThinkTank program for after-school online critical thinking learning launches in one region of South-East of NSW, supported by our founding sponsor, the Braidwood and Bungandore Community Bank. Partner schools nominate their gifted and high-potential students in Year 5 through to Year 12.
ThinkTank South-East — taking it to new regions
A NSW Government grant enables free in-person workshops across four regional LGAs. 309 students from 28 primary and high schools participate with 95 continuing into a 10-week online critical thinking extension program. We run a trial ThinkTank program in Sydney.
Sydney expansion
ThinkTank launches for primary school students in Sydney where parent-paid places help our charity provide bursaries for disadvantaged students. Partner schools nominate groups of gifted and high potential students each term, with Harbord, Mount Colah, Mona Vale, Ermington, Killarney Heights and Melrose Park among the founding partner public schools.
Reaching remote communities
A growing parent-paid ThinkTank program supports a new outreach for more bursaries in regional and remote NSW. The NSW Department of Education's High Potential and Gifted Unit begins offering direct help to reach schools from Lightning Ridge to Lord Howe Island in our mission to offer bursaries to disadvantaged students.
Secondary program launches
ThinkTank Metro Secondary launches in Term 1 with a course for Years 7 and 8, spearheaded by Chatswood High. Five new high school partners join in Term 2 alone. The bursary program gets a corresponding lift. We begin to explore reaching into very remote communities in the Northern Territory for bursary places.
Today — More than 3,000 students reached
ThinkTank runs every term, reaching across metro Sydney, to the regions and to remote NSW. 80+ partner schools, 100+ lesson plans, and an expanding bursary program for disadvantaged students.
Help us fight disadvantage
Every donation helps give disadvantaged children access to transformative critical thinking education through our ThinkTank program.