Sydney independent school The McDonald College has won the primary school category of Independent Schools NSW’s 2026 AI Agent Competition with an AI tool designed to address one of the biggest challenges facing educators: ensuring artificial intelligence supports learning rather than replacing it.
The McDonald College is a K–12 independent school best known for integrating academic learning with specialist education in the performing arts. While the school has a strong reputation in dance, music, acting and musical theatre, the award highlights its growing focus on innovation in teaching and learning.
Created by Peter Slattery, Director of Junior School and Year 6 classroom teacher, the AI agent, Copy Paste Forget, was developed in response to the growing ease with which students can generate polished assignments without fully understanding the content.
Rather than providing answers, the agent challenges students to explain, justify and expand on information they have already found, encouraging deeper thinking and stronger research skills.
The approach reflects a growing emphasis across schools on using generative AI to enhance learning outcomes while maintaining student agency and academic integrity.
Slattery said the tool was designed around the belief that AI should encourage students to think more critically, not simply complete tasks more quickly.
“Pretending AI isn’t in our students’ lives helps nobody,” he said. “They are already using it. Our job is to teach them how to use it well, and that starts with showing them the difference between getting an answer and understanding one.”
The agent was recently used in a Year 6 inquiry unit exploring the Universal Declaration of Human Rights alongside Morris Gleitzman’s Boy Overboard. Students researched refugees who had built successful lives in Australia before engaging with the AI agent, which prompted them to investigate the historical, geographical and social contexts behind their chosen stories.
Instead of summarising information for students, the agent asked follow-up questions about why refugees had left their home countries, what conflicts had occurred, and how refugees have contributed to Australian society through areas such as food, culture, business and sport. Students were also encouraged to pose their own questions, extending inquiry beyond the initial research task.
The concept evolved from earlier classroom experiments, where Slattery developed a conversational coaching tool to support students revising mathematical concepts. He found students were more engaged when the AI asked probing questions rather than supplying solutions.
The success of Copy Paste Forget highlights an emerging shift in how schools are approaching generative AI—not as a content generator, but as a tool that can scaffold critical thinking, reflection and deeper learning.
Judged on purpose, design, usefulness and creativity, the award-winning AI agent will be showcased at the Independent Schools NSW 2026 Curriculum Conference in August, where delegates will have the opportunity to trial the tool and explore how similar AI agents could be developed for use in their own schools.