STEM News

Foundation and Year 1/2 students began by learning about Dr Jane Goodall and her incredible discoveries about chimpanzees. Inspired by her curiosity and care for the natural world, students have started their biology unit, exploring how animals can be grouped as vertebrates or invertebrates and identifying the features of each group. Soon, they will apply their understanding of animals and ecosystems to design and build prototype habitats using technology - combining science, creativity, and engineering to help their animals survive and thrive.

Year 3–6 students have launched into a new challenge in the Smart City Project - with a twist! This time, students are taking their STEM and Environmental Education knowledge beyond Earth with the prompt: 'We need to build a civilisation on Mars!'

They are investigating what humans would need to live there - from food and water to energy, waste management, and recreation - before choosing a focus area such as recycling plants, farms, homes, or entertainment spaces to design and automate using micro:bits. Once complete, all projects will come together to form a fully functioning Martian civilisation, showcasing innovation, teamwork, and imagination.

Mr Calvett and Miss Meade took 24 Year 5/6 students to the 'It Takes a Spark' STEM Conference at The Knox School. The event brought together over 500 students and teachers from primary and secondary schools, all sharing their passion for STEM innovation and creativity. Students took part in a range of exciting workshops - building and coding robots, programming the railway signals for Puffing Billy, designing games, and even launching bottle rockets! It was an inspiring day of hands-on learning and collaboration, and we can’t wait for our students to share their new knowledge and ideas back at school.

Here are some comments from students about the STEM conference:

"I really enjoyed participating in the STEM conference. It was really fun and engaging. I really like how I got to keep stickers, and refraction glasses from the conference. One thing I really liked was making the bottle rockets." - Nelson x , Year 5

"I really liked having the opportunity to build my own robot. Also, making a model railway circuit of the Buffing Billy. I came away from this with new ideas and lots of passion for STEM. Next year I hope to be a leader in STEM." - Tyson J, Year 5

"I had a great time at the STEM conference. I really enjoyed exploring robots with Melbourne University. It was really interesting to see all the different things you can do in STEM like creating robots or creating environments so plants can live on Mars. It was nice to see how interested and engaged everyone was at the conference and the food was really good too." - Hazel, Year 6