Science News

As the school year comes to a close for 2020, I would like to express my thanks for the support that I have received from everyone at Marian when I responded to the call of my family and the birth of my grandson. I particularly owe a debt of gratitude to the wonderful teachers who looked after my classes and of course to Ms Davis, who was acting Science Coordinator and Mrs McIntosh who kept students and teachers organised and supplied with what they needed in the labs.

On Monday, we farewelled Mrs Dhanoa who has retired from full time teaching. However, we may see her again next year in a casual capacity. Mrs Dhanoa has served the Marian community since 2001, mainly in the science department, sharing her expertise in biology. She contributed to many Harmony Day celebrations and enriched our lives with her humility, compassion and friendship. We wish her and her family the very best as she becomes a grandmother, before Christmas, for the fourth time. 

 Mrs Robertson will also leave us and take up a position at Coleambally central school in 2021. We have had the pleasure of Mrs Robertson’s company at Marian for a short while but she has worked tirelessly to develop the best resources and learning experiences for her students. We wish her the very best as she takes on a new school and a new community next year. 

There has been a record number of students from Year 10 choosing the sciences to study in their senior years. This is a wonderful indication that students value exploring their natural world and are understanding the great advances that are taking place in health, technology, materials, space, earth science, environmental understanding and sustainability. We have a superb team of senior teachers for 2021 and look forward to sharing the student’s journey with them next year.

STEM in SCIENCE

Teachers generously give their time, during lunch and after school, to share rich and diverse learning experiences and help students where they can. 

This has been the case this year when Miss Depaoli  supported the science department with the Dragster STEM program at the beginning of 2020 and continued to inspire us all with suggestions, plans and assistance with the STEM project focus on teaching in science. This constructivist approach has proven to be both enjoyable and beneficial for students because we all learn differently. 

I would like to thank Ms Depaoli wholeheartedly, for her dedication, relentless hard work and generosity to include STEM in science and making sure that students have the opportunity to take part in extra curricula activities in STEM. They did an amazing job with her guidance.

On behalf of the science staff, Ms Davis, Ms DePaoli , Mr Lawler, Mr Marshall, Mrs Robertson, Miss Covel and Mrs McIntosh, I wish you all a very happy and holy Christmas.

Let us all pray for a peaceful 2021, both in our personal lives and worldwide.

Best wishes

Esther Dumbleton

Science Co-ordinator