Assistant Principal's Report

John Monash Science School – Community partnership

Glen Waverley Primary School has proudly partnered with John Monash Science School (JMSS) for several years, giving our students the chance to take part in their Primary School Outreach Programs. These enrichment opportunities – Mini Mathematicians and Little Scientists – extend high-achieving Grade 5/6 students by introducing them to advanced topics in mathematics and science.

Over four sessions, selected learners work with JMSS Year 10 and 11 students, exploring concepts through hands-on experiments, problem-solving games, and collaborative challenges. This partnership not only fuels our students’ curiosity and love of STEM but also helps JMSS students build skills in leadership, communication and mentoring.

With places in the program limited to just four students per group and highly sought after, it is a credit to those selected for their passion, commitment, and gratitude in embracing this exciting opportunity.

Our Mini Mathematicians have shared their experiences in a special recount below, capturing what they learned and enjoyed most about their first session last week. Their reflections highlight the excitement, teamwork, and problem-solving involved, and show just how inspiring this program continues to be.

“On Wednesday 3rd September 2025, we went to John Monash Science School for our first session. When we walked in, we felt excited and a little nervous. We got our badges and went into the Mini Marvellous room, surrounded by lots of other Grade 5 and 6 students from other schools.

We started with a ‘get to know you’ game and discovered that all our group’s house numbers were odd! We called our team the Mini VOLS (Vincent, Oliver, Lesara, Sanaaya). Next, we played the ‘Magic Zero’ square game using positive and negative numbers. Even though our team didn’t win, it was really fun to play.

We then played a game called Greed, where you choose numbers secretly but risk losing points if other teams picked the same one. Out of five teams, we WON and even got candy as our prize! The final activity was Thinking Bingo, where we had to use maths concepts like mean, median and range. It was challenging but exciting, especially when the dice changed the game each round.

Overall, it was such a fun and interesting first day, and we can’t wait for the next session!”

— Written by Vincent and Oliver

We are proud of the way our students embrace these opportunities, and we look forward to sharing more highlights as the program continues.