STEAM labs

Our STEAM lab mentors and participants are to be congratulated for their hard work and commitment to the STEAM lab projects this past semester. Our Year 9 and 10 mentors from both FCC and Gilmore College for Girls have worked with FCC Year 7s, and Grade 5s and 6s from Footscray City Primary and Footscray Primary to tackle problems that matter. During this past term, the groups have been coming up with ways to address Wellbeing in the West. On Tuesday 3 December the students presented their work to the community reference group. These labs have been a tremendous example of the great things that can happen when students as co-designers and creators, are given the time and resources to respond to complex problems in their local community. 

This successful project has come about as a result of the tireless work and vision of V.U. Academic Scholar, Simon Taylor and the efforts of the many committed teachers involved, especially Karen Drought from Gilmore. These projects have been an enormously valuable opportunity for staff professional development. We are extremely proud of how far our students have come in these labs. One of the highlights was their recent on-stage appearance at the International Conference on Student Voice, Agency and Partnerships, where one of our students was quoted as saying "At the start of the year, I wouldn't have been able to sit up here and answer questions. Since being a part of the STEAM labs, I have better personal skills, critical thinking skills, and problem-solving skills."

We hope that these labs can continue in this ever-evolving form for the benefit of everyone.

Emma Pollock - Teacher librarian