WTS
Newsletter
Welcome from the Directors
We are nearing the finish line of what has been a challenging year for our school community. We were thrilled to showcase our 2021 program at our recent program launch, and are taking bookings for next year. We have been very fortunate this year to have the opportunity to work with our school and community partners to co-design our new programs (albeit remotely); building strong connections and awareness of local and global industries that are set for growth over the coming years. Our Teacher and Student Ambassadors have been key to shaping the Tech School offerings, providing the link between the Tech School and our Partner Schools. It has been such a pleasure to collaborate and learn with and from our Ambassadors this year, and we look forward to welcoming them back to the Tech School in 2021. I would like to wish everyone a wonderful festive season. I hope that you have the opportunity to spend time with your loved ones and recharge the batteries for what promises to be a better year for all next year.
Sandra McKechnie
Director Whittlesea Tech School
Tech School Highlights
2021 Program Launch
With the recent launch our 2021 program suite, the booking process is now open. We have been busy this year, working with our school, community and industry partners to co-design our 2021 programs. Next year, our schools have a broad selection of programs to choose from (summarised below), where students will use our innovation process to design and prototype solutions to real world problems whilst building the skillsets and mindsets for the future world of work. To receive our booking pack and for any other enquiries, please get in touch via email by clicking the link below
NAIDOC Week Launch of Indigenous Art Exhibition
In collaboration with the Koorie Academy of Excellence and their community, Aboriginal artist, Emma Bamblett, Banyule Nillumbik Tech School and the Department of Education and Training, we celebrated NAIDOC Week 2020, a celebration of the oldest continuing living culture on Earth, by launching our Virtual Indigenous Art Exhibition.
This exhibition celebrates and showcases the artworks created by Koorie young people during our recent Virtual Indigenous Art Holiday Program, where 20 plus KAE members shared in knowledge about First Nations art, culture, stories, land and history, whilst discovering their inner artist and gaining digital design skills.
The exhibition was co-designed by Koorie Academy of Excellence Liaison Officer, Sharna Colgan, Koorie young people, and myself using the free online software, Artsteps.
Journey through the virtual student exhibition here.(Note: Desktop viewing recommended. Click play for a guided tour upon entry.)
Click the following links for more information about the
Koorie Academy of Excellence
https://www.vaeai.org.au/koorie-academy-of-excellence/
and
Naidoc Week
https://www.naidoc.org.au/about/naidoc-week
That’s a wrap for our 2020 Student Ambassador Program!
This year’s Student Ambassador Program kicked off back in March when our ambassadors joined us at the Tech School to learn and create projection art to be displayed in our exhibition space as a collaborative installation. Like most things in 2020, our original ideas for this program didn’t go quite to plan.
Following the move to remote learning, we adapted our program to run a number of online sessions that still provided our ambassadors with the opportunity to engage with a variety of our core technologies and build their digital literacy, communication and teamwork skills. Students were also able to develop their networks and stay connected with young people from across Melbourne’s north as the remaining sessions were ran in collaboration with the Banyule Nillumbik Tech School.
In May, Student Ambassadors took on the role of game designers using Microsoft MakeCode Arcade to create socially-distanced games to help bring communities together whilst remaining physically apart. In July, students had the opportunity to learn digital design skills using Adobe Illustrator and created some stunning artworks for their own printed apparel. In September, using Autodesk TinkerCAD, they learnt how to 3D model as an extension of our Rosetta Tomorrow program that ran during Science Week. In October, our virtual workshop included some hands-on learning using micro:bit microcontrollers that were mailed out to students to practice their programming skills.
This week we held our final session where we gave our ambassadors the choice to extend one of their digital skills from the previous sessions. We celebrated the 2020 program with young people showcasing what they had created throughout the year, and then we asked our Student Ambassadors what they would like to see in our 2021 program.
Our STEM Communication Officers have thoroughly enjoyed working with our Student Ambassadors, and we thank them for their enthusiasm throughout the year.
If you are or know a Year 7-10 student from our partner schools who would be interested in our 2021 program, get in touch with the Teacher Ambassadors at your school.
TESTIMONIAL
“The tech school ambassador workshops have been great for increasing my skills in all manner of ways! Thank you for putting in your all to help us learn these amazing new skills!”“It was an amazing experience, I hope I get to do it again next year!”
Vhairi MacKintosh
Project Coordinator & STEM Communication Officer.