Middle Leader News - STEM
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Being new to St Saviour’s Primary school, I’m also new to a targeted focus on STEM in a school setting. To be honest, I had to double check what each letter of the acronym stood for - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. I got pretty excited when I started to hear and see some of the great things we are doing in this area at St Saviour’s Primary. Our world is fast-changing and we are constantly expected to keep up with new technologies. We need to foster learning that builds innovative and creative thinkers, who exit our school ready to participate and contribute to our everchanging society.
All year levels are integrating the ideas from STEM in their planning and having great success. From designing a bridge that can withstand a certain weight, to programing B Bots to learn about grid references. As well as this integration, we are providing opportunities to the older students to participate in the design thinking process. Ms Harlen and Ms Parkes-Moller work with the Year 5 and 6 students during our twice weekly STEM club meetings. On Monday this week, the students designed and created obstacles for a putt putt course using sustainable materials. Check out our St Saviour’s Facebook page for some pictures. Students considered their users and the materials they had available and made some impressive obstacles!
Later this term on the 2nd and 4th of June, 20 students from Year 6 will visit St Saviour’s and St Mary’s College to attend the spark EDU conferences: ‘It Takes a Spark’. The theme this year is ‘Opening our eyes to the excitement of STEM in the world!’. Some experiences of the day include:
- Participating in hands on STEM activities
- Students running their own workshop for other students on ‘Microbits’ - with the help of Mrs Harlen
- Listening to a keynote speaker from the STEM industry
- Participating in a real-life problem-solving challenge.
Have a wonderful week!
Warm Regards,
Nicki Prentice