Last Friday I organised my last Holiday Reading Function and yes it was tinged with sadness. Thank you to all staff who have supported this event and helped to nurture a reading culture on our campus. I have enjoyed these events over the last ten years and they have satisfied my love of reading and also my love of cooking!
This will be my last post and it is also tinged with sadness. The In The Know blog has been a labour of love and I am grateful that I started it five years ago as it has been a fantastic professional learning opportunity for me. I would highly recommend having your own digital PLN as it certainly keeps you inspired and informed.
We are in exciting times with regards to educational change and I will watch from a distance, with much interest, the moves Gippsland Grammar makes to ensure an education that embraces the future.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
STEM Initiatives
Last week I mentioned the "STEM for a Day" government initiative.This week there has been more exciting news for STEM Australia with Malcolm Turnbull releasing his 1.1 billion innovation package. The information below has come from Lindy Hathaway,an educator in the ACT.
Malcolm Turnbull's $1.1 billion innovation package (the Ideas Boom) was released on Monday at CSIRO in Canberra - "inspiring Australians to be innovative" and to take risks. The government will spend $84 million over the next 4 years "inspiring" Australians in digital literacy and STEM areas. This includes funding to upgrade teachers' digital skills, educational apps and $13 million to boost the participation of girls and women in STEM. The government will spend $51 million over five years targeting coding activity in schools including online computing challenges for Year 5 and 7 students, ICT summer schools for Years 9 and 10, an annual 'Cracking the Code' national competition for years 4 to 12 and support for teachers to increase IT-related activity in the classroom. This fits well with the Australian Curriculum Digital Technologies.
CSIRO and other science research projects will enjoy more funding and a renewed focus, businesses will get more support for innovation and universities will get increased funding for research. The Australian Synchroton (bright light beams for research) and the Square Kilometre Array (largest radio telescope) will get $800 million over 10 years.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-07/pm-malcolm-turnbull-unveils-$1-billion-innovation-program/7006952
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/here-comes-the-governments-innovation-statement-2015-12
Tech Girls Are Superheroes
The Tech Girls Are Superheroes campaign was started by the Tech Girls Movement (TGM) in 2014. Founded by Dr Jenine Beekhuyzen, TGM promotes positive female IT role models to encourage and raise awareness of STEM career options for girls. The free booklet Tech Girls Are Superheroes has 26 stories from talented women in IT, each with their own avatar. Available here:
http://www.techgirlsaresuperheroes.org/home/
The winners of the 2015 Search for the Next Tech Girl Superhero were announced last month. See their work here:
http://www.techgirlsmovement.org/news/2015/11/9/hp1cc4do6v7rnzq8jwvxpv6yy7c6q9
Entries are now open to all girls in years 4-12 for the 2016 Next Tech Girl Superhero. Students submit technology-based solutions for different challenges according to their year group eg. building body confidence, increasing cybersafety, reducing environmental impacts. Winners receive funding and mentoring for their idea. Entries close 1 July 2016. http://www.techgirlsmovement.org/superherosearch
Margareta Osborn Comes To Book Club
Last Friday was a special lunchtime for our Book Club members. Our special guest was local author and school parent Margareta Osborn. Margareta is a fifth generation farmer and lives in Glenmaggie. A successful writer, her stories revolve around country living and our Book Club members enjoyed hearing about her creative writing journey. They also enjoyed their pizza lunch and were excited to receive a copy of An Doh's " The happiest Refugee", their holiday Book Club novel.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)