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- The Queensland Government invests in science,
technologies, engineering and mathematics
through the Advancing STEM initiative.
This enables primary schools to access the expertise
they need from other schools, universities,
or industry partners
to implement their school improvement plan.
Each school's context is unique
and brings different challenges and opportunities.
This snapshot of practise shares how a primary school
developed a sustainable model
of building teacher capability,
increasing student engagement
and strengthening the implementation
of the Australian curriculum digital technologies.
The key to their success,
building a culture that values STEM learning
and community and industry partnerships
to ensure every student is succeeding.
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- So in 2019, we took on a scan and assess
to begin building our strategic plan
for the next four years.
And we were comfortable and confident
with our success in ADE data, we were comfortable
and confident in our success and our NAPLAN data.
What our concern was, was we had that question
where are we preparing kids for the future workforce
and where are kids ready for a job that doesn't exist yet?
What we really needed was the kids
to have an opportunity to creatively think
and to innovate and to design things
for themselves and solve their own problems.
And a one size fits all approach was not
going to get there for that.
What we decided to do was we wanted to enhance our teaching
in maths and science and arts and English
in, by using digital technologies
and by integrating digital technologies
into those units of work,
to build student engagement,
to give kids opportunities, to show their learning
in their way, and the more different ways
that kids could show their learning,
the better chance they
were going to be able to achieve.
So from this, our mission was to engage parents
that use our community, engage our industry,
engage our teachers, and most importantly,
engage our students.
So our four year strategic plan we titled,
preparing students for an ever-changing world.
And what that means to us is preparing our kids
for whatever comes their way in the future workforce
or in their future career.
So then that leads to us needing to change the way
that we do business to actually do what we mean
and actually provide kids with opportunities
to do things differently.
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We know that what we're doing is working
because we're seeing confidence growth in our teachers.
We survey the teachers and they are much more keen
to get involved and try new things.
We're really lucky to have a number of early adopters
that come on board and try things very quickly.
And then that's been bringing along the others
that are a bit more hesitant
and it's been a really nice journey.
We use digital technologies to engage our learners
in English and maths, in arts and science.
And it's been able to make our learning way more engaging.
So rather than teaching digital technologies by itself,
we found a much more effective way was to embed it
across other subjects.
- So in science, we had like this box,
and so we used mirrors and lights
and we coded the Ozobot to go through the box.
And then we held a torch at the, like entry of the box
and then it reflected through the mirrors
and it had to go out and then we made the other robots.
So we coded the Ozobot to go through it,
and then there was a little blockage at the end
of the Ozobot and it had to knock it over,
set then it could keep going.
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- Here at Moranbah State school,
we work really hard to look at our collegial teams
and my role within that is being facilitator.
I think our biggest curriculum leaders
in our school are our teachers.
They're the ones on the ground working
with the students every day.
So my role is not to sit
in an office and produce all these documents.
So we really highly regard the process of teachers mapping
and teachers unpacking the curriculum
alongside of myself and Rebecca,
our digital technologies STEM to support teacher.
And more at Moranbah State school,
we really value the local and contextualised learning.
And in order for us to do this,
we seek out our local partnerships, including their minds
and they play a very valuable role in that
not just within us being able to visit the minds
but actually being able to make sure
that it's hitting our learning outcomes.
And that's my role, is to identify
what those learning outcomes are
and work with those partners to ensure
that we're getting there.
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- So my role as the STEM support teacher is to work
alongside teachers to help them implement technology
effectively in their classrooms.
So on planning days,
I work alongside teachers to identify
and develop a modelled response for tasks
and also ensure that their marking guides are developed.
So then the teachers that are really,
they know exactly what they're
about to teach in their technology unit.
Also, that's a time for them
to identify any resources they need.
So, any robots or any other digital technology tools
and that's where I can come in
and source them or teach them how to use.
I'm also used as a resource to go
into classrooms and model our tools.
So if teachers aren't very comfortable
in using it themselves, I can definitely come in
and model those tools and show them how they work.
And I'm definitely seeing
that teachers are becoming more comfortable
with using that in classrooms,
once they've had someone show them using it
in an actual classroom context.
So I'm finding now that
because teachers are more comfortable with using technology
in their classrooms, that the iPads and robots
are being used intentionally to support students' learning.
I think the assessment tasks are definitely more open now.
So we are able to identify a student's learning styles
and that not every assessment task
is the same in a classroom.
So one might be on an iPad,
one might be be doing a different way.
So we're still hitting those achievement standards
but it's more individualised to the student.
A big part of increased teacher confidence
has been the way we create a learning culture.
I may be the STEM support teacher,
but I work with teachers to co-plan and co-teach
the spills of capability of all our teachers
to know the content
and to have the confidence to teach it,
even when the technology doesn't go to plan.
Our model of co-teaching and co-planning
has been the key to ensuring sustainable outcomes.
So if my role stopped tomorrow,
I think our teachers would feel comfortable
to implement STEM themselves.
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- Supporting STEM education is really important
to our organisation
because supporting thriving communities in the areas
in which we operate is one of the key pillars
of our sustainable mining plan.
So I meet with Anthony on a regular basis
and he provides the curriculum
for us to look through together
and to discover any opportunities
where we might be able to offer
hands-on practical experience
for the students within the context of mining
and also opportunities outside of mining.
We're also invested in our local schools and young people
because we want to demonstrate
that they have the opportunity to move
into STEM based fields and careers within the local area
and that they don't have to travel away to do that,
so also building a sense of community.
- We use the VR goggles to go
and check out the problems in the power station,
so we could be in a safe environment and not be in danger.
It was amazing because we actually got to go
and use the VR goggles
and that was the first time that I ever used them.
And it was actually really cool
because it looked like we were actually
in the power station, but we weren't.
So we were very safe away
from all the problems that were there.
And it was really fun trying to fix them
using the VR googles.
- Well, we coded the drones
to do different movements,
like a full turn and then a half turn,
and then move backwards and forwards
and then land on our platform and wait.
We did this so then we could learn how to use drones,
to keep an eye on the pipelines for any leaks.
Then we made a 3D plan that could help strengthen
the pipelines and reduce cracks and leaks.
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- So for the parent community here,
I think the STEM learning is absolutely essential.
But more than that, it's the kids are also bringing it home
and influencing parents on the way
of the future and opening those doors
to different ways of thinking
because of what they're learning is not what we learned.
And it's opening those conversations
which is just essential as we go into the next stage.
I think core to the skills that we want our kids
to have is problem solving.
We want them to be creative thinkers
and we want them to analyse, not just data
but analyse what's around them
and reform it and repurpose it.
I think those core skills that a lot of us as adults,
we haven't learnt that,
until we've gotten into different roles in our career.
Our kids are learning that as a foundational skill.
And it's very exciting that they're going
to have that opportunity that we didn't have.
- [Rose] How are you investing your school's Advancing
STEM funds to engage your learners?
How are you building teacher capability
across your school to transform STEM learning?
How are you noticing what's changing and measuring impact?
And what are the next steps in your school to ensure
that improve student outcomes in STEM are sustainable?
- School improvement takes time
and at Moranbah State school, we're in it for the long haul.
The success we've seen in our teachers
and the growth and independence we've seen
in our students really motivates us to continue.
Our plan is essential and we check
in regularly to keep us on track.
At Moranbah State school,
our partnerships have been so important to our success.
Consider your community, consider your context.
Maybe it's a farm in your area, the mine down the road
or just a business in town.
You just have to start the conversation somewhere.
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