2 August 2019

Nazareth College, Noble Park North, has been making connections with other schools, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and Literacy through its LitSTEM initiative.

Students and teachers from Resurrection School, Keysborough, St Elizabeth’s School, Dandenong North, St Gerard’s School, Dandenong North, St Joseph’s School, Springvale, St Justin’s School, Wheelers Hill, St Mark’s School, Dingley, and St Simon’s School, Rowville, have formed a collective with Nazareth College to not only explore STEM but the language around it.

Claire Nailon, English and Literacy Leader at Nazareth College, and Majella Shiel, Literacy Intervention Specialist at St Justin’s School, recently presented this innovative approach at the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA) Conference on the benefits to all students and teachers in the collective. ‘For teachers, we’ve been able to collaborate, plan and learn from each other’, said Claire. ‘It’s been great to discover how innovative primary schools are and how we can share our resources, professional learning and expertise with each other to create learning opportunities for our students.’

The schools have explored areas such as sustainability, robotics, art, health and medical technology. The benefits of this collaboration go beyond learning outcomes as they create meaningful relationships between all schools. ‘Our students get to be role models and leaders for the primary students they work with’, said Claire. ‘The primary students experience STEM in a secondary setting, meet students from other schools and get to see that secondary school is something to get excited about. As an English teacher, it’s also great for me to learn so much about STEM.’

The schools will meet for their next session next week for a workshop with Metech Acuator. No doubt they’ll create something amazing.