STUDENTS at Koroit and District Primary School will not be the only beneficiary of some upskilling by grade 3-4 teacher Jodie Mackrell.
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It is hoped Ms Mackrell will pass on the skills she picks up from a five-day residential teacher professional learning program to other teachers at the school and around the region.
The course will be held in Canberra from January 7-12 and is part of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning model.
Ms Mackrell and Mel Vessey have been teaching STEM to students at the school. Each student has done STEM for one-hour blocks once a week, alternating weekly with the Kitchen Garden program.
Next year, the school plans to extend the STEM program to a one hour session each week for every class from foundation to grade six, every week of the school year. This will double the time students have access to STEM.
Ms Mackrell was one of 400 teachers across Australia who applied to attend the course in Canberra and was one of 70 chosen to do so.
She said she was keen to grow her skill set in the STEM area and pass on that knowledge.
“I am really excited about attending the STEM academy and learning more about it,” she said.
“When I come back I will be keen to share that knowledge, not only with the staff at our school but also with other teachers in the area.
“As a school, we want to be leaders in STEM and its delivery.”
Koroit and District Primary School principal Marina Milich said the education system was prioritising STEM teaching and learning.
“We are extremely fortunate to have been successful in our application to the STEM X academy,” Ms Milich said. “The work our teachers complete will provide us with the foundation for implementing a high quality STEM program at our school. We are very excited about providing an engaging program linked to real world situations.”
Ms Milich said the main purpose of STEM was the development of hands-on, enquiry-based lessons and activities which are adapted to best suit the classroom.
The STEM X academy is being funded in a partnership between the Australian Science Teachers Association, Questacon and CSIRO.
STEM was developed in the US in the early 2000s with an aim to make students more work-ready when they complete their studies and guard against a poorly prepared workforce.
From 2000 to 2010, the growth in jobs where STEM learning was seen as a major part of completing the required tasks in the US was at three times the rate of growth in non-STEM jobs.