It has been a privilege to serve as President of our association for this year and I firstly thank all the Board, the STAWA staff and many other volunteers for their support for myself and the association during the last 12 months.
I believe that STAWA is now in a strong position to play an important role in the science education landscape of Western Australia, support and increase our membership base and to contribute to science education at a national level.
The following report is based around the four pillars of our strategic plan and the overall governance and management that guide our work towards our mission ofProviding leadership in science education: promoting and sustaining, quality science teaching and learning.
Leadership
This year, in addition to our representatives on Curriculum Advisory Committees (CACs) we have been asked to contribute to discussions and decisions around a range of issues, including the States STEM Skills Strategy, Pathways in Secondary Science, the WA Premier’s Science Awards and revisions to the WA Curriculum. In this last instance STAWA was extremely disappointed with SCSA’s initial contacts with STAWA, and the short timelines for teacher consultation. These issues were raised with the SCSA Curriculum team. After a series of meetings, we now have re-established a more significant ‘seat at the table’ and we hope to be more involved in supporting teachers with the implementation of the curriculum changes in our schools over the next two years.
Particularly though our work in preparing for CONASTA 72, to be hosted by STAWA in 2025, STAWA has established, re-established or strengthened links with a large range of stakeholders. These include Engineers Australia, the Department of Education, the Department of Jobs,
Tourism, Science and Innovation (JTSI), the Australian Academy of Science, The Royal Society (Australia), Scitech, LABNETWEST, The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI), and the WA Museum Boola Bardip to name a few. STAWA benefits from great brand recognition and respect in WA due to the work of our members and staff over many years and this has positive implications for current work with our stakeholders and partners. Lyn Beazley, our wonderful patron has also played a huge role in opening doors for us, and I would like to personally thank Lyn for her ongoing commitment to Science, STAWA, teachers and science technicians in WA.
We continue to recognise quality teachers around our State. I congratulate Annabel Kanakis for being chosen as the recipient of the De Laeter Medal, STAWA’s premier teaching award. Annabel, Nathan Curnow, and Larissa Waghorn were also finalists in the STEM Educator of the Year (Schools) category for the Premier’s Science Awards 2024.
Teacher Learning
STAWA continues to play a vital role in professional learning for teachers of science in this state, with regular network meetings for primary teachers organised by the Primary Committee led by Mady Colquhoun, the ever-popular Psychology Teachers Convention, led by Sarah Langley and her team, as well as the conference for Marine and Maritime teachers. This year STAWA has also provided workshops for Human Biology teachers based around our new print resources for the General Human Biology course.
This is in addition to our CONSTAWA conference, held again at Willetton Senior High School, again coordinated by Mady and again with increased numbers from the previous year. Future Science had its final conference of three years at ECU Joondalup, and this continues to be an important date in the science education calendar. As most of us are winding down to the end of the year, Future Science provides John Clarke, our CEO, with another work peak leading up to this event in early December each year. In 2024, this conference has now moved to UWA.
STAWA would like to be doing more in the professional learning space. Now that we have a fixed office and a newly appointed Events and Engagement Officer in Nedhi Vasu, we hope to increase what we can offer to our members and the wider science teaching community in the future. We are in the process of establishing a Physics committee and one of the roles for this group will be the identification of need and the development of professional learning for teachers of Physics, especially around the new SCSA physics syllabus. It is hoped that a similar group for Chemistry can also be initiated.
With any change of curriculum or syllabus there is an opportunity for STAWA to add to the professional learning opportunities available to teachers, and with the implementation of the revised WA P-10 Science curriculum from 2026 onwards there will opportunities for this in both primary and secondary science
In 2025, STAWA is hosting CONASTA 72 from July 7th – 10th at the Pan Pacific Hotel, and this will be an outstanding professional learning opportunity for teachers, and science technicians both in this state and from further afield. I encourage all STAWA members to save the date, plan how they can attend some or all the conference and encourage colleagues to do likewise.
Resourcing
STAWA has built both its reputation and its bank balance over the years with the provision of high quality, fit for purpose, resources for teachers. This year we have created resource books for Year 11 and Year 12 General Human Biology, a revised Year 11 Exploring Chemistry publication, with Year 12 being published towards the end of 2024, and revised versions of the Exploring Physics which will be ready for the implementation of this new syllabus. There are too many people involved in these projects to name them individually here, but the time, energy and professionalism shown has been amazing, and teachers are already benefitting from the use of these resources, most of which provide the only resource specifically written for teachers in WA schools.
Student engagement
Existing programs, including the Synergy Solar Car Challenge, annual Physics Day at Adventure World, and the Science Talent Search (STS) continue to offer students great opportunities to develop their science inquiry skills. I’d like to thank Anne Poustie who has done a wonderful job with the STS, and several winners from the STS were also entered for the ASTA I3 Awards.
This year also saw the second STEMXX Sisters science event hosted by Annabel Kanakis at Bunbury Catholic College. Girls from Year 5 to Year 9 from around the Southwest of the state had an amazing opportunity to engage with some outstanding female STEM professionals, as well as participate in workshops covering a wide range of science-based activities. We hope that this event continues to build next year, with the aim being to increase the involvement of more teachers of science as well as the students.
Governance and management
With the previous sale of our Cannington and Osborne Park properties, STAWA this year was in the position to seek a new fit for purpose office space whilst retaining funds available to use for projects and staffing. The purchase of the unit in Willetton has given us a base that we can use as offices for STAWA staff, a space suitable for meetings and enough space to meet short term storage needs. It should be noted that the process of the sales, moves and use of temporary offices has been extremely challenging for our staff and I commend John and Pamela for their professionalism and patience throughout this time.
One of the benefits of having more available funds is that we have now been able to recruit an Events and Engagement Officer to fill a much-needed role in our organisation. We have been very lucky to appoint Nedhi Vasu to this role and she has been able to provide a leading role in events such as Future Science and planning for CONASTA 72. Pamela Getalado, our Marketing & Communications Coordinator, continues to increase our visibility and outreach. This has helped us to improve and widen our membership base and increase awareness of STAWA activities within and outside our membership.
The challenge for all not-for-profit associations like ours is of course to maintain financial sustainability and we are in an environment where this is not easy. I believe that decisions of the
STAWA Board, and management of our projects by our CEO have enabled us to be in a position to be able to continue to deliver on these four key pillars now, and for many years to come.
Being a volunteer in this organisation can be challenging, but extremely rewarding. We are always seeking passionate and committed people to join us. This year we did not have anybody nominate as Secretary and this did increase workloads for others on the Board. So, for this coming year we are seeking nominations for a Secretary, as well as a President Elect. If you have been committed enough to read to the end of this report – maybe one of these roles would be perfect for you!
To finish, I repeat my thanks to the STAWA Board, to John our CEO and his staff, and to all who have contributed to STAWA over the last 12 months. The science teaching profession now, more than ever, needs the type of advocacy, resources, learning opportunities for teachers and students that we can provide. Teachers of science are a precious resource, and membership of STAWA is one way that they can be supported, often where support is lacking from elsewhere. Thank you for your commitment to our association and best wishes for the remainder of 2024 and beyond.
Geoff Quinton President Science Teachers’ Association of Western Australia
CEO’S REPORT
2024 and another move. We now have a new office and warehouse, Unit 17 Gympie Way Willetton. Though smaller than previous accommodation we remain centrally located with easy access from the north, south and east. The unit provides comfortable office workspace, a meeting/board room upstairs and some warehouse space out back. The many moves over the past few years have been disruptive and have impacted our efficiency.
Board and office operations are keenly focussed by the STAWA Strategic Plan.
Mission: Leadership in Science Education
Vision: Inspiring quality science teaching and learning
Four Strategic Pillars: The Work We Do -
Leadership Effective leadership and advocacy
Teacher Learning Excellence in professional learning
Resourcing Quality teaching and learning resources
Student Engagement Quality engagement and enrichment opportunities
Leadership
STAWA continues to provide effective leadership and advocacy. Members are represented on many bodies and participate in most science education-related projects, activities, and events. STAWA has School Curriculum and Standards Authority, Curriculum Advisory Committee members for the science subjects. Nathan Curnow has taken responsibility for this aspect of STAWA, see his report for details. Joanne Thompson is the STAWA board representative on Australian Earth Science Education, (formally ESWA). I continue to represent STAWA on the West Australian Coordinating Committee (WACC) to deliver National Science Week in WA under the Inspiring Australia program (https://www.inspiringwa.org.au/aboutwacc). STAWA receives invitations to the Premier’s Science Awards and various STEM education consultation groups. We have also consulted with various groups and respond to calls for feedback on curriculum and other issues.
The STAWA Primary Science Committee is a very proactive committee. They provide advocacy and a voice of support for the teaching of Science in primary schools. The Primary Science Teaching Assessment and Recording Tracker (START) is a great example of support offered by the Primary Science Committee. START supports teachers with assessment, recording and tracking of Science Inquiry Skills across Years 1-6. The team also provide implementation assistance to schools who purchase this tool. The Primary Committee also play a key supporting role in the on the day delivery of CONSTAWA. STAWA SPARKs! (Science Primary Activities, Resources, and Knowhow – sorted!) is a new publication of the STAWA Primary Science Committee and they have implemented new networking events, Coffee Catch-Ups and Open Lab visits. Mady Colquhoun provides further details in the Primary science report. Very impressive. I thank Mady, Chair of the Primary Committee, for her leadership and I thank all the committee members for their time and commitment.
The STAWA Psychology Teachers Committee is another very active committee. They provide advocacy and support for the teaching of Psychology in secondary schools, actively campaign for change and provide great input into the revision of the WA Psychology syllabus documents. The Psychology Committee develop and deliver the Psychology Teachers Convention workshop program, provide online PL for new teachers to the subject, provide mentoring for teachers new to teaching the course and develop resources to support the curriculum. The committee have made great use of Chrysalis, the Open Learning platform provided through ASTA to value add to the Convention and teacher PL. The committee have published Psychological Research, Theorists and Studies, and the e-book ATAR Psychology Teacher Survival Guide and are planning General Psychology resources. I thank Sarah Langley, Chair of the Psychology Committee and all the committee members for your leadership, time and commitment to the success of WA Psychology courses.
I take this opportunity to thank the President Geoff Quinton and all members of the STAWA Board: Cathie Donaldson, Mady Colquhoun, Geoff Lewis (Treasurer), David Wood, Sarah Langley, Joanne Thompson, Bailey Brown, Janene Sproul and Nathan Curnow (Secretary). I also take this opportunity to thank Lauren Pascoe and Life Member Lance Taylor, as they continue to provide time and assistance for the activities of STAWA Thanks also to Pamela Getalado, for her support and the work that she has done to help manage STAWA’s daily operations and to progress the association’s goals. My job as CEO has a diverse range of roles and responsibilities and is made even more productive and successful through the efforts and support of Executive and Board members, sub-committee members, Pamela, and volunteers.
Teacher Learning
Psychology delivered several online workshops for teachers, while Mady Colquhoun delivered PL events for Primary Science Specialists. Geoff Lewis and I again ran a Year 7-10 Physical Sciences program for the Department of Education, in the January 2024 school holidays. PL sessions have been well received.
CONSTAWA 2024 was again held at Willetton Senior High School in the term 1 holidays and a record number of primary and secondary teachers attended a very productive day. Future Science 2023 was hosted by Edith Cowan University on the Joondalup Campus - ECU’s third and final year of a three-year agreement. STAWA thanks ECU for the support provided to Future Science We look forward to 2nd December 2024 with our new host UWA
Resourcing
Quality teaching and learning resources have formed the foundation of STAWA’s financial success. We aim for teachers to identify our books as essential resources for their students.
2023 saw the introduction of new Year 11 General Human Biology resources and ATAR Chemistry Year 11 resources. New resources are spiral bound student workbooks. This year Annabel Kanakis and her team completed the second edition of the Year 12 General Human Biology book, which now matches the Syllabus to be implemented in 2025. New syllabus versions of ATAR Chemistry Year 12 and ATAR Physics Year 11 are due to be completed this year and ready for the 2025 school year. The ATAR Year 12 Physics books will be completed for publication in 2025. Please update this year’s booklists.
To constantly review our publications, we need member and teacher support and input, which can be as simple as sending in corrections.
Current Publications can be viewed in the STAWA Shop (https://www.stawa.net/conferences/future-science/) which is organised by subject.
Student Engagement
Quality engagement and enrichment opportunities offered by STAWA include Science Talent Search (STS), Physics Day @ Adventure World, and the Synergy Schools Solar Challenge.
STS continues to maintain its reputation amongst science teachers across the state as the premier science competition supporting and rewarding students in a range of categories: Science Research Investigations, Engineering Innovations, and Science Communication Skills. Anne Poustie has been managing the organisation of STS with administrative support from Pamela. We thank Anne for her enormous effort in this role and congratulate her on a wonderful awards presentation evening. Details of the 2023 competition are contained in the STS report.
The Physics Day @ Adventure World is open to Year 10, 11 and 12 students studying Physics and by request - Year 9 students. It is a great day for students and teachers alike. We have access to the full park and all open rides, with information and demonstration booths supported by WA Universities, Scitech, ICRAR and others. We consistently have over 1,000 students and teachers attend Physics Day and 2023 was no exception. Weather can be unpredictable but 2021, 2022, and 2023 have provided wonderful weather. Tickets include a return pass for students, so the kids basically get 2 tickets for the price of 1 entry fee.
The STAWA - Synergy partnership, Synergy Schools Solar Challenge (SSSC), continued with events during Term 1, 2024. We delivered five regional events, Bunbury, Collie, Albany, Kalgoorlie, and Geraldton along with north and south metro events and a grand finale at Murdoch University. SSSC will be run again in 2025. Register your interest now to avoid missing out as metro numbers will be restricted: https://www.solarchallenge.net.au/
Stay connected and encourage other science teachers to connect with STAWA. Our current communication channels include:
In conclusion, please encourage your colleagues, particularly early career teachers, to take up STAWA membership. I also urge you to actively contribute to our goals, and to let us know your ideas about how STAWA can serve you and other members and grow in the future. Please contact me if you have ideas or wish to develop courses for the Open Learning platform.
John Clarke CEO
COMMITTEE REPORTS
PRIMARY SCIENCE COMMITTEE
Sincere thanks to our wonderful committee who once again have dedicated many of their out of school hours to supporting primary science education in WA schools.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
• Chair: Mady Colquhoun
• Nat Birrell
• Pamela Lumsden
• Cathie Donaldson
• Charu Sharma
• Sue Doncon
• Taneal Thompson
• Kaye Henning (welcomed as a new member in June)
• Julieanne Adams (welcomed as a new member in July)
We have a wealth of experience and loads of enthusiasm!
NETWORKING EVENTS
COFFEE CATCH-UPS
We had a fabulous Coffee Catch-Up in our new STAWA premises in Willetton in March with many new attendees. So much discussion about the joys and challenges of teaching primary science!
We also met at Cockburn San Churro’s at the end of Term 2 for a very worthwhile chat after the intensity of reports. Our term 3 event was at the Last Local for a change of venue. All are welcome to these events – not just STAWA members. Please encourage friends and colleagues to join us. There is no formal agenda – just a chance to network and share ideas.
We are still keen to operate these events north of the river too - Coffee Catch-Ups just needs someone to set a venue, time and date about a month before the event and liaise with Pamela (our wonderful Marketing and Communications Coordinator) to promote it. Are
you interested in taking on this small role or perhaps you and a friend could do this? Please email primaryscience@stawa.net if you are willing to help.
OPEN LAB AFTERNOON
Teachers really appreciate the chance to visit other primary science laboratories to network, see how others set up their space and to learn about resources and teaching points.
This year we have had Open Labs at
✓ South Lake Primary School (- thank you Robyn Matthews)
✓ Riva Primary School (thank you Charu)
✓ Lakelands Primary School Mandurah (- thank you Agnes Theodosiou)
We have potential Open Lab events in Port Hedland, Mundaring and again in Mandurah at the time of writing this report – how exciting! Our aim is to have at least 1 event each term in the metro area and hopefully start to have events in the regions. Can you help?
Primary science specialists teach in isolation most of the time and have NO laboratory assistance. Some science rooms are common areas in a block of classrooms with little or no storage space and other school activities (e.g. small group work) needing to use the space too. Many are teaching in converted rooms – with a wide range of facilities. Some specialists walk from room to room carrying all their gear for the day on a trolley. These Open Lab opportunities are vital to connect primary science specialists for support.
We need volunteers to let us know the time and date you would like to host an Open Lab and we will do the rest. Nothing special is required - not even cleaning up at the end of the day - a messy lab is reality! Please email primaryscience@stawa.net if you would like to offer your lab for a visit.
SCSA PROPOSED CURRICULUM REVIEW
While the SCSA review was untimely due to being released for comments during report time, the committee devoted our June meeting to provide considered feedback on the proposed changes. We spent an intense couple of hours looking mainly at the Science Understandings and gave a lot of feedback on that version.
Other STAWA Primary Committee members attended workshops hosted by SCSA to give feedback. Charu Sharma and I also attended a final review with 2 secondary STAWA teachers to provide further feedback.
We have engaged with SCSA for this process and look forward to being involved with other SCSA opportunities. The final version should be released later in 2024 or early 2025.
SCIOS PRIMARY
This year we have developed a new format for SCIOS – see the SCIOS AGM report. SCIOS Primary only has articles and promotions targeted at primary teachers. The initial feedback is positive as this is a much smaller magazine to view – with 1 or 2 articles of interest plus promotions relevant to primary science teachers. However, we need you to read it to make it worthwhile! We are also in need of teachers to submit short (or any length) articles to keep it relevant and current. Again – please send a message primaryscience@stawa.net asking for the type of articles you would like to see or even offering to write something. ‘Short and sweet’ with photos is fine!
CONSTAWA 2025
We had an amazing primary science teacher turnout at CONSTAWA in April – it was wonderful to see so many first-time attendees as well as the regulars!
Did you know that the primary committee does a lot of work to help set up the conference? We are part of the team to ‘stuff’ the showbags the week before (not a particularly exciting task but we make it fun!) and then we help to set up the conference gear the day before the conference as well as help clear up at the end.
Our committee members set up registration, signs around the school, meet and greet in the morning, prepare for the sundowner and if you remember the cute dinosaur and other animals – there were primary committee members in there too! Plus, we tackle other tasks as needed on the day. We are a versatile and enthusiastic group!
CONSTAWA will be in recess next year as Perth will host CONASTA 2025 – the National Science conference. We are well underway planning for CONASTA and there will be plenty of primary workshops for you to engage with. We will also be calling for some general help prior to the conference – with around 300 – 400 teachers attending there is a lot to do!
The primary committee will be supporting CONASTA by developing the primary program and tackling lots of other tasks. We will need extra help for sure – so please consider volunteering when call outs are made closer to the event.
Perhaps you might like to give a workshop? Remember they are primary science teachers just like you and they will be attending to find out how other teachers do things. You are just as ‘qualified’ as anyone else to present a workshop. We hope that we will have a fabulous contingent of Western Australian primary science teachers for the conference and it is during the holidays - of course- to enable teachers from all states to join us. Save the Date – 7 – 10 July 2025.
Imagine how much professional learning you could access. The program will be released early 2025 so put some $$$ aside in the school science budget now.
If you would like to know any more about CONASTA as a first-time attendee or perhaps how you can contribute please email primaryscience@stawa.net to organise a chat.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
This calendar is for STAWA events and free/NFP science related school and community events to be promoted. We try to keep it updated monthly to ensure current information. It is on the website and if you know of any events or promotions which could be added – please email admin@stawa.net for inclusion. Please check first to see if the event is already on the calendar.
Mady Colquhoun Chair - Primary Science Committee
PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS COMMITTEE
The purpose of the Psychology Teachers Committee is to provide support and resources to the STAWA council and teachers of Psychology in schools across Western Australia.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
• Chair: Sarah Langley
• Jaimi Fittall
• Alysia Gustafsson
• Carla Brew
• Jenna Wright
Psychology Teachers Convention
The Psychology Teachers 2023 Convention was a tremendous success with 107 attendees including 8 online. The focus was purely on the Year 12 syllabus in particular Unit 4. Colette Ballantyne (SCSA Psychology curriculum advisor) provided a detailed overview of the new Year 12 syllabus and answered a range of questions around the changes. We then had three keynote speakers from UWA focusing on the topic areas of ‘sleep’, ‘wellbeing’ and ‘motivation’, who provided informative and detailed presentations on these new syllabus areas. They also provided a range of resources that teachers can use in the classroom. Following lunch, we spent time writing assessments and resources with a focus on the Unit 4 Year 12 syllabus. The feedback from the day was incredibly positive with many teachers thankful for support and clarity around Unit 4.
UWAOnlinePD
Participants continue to complete the online PD, and this will continue to be a useful resource over the future years.
Chrysalis platform
We have recorded our online sessions for new teachers to ATAR and General Psychology and put these recordings and any supporting resources on the Chrysalis platform. We held a Q&A General online feedback session mid-year and although this had limited attendance on the night, there has been a number of people who have signed up to the Chrysalis platform to complete the PL retrospectively. We have added the recordings of all online PL to the Chrysalis platform, including the 2023 convention which allows teachers to access this at a later date if they were unable to attend. A small fee is charged to access these online PL sessions and certificates are provided by the system at the completion of each course.
Mentoring Program
A mentoring program had been established to facilitate the growth and development of new teachers across the state. A pilot program was launched in January 2021 and was a
resounding success. The program slowed in the early part of 2022 and struggled to get off the ground in 2023. Semester One saw 3 teachers take up the mentoring program but there was no uptake in Semester 2. At the start of 2024 there were a handful of teachers who wanted mentoring support and an online ‘Teams’ group was established for them to ask questions and seek guidance. There is a hope that with the online Chrysalis platform, the mentoring program can move online in the form of instructional videos targeted at certain areas e.g., assessment writing, so that teachers can focus on a specific area of need.
Communications
At this stage, most communication to Psychology Teachers has been through the WA Psychology Teachers Facebook page. In 2021, we launched a STAWA Psychology group, but this has not been utilised in the way we initially hoped/planned, and it was closed. The continued main method to communicate with psychology teachers remains the established Facebook page.
Summary
The Committee has had a great deal of success in the past year through the Convention, and by supporting teachers to implement the new Psychology syllabus.
I want to thank the members of the Psychology Teachers Committee for their hard work and continued support across the past year. It has been a more settled year, and the committee have continued to persist in delivering unwavering support and expertise to myself and teachers across the state. I would also like to thank the STAWA Board and STAWA staff, particularly John Clarke, Pamela Getalado and Nedi Vasu as well as UWA (Nic Badcock and Donna Bayliss) for all the guidance and assistance provided across the past year.
Sarah Langley Chair - Psychology Teachers Committee
SCSA COURSE ADVISORY COMMITTEES
STAWA currently has representation on the following Course Advisory Committees:
Early and Middle Adolescence
Years 7–10
Late Adolescence/Early Adulthood
Agribusiness
Agricultural Science + Technology
Aviation
Biology
Chemistry
Earth and Environmental Science
Human Biology
Science in Practice/Integrated Science
Marine & Maritime Studies
Physics
Psychology
DETAILED REPORTS
Year 7-10 Science Course Advisory Committee
Stacey Fairhead
Representative for 2023 - 2024
Stacey Fairhead
No current representative
No current representative
No current representative
Mya Skirving
No current representative
Joanne Thompson
Anne Poustie
Gemma Haddleton
Rachel Cook
Fiona Kerrell-Vaughan
Sarah Langley
We have had numerous meetings over the course of the year, both online and in person. Work on the Year 7-10 Science Curriculum continued, and it will be published for familiarisation in 2025 and implementation in 2026. The 7-10 panel members have a range of subject specialities, including biology, chemistry and physics; which was hugely beneficial in trying to appropriately map the content in logical sequence.
Key themes which came from the meetings included, discussion on the most logical and appropriate order of teaching the science understanding content, how to integrate the previous SHE statements in an authentic way and need for teacher support to ensure clarity on the depth of the statements.
Nathan Curnow and I, on behalf of STAWA as a key science education stakeholder, met with SCSA regarding the proposed changes to 7 - 10. Though this was late in the process, we were well received.
Now that public consultation has closed and much of the review has been complete, it is hoped that SCSA release the changes as soon as possible in the new year to ensure schools have adequate time to prepare. As always, a key concern regarding the new
syllabus is the lack of guidelines for inexperienced and out of field teachers. With the current teaching shortage, particularly those from a physical science background, there is a risk that the new syllabus will not be implemented in some schools the way it is intended. The provision of support for teachers in this category is necessary to help ensure the best possible outcomes.
Biology Course Advisory Committee
Mya Skirving
Feedback from meetings:
1. The moderation report was briefly discussed- including: The minor changes to the Year 11 and 12 ATAR Biology syllabuses that were notified in 11 to 12 Circulars in 2022. The syllabus delivery audit conducted for 133 schools offering the Year 12 Biology ATAR course: 66 schools met all criteria for the course outlines out of 133 audited. 4 schools out of 133 met criteria for assessment Outline.
2. Numbers dropped from 2021 to 2022 but rose again in 2023 in Year 12 ATAR Biology. I would like further discussion as to what could help boost numbers again and will raise this at the next meeting.
3. We were encouraged to read the proposed achievement standards and changes for the incoming WA Curriculum.
4. I read and consulted on the Pathways to Post School Success document, including a comprehensive survey.
Human Biology Course Advisory Committee
Anne Poustie
The Human Biology Curriculum Advisory Committee began its three-year term by reviewing the 2023 Human Biology ATAR Examination alongside the Chief Examiner’s report. The 2023 exam saw 3680 candidates, achieving a mean score of 59.97%. The exam scores ranged from 0% to a maximum of 88.96%. During this review, committee members raised concerns about the marking key, particularly regarding perceived inconsistencies and errors, which were tabled for our second meeting of the year for further discussion.
We also discussed the rollout of the new Year 11 General Human Biology syllabus, which is being delivered for the first time in 2024. Currently, 134 schools are offering the Year 11 General Human Biology course, and sample Externally Set Tasks (EST) and support materials are now available on the authority's website. The Year 12 General Human Biology course will be implemented in 2025.
In our second meeting, we talked about the ATAR examination in detail, focusing on refining the parameters of the Human Biology ATAR examination. We worked on feedback to the Authority Examination Development Team with the aim of improving the consistency of the marking key.
During the same meeting, we also addressed the Year 11 and 12 Human Biology ATAR syllabus. Recognising that a comprehensive syllabus review may occur within the committee's term. The group expressed its desire to begin the process early. By doing so, we can ensure that the necessary time and attention are allocated to producing an updated syllabus that meets the needs of future cohorts.
The committee remains committed to advising on key developments in the curriculum and examination processes, ensuring that high standards of Human Biology education are maintained across Western Australia.
Integrated Science Course Advisory Committee
Gemma Haddleton
Since the last reporting period the Integrated Science CAC met on the 20th March 2024. The following items were discussed:
- The Chief Examiner presented the Year 12 ATAR Integrated Science examination report.
- 2023 Moderation report was accepted by the committee.
- Syllabus review process update was given (discussed further below)
- 2025 EST content was selected.
Major points from the meeting:
- New Science course syllabus in Year 12 that will be examined for the first time 2024 – Psychology, revised courses; Engineering Studies (Year 11), General Human Biology (Year 11), new courses; Agricultural Science and Technology ATAR (Year 11), Science in Practice General (Year 11).
- WACE refreshment – updates will be provided as the year progresses.
- The Year 11 and 12 General Science in Practice syllabus review: The new Year 11 General Science in Practice course is being delivered this year for the first time. There are currently 85 schools delivering Year 11 General Science in Practice in 2024. Support materials have been developed for the new Year 11 General Science in Practice Syllabus. Additional Authority-approved units are being developed.
- Year 12 General Science in Practice Course will commence in 2025. Assessment workshops and unit approval process seminars for the new course will be held in Semester 2
- Two sample EST’s have been published on the General Science in Practice course page.
- WA has commenced adopting and adapting the Australian Curriculum V9 within the WA curriculum and assessment outline.
- Pre-primary – Year 10 English and Health and Physical Education are the first two learning areas within the outline to be revised with implementation in 2025.
- During 2024 the authority will continue to adapt Humanities and Social Science, Mathematics, Science and Technologies curriculums to WA context, working with the Curriculum Advisory Committees.
- Public consultation will occur in Term 2 – May. The Authority plans to have the revised Science curriculum available for familiarisation in 2025 and implementation in 2026.
Physics Course Advisory Committee
Fiona Kerrell-Vaughan
The Physics CAC met on Wednesday, 13 March 2024 in a combined Webex/face-to-face meeting.
At this time, the proposed syllabus changes for Year 11 and 12 ATAR Physics were being considered by school Principals and awaiting majority endorsement. This has now been received and the revised Syllabus for Year 11 (from 2025) and Year 12 (from 2026) are available on the SCSA website.
Of note are the changes to Assessment requirements for summative assessments to:
• be limited in number to no more than eight tasks,
• allow for the assessment of each assessment type at least once over the year/pair of units, and
• have a minimum value of five per cent of the total school assessment mark.
• and the inclusion of a science inquiry portfolio for each Unit, with the purpose of gathering a body of experimental work to assess the Science Inquiry Skills of students.
Other agenda items included:
1. an overview from the Principal Consultant, Examination Development, of the 2023 Physics Examination report which is now available on the SCSA website at Years 11 and 12 | Physics (scsa.wa.edu.au).
It was noted that the number of candidates who sat the examination decreased slightly, continuing a trend of falling candidature over the past few years. The mean score was 61.20%, up from 58.22% in 2022.
The consensus of the committee was that the paper was a fair representation of the syllabus with an appropriate level of difficulty.
2. The 2023 Moderation Report was tabled by the Executive Officer outlining the moderation processes conducted by the Authority in 2023 to ensure comparability between schools. This was accepted by the committee.
3. As no students are enrolled in Year 12 General Physics for 2024, the EST developed for use in 2022 will remain in quarantine for use in 2025, if required.
SCSA is now in the process of developing support materials for the new Year 11 course, including sample assessments. In addition, assessment seminars will be scheduled for teachers to clarify changes to assessments and provide guidelines/support. CAC members will be involved as required.
Psychology Course Advisory Committee
Sarah Langley
The psychology CAC has met twice this year. We discussed the 2023 psychology exam and made minor changes to the Year11 Psychology syllabus. The question of re-writing the Psychology General syllabus has been raised.
Earth and Environmental Science CAC
Joanne Thompson
The CAC met in March 2024 to review the 2023 ATAR exam results and choose the topic for the next EST. Results show a general trend downward, with the Chief Examiner's Report providing a good discussion of the trends and range of student results. The EES ATAR course will continue to be offered in 2025, but the EES General Course will be withdrawn from offerings following a SCSA audit, with the suggestion being that students will access similar learning in the Science in Practice General Course.
CONSTAWA 2024
Over 150 dedicated primary and secondary Science teachers attended CONSTAWA in April at Willetton SHS! What a testament to the strength of professional learning and curiosity that happens at a local conference. It was also encouraging for STAWA to have the largest contingent of pre-service teachers for recent CONSTAWA events.
We started the day with an informative and sometimes confronting keynote by Dr Anthony Santoro on the plight of the snake-necked turtle in the metropolitan area. This species is struggling due to urbanisation pressures as well as the effects of a drying climate and there were definitely some ‘catch your breath’ moments when the fate of individual turtles and data showing the decline of the species overall, were shown.
As with all programs there are positives that can be done to improve survival of a species, and this is the focus of the research at Murdoch University. There is also a large Citizen Science component to engage the public with the monitoring and rescue of these animals in a timely manner. Please check out this program if you are keen to know more or would like to be involved. If you have these turtles near your school, then perhaps your students could be involved with the Citizen Scientist program?
Anthony proved to be an engaging speaker and had plenty of interested teachers asking questions after his presentation.
Workshops were varied - some connecting with the theme (Species Survival – more than just sustainability), with others tackling various aspects of science teaching. Notable were the number of workshops looking at ways to engage students or improve teaching methodology and the many sessions which covered both primary and secondary levels.
Once again, the students in the Willetton Catering Group demonstrated their culinary skills and provided us with wonderful food – from the warm cookies to delicious lunch options. To cater for the special dietary needs this year we engaged a specialist caterer
and the feedback from this was positive. The students are keen and proficient and can cater for regular diets and vegetarian but not specific health requirements, so this took the pressure off them.
We had fun with the floating shark (it was supposed to swim round but could not be made to perform despite the combined efforts of Larissa, Cathie, and Josh!) and the resurrection of some extinct dinosaurs as well as a couple of other animals. Thanks to Larissa Waghorn and Cathie Donaldson who provided the animal suits and to the primary committee members who were willing to don them for a bit of fun!
The sundowner was relaxing with a great turn out and lots of wonderful prizes donated by our generous exhibitors.
The online evaluation (post CONSTAWA) was a valuable source of information and overall, the conference received very high praise. As always there were some minor hiccups, and these will be reviewed for the next CONSTAWA in 2026 to avoid the same issues. Thanks to all who took the time to give feedback.
Discounts for helpers and presenters were well utilised this year. We cannot run CONSTAWA without your support and are delighted to provide you with a bit of STAWA ‘thanks’ when enrolling!
Exhibitors are a valuable part of our conference both to update experienced teachers on the latest resources and encourage newer teachers or first-time attendees to explore new options. We appreciate the support from regular exhibitors and welcome newer supporters.
As always, the practical help received to prepare and set up for CONSTAWA is greatly appreciated.
CONSTAWA Working Group
Nat Birrell (primary science representative) and Josh Vardy (secondary science representative) who were both new to the working group this year, provided very practical ideas and support – thank you. Josh also took on the role of Keynote Liaison and performed his duties brilliantly. Both assisted at registration and with all the other preparation duties at WSHS. Thank you!
Geoff Quinton again liaised with all the exhibitors while carrying out a multitude of other STAWA roles (including President). I do not know how he fits everything in – thank you! (Roll on CONASTA)
Lance Taylor is the HOLA at WSHS Science department and liaises with the school, the catering group, the open area set-up for trades and food service, as well as organising all the presenter info and room allocation, ensuring the whole event runs smoothly. Lance puts so many hours into the event and walks/sprints so many kilometres on the day - thank you.
Behind the scenes - the Primary Committee assists in many practical ways with filling showbags, setting up the registration area the day before and helping to pack away after the event. Two committee members also assisted with developing the primary program. You are all immensely appreciated.
Other STAWA members assisted with the showbag preparation, setting up at the school, greeting members at registration, being available at the STAWA desk and many other tasks during the day – my sincere thanks to you all. This includes:
• Marilyn Miles (LABNETWEST) who also assists Lab technicians at CONSTAWA.
• Janene Sproul (Murdoch University) who also provided valuable support for preservice teachers.
• Nathan Curnow (John Curtin College of the Arts) who helped at registration for secondary teachers.
(Please forgive me if I have left anyone out – sometimes people just turn up and offer support on the day!)
Pamela (our wonderful Marketing and Communications Coordinator) and John (STAWA CEO) do all the ‘other’ things including online programs and registration, being on the STAWA table all day, liaising with exhibitors etc. Too many things to mention – but thank you both sincerely.
As members will know CONSTAWA will take a break in 2025 as STAWA will host the CONASTA National Conference in Perth.
Save the date, 7th – 10th July 2025, and request funds be put aside in your science budget now. It is going to be an amazing professional learning opportunity and if you have never been to CONASTA before then CONASTA 72 in Perth, 2025, is going to be a great opportunity for you to experience a much bigger and more diverse conference – with excursions! See you there.
Mady Colquhoun Convenor, CONSTAWA Working Group
NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK
National Science Week for 2024 had the theme; Species Survival – More Than Just Sustainability. Western Australia received 56 applications for grants this year, with only NSW and VIC states receiving more requests. This meant that WA was fortunate to receive the third top amount of the funding Australia wide, with up to $18,700 being allocated for distribution to our state’s successful grant schools. It is encouraging to see these numbers, and the more applications that we have, the more chance we will have an increase in funding in future years based on the distributed amounts.
38 Schools from WA were successful in their request for grant money, with schools increasing their focus on STEM, which is part of the selection criteria. Schools that were looking for funding that would assist their ongoing STEM programs were strongly considered, rather than just consumables, as were schools that had wider community involvement.
Many of the wonderful ideas focussing on the theme, Species Survival, had great links to the native flora and fauna of the school’s area, with some schools opting to create frog ponds, bee hotels, or growing native seedlings. These are all wonderful ideas that contribute to the long-term sustainability projects that the school can continue to use over many years. Science fairs and other family events are still as popular as ever in the requests for grants for Science Week.
Schools that were successful were then required to send an invoice, register their event on the National science Science Week website, run the events, complete feedback, and send images of their events.
The 2025 School Theme: Decoding the Universe – Exploring the unknown with nature's hidden language and aims to “empower educators to inspire and engage students by exploring the mathematics and quantum science that underpin both the natural world and the modern technologies we use every day, from photosynthesis to satellite navigation” (ASTA, 2024).
Congratulations to all the successful recipients of the National Science Week grant for schools in 2024 and I look forward to reading your intriguing application in 2025!
Lauren Pascoe National Science Week Representative for STAWA
SCIENCE TALENT SEARCH
The Science Talent Search (STS) presents awards to finalists in October each year. As the competition is completed after the STAWA AGM, the STS report will centre on the previous year’s competition.
Students from 25 schools from around WA participated in the 65th Science Talent Search competition, including schools from Albany, Kalgoorlie, and Karratha. Students from participating schools worked on projects as part of their science lessons, extension classes, science clubs, or at home, with the best entries being selected for submission into the competition. This year 222 entries from 445 students were submitted for judging into one of the three entry categories.
The number of entries has seen a significant decline since 2020 due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The disruption caused by the pandemic has continued to affect participation levels, and we are still experiencing these effects today. This year, only 25 schools participated in the competition, resulting in a serious reduction in the number of entries. The decline in engagement highlights the need for renewed efforts to promote the Science Talent Search and support schools in facilitating student involvement. Our focus moving forward will be on outreach and providing resources to encourage higher participation rates in future competitions.
In 2023, all entries, except for the K-2 Science Investigation, Science Communication Poster entries, and K-12 Science Communication Photography, were submitted and judged online. This shift to online submissions and judging enabled participation from teachers in regional and remote schools in the STS judging process. Based on positive feedback from schools and judges, the practice of online submissions and judging will continue in the future.
Table 1: Historical Data of the Number of entries in each STS category
Table 2: Historical Data of the
The presentation ceremony was held on Monday 23 October at Scitech. Parents, teachers, and students plus special guests attended the primary and/or secondary presentation ceremony and took the opportunity to experience the Scitech exhibits during the evening. Major sponsor Reg Rowe (Rowe Scientific Pty Ltd) attended, and Geoff Quinton also assisted with prize presentations during the presentation ceremonies.
Sponsorship was again made available from Rowe Scientific Pty Ltd, STAWA and Science Talent Search to boost student interest and participation in state and territory competitions. These funds are used for student and school prizes, and administration of the competition.
In 2023 prizes totalling $12,055 were awarded to students and schools. Prizes were awarded to finalists in each entry category age division, as well as special student and school prizes. A list of prize winners can be found at the end of this report.
The top finalists in the for Years 5 -10 in the Engineering and Investigation categories were invited to enter the National i3 Awards Program. This program is a collaboration between all members of the ASTA Federation, comprising each state and territory’s Science Teachers Association and the ASTA Secretariat. Each STA could nominate 8 entries for the i3 Awards. It was requested that each STA select their 8 finalists across the 4 age bands (Year 5/6, 7/8, 9/10, and 11/12). STA’s The associations were encouraged to find a pair of students from each of the age bands that can be either from either category - science investigation or engineering. Of the 8 Western Australian finalists invited to enter, 6 projects were entered in the i3 Award program. The Grand Award for the ASTA Inquiry category was awarded to the Willetton Senior High School entry ‘Can magnetic iron nanoparticles really save the world?’ A complete list of the i3 Award Program entries can be found at the end of this report.
The top 8 finalists in Years 9 -12 Engineering and Investigation categories were also invited to enter the Australian Science and Engineering Fair (AUSSEF). STAWA nominated 5 Investigation entries and 3 Engineering entries. Unfortunately, there were no Western Australian finalists selected in 2023.
The STS Committee would like to thank Pamela Getalado and John Clarke from the STAWA office for all the support they provided for the competition. We also thank the judges and teachers who participated in the competition.
I would also like to thank the 2023 sponsors, Rowe Scientific Pty Ltd, ASTA, STAWA and Scitech.
Anne Poustie
STAWA Science Talent Search Chair – 2024
2023 SCIENCE TALENT SEARCH PRIZE WINNERS
Special Awards
(Total prize pool = $6,050)
STAWA Young Scientist – sponsored by Rowe Scientific Pty Ltd & STAWA
Prize Entrant/s Entry title School
Primary Winner ($500) Chloe Calter Parachuting Booragoon Primary School
Secondary Winner ($1000) Vanessa Long The Green Umbrella Dryer Carmel Schol
STAWA Young Communicator of the Year – sponsored by Rowe Scientific Pty Ltd & STAWA
Prize Entrant/s Entry title School
Primary Winner ($500)
Ollie Vodeb, Seth Shelke, Marsden Ranui and Elliot Roodt
Secondary Winner ($500) Danny Melville
Heat Energy Heroes O’Connor Primary School (Kalgoorlie)
Aussie Introduced Species and Our Impact: Wildlife in Urban WA John Curtin College of the Arts
Rowe Scientific Emerging Talent Award – sponsored by Rowe Scientific Pty Ltd Prize Entrant/s Entry title School
Primary
Winner ($150)
Thivain Koralage
Secondary Winner ($150) Ariel Berman
Secondary Winner ($450)
Abigail Lee, Sheandra Perera and Asma Muddassar
Electricity Consumption in my School over a Year
North Harrisdale Primary School
Peat Preservation for More Sustainable Human Burials Carmel School
Emergency Corflute Shelter
Willetton Senior High School
Rowe Scientific Encouragement Award – sponsored by Rowe Scientific Pty Ltd Prize Entrant/s Entry title
Mackenzie Grace Swarbrick and Yana Liu Bhatt
$50 per student
Billy Aitchisch, Oscar Karajic & Moksh Parikh
Maddison Steicke, Lily Robertson and Caitlyn Rystenberg
Category Prizes
(Total prize pool = $7,180)
The Impact of Prior Notice on Student Performance and Stress Levels
Comparison of the formants of vowel sounds used in the Perth region with the general Australian accent
The effect of abiotic factors on Black Bream spawning, age structure and abundance in Oyster Harbour
School
Willetton Senior High School
Willetton Senior High School
Albany Senior High School
Category: Science Investigation – sponsored by Rowe Scientific Pty Ltd
Age division Prize Entrant/s Entry title
K-2 Finalist ($60)
K-2 Finalist ($60)
Ethan Milton, Harleen Kaur and Scarlett Barker
Aarav Vinod, Lyla Kim and Manuka Senanayake
Growing science
Science with spring onions
School
Piara Waters Primary School
Piara Waters Primary School
K-2
Year 3-4
Year 3-4
Finalist ($60)
Finalist ($50)
Finalist ($50)
Year 3-4
Year 5-6
Year 5-6
Finalist ($50)
Finalist ($50)
Finalist ($60)
Billie Tan, Danyl Hose and Max Munster
Eason Luo
The Racing Liquids
The Strongest Plant
Emerson Taylor and Stella Smith Clean Dogs
Chloe Calter Parachuting
Kohan Deepak and Willian Higham
Which type of apple will brown the fastest and how to reduce this
Deon Hosem Delfin Tojo and Kevin Thomas Teeth Whitening
Piara Waters Primary School
Booragoon Primary School
Booragoon Primary School
Booragoon Primary School
Wattle Grove Primary School
Wattle Grove Primary School
Year 7-8
1st prize ($200)
Year 7-8
2nd prize ($160)
Year 7-8
3rd prize ($105)
Sameeha Zaman and Advaitaa Koteswaran
Kobie Holland and Heather Webb
Rastin Karambakhsh, Jhanani Rajasekaran and Ravleen Kaur
Electrolyte Challenge: Natural Fruit Juice vs Sports Drinks
What Shoe materials are actually lab safe?
Measuring the lifting force of three electromagnets as we vary the number of copper wire turns
Willetton Senior High School
Thornlie Senior High School
Willetton Senior High School
Year 910
Year 910
Year 910
1st prize ($260)
2nd prize ($200)
3rd prize ($150)
Sivendra Anbananthan, Muhammad Al-Rafi and Jasper Steele
Tejas Deda and Jasper Rabjohns
Can magnetic iron nanoparticles really save the world?
The effect of swing on a cricket ball when different substances are applied
Ione Villasias and Emily Yap How much is too much
Willetton Senior High School
Lesmurdie Senior High School
Willetton Senior High School
Category: Engineering – sponsored by Rowe Scientific Pty Ltd
Age division
Year 5-6
Year 5-6
Year 5-6
Year 7-8
Year 7-8
Prize Entrant/s
Finalist ($50)
Finalist ($50)
Finalist ($50)
1st prize ($200)
2nd prize ($150)
Year 7-8
Year 9-10
Year 9-10
Year 9-10
3rd prize ($105)
1st prize ($250)
2nd prize ($200)
3rd prize ($150)
Ethan Bellegarde and Cadyn Bellegarde
Jayden Luo and Aaron Webb
Mena Jonientz and Laura Gratton
Vanessa Long
Abigail Lee, Sheandra Perera and Asma Muddassar
Caitlyn Gittos, Kapri Western and Katie Donaldson
Hannah Schwarz, Bella Phillips and Rachel Benjamin
Eliora King and Maya Fenning
Dan Mowszowski, Ben Wald and Matthew Reubenson
Entry title School
The Page Turner Booragoon Primary School
The Belt Clip Booragoon Primary School
Multi-brush Booragoon Primary School
The Green Umbrella Dryer Carmel School
Emergency Corflute Shelter Willetton Senior High School
Duck feeder Thornlie Senior High School
The Perfect Pen Carmel School
Nasal Block Carmel School
Food Scrap Technology Carmel School
Category: Science Communication – Science Poster
Age division
Year K-2
Year K-2
Year K-2
Year K-2
Prize
Finalist ($50)
Serah Vinod, Riley Fulton and Sam Sanal Push and Pull Piara Waters Primary School
Finalist ($50) Chloe Liu Gravity Helps! North Harrisdale Primary School
Finalist ($50)
Finalist ($50)
Harrison Foley Gears
Paige Boothman
St. Thomas Catholic Primary School
How AI can help us farm smart Woodlands Primary School
Category: Science Communication – Science Video
Age division Prize Entrant/s
Year K-2
Finalist ($50)
Year K-2
Year K-2
Year 3-4
Finalist ($80)
Finalist ($80)
Finalist ($80)
Year 3-4
Axel Taylor, Lawrence Cobb and Daniel Spanoghe
Annabelle Wilson, Tilly Eldridge, Amber Weatherley and Harper Lawrence
Ollie Vodeb, Seth Shelke, Marsdan Ranui and Elliot Roodt
Jordann Soh, Emily Chan, Eva McCurrach and Esther Goh
Finalist ($50) Xavi Taylor
Year 3-4
Year 5-6
Year 5-6
Finalist ($80)
Finalist ($60)
Finalist ($80)
Bryce Murakami, Jasper Zhu, Jayden Chen and William Suddese
Saksham Ranjan, Lucas Wang and Iain Lim
Chloe Choi, Claire Thompson, Nahla SySiong and Arya Hogg
Entry title
School
What is water made of? All Saints' College
The Push Pull Patrol
O'Connor Primary School (Kalgoorlie)
Heat Energy Heroes
O'Connor Primary School (Kalgoorlie)
Forces and Rube Goldberg Machines All Saints' College
Air Resistance What is it? All Saints' College
Simple Machines and Rube Goldberg
How do Wind Turbines Create Electricity?
All Saints' College
Parkwood Primary School
Breaking News! Have we discovered immortality?! Parkwood Primary School
Year 5-6
Finalist ($50)
John Bell and Zihan Wang
The Craziness of Convection! Parkwood Primary School
Year 7-8
1st prize ($200) Jessica Steinmann Why do we dream?
John Curtin College of the Arts
Year 7-8
Year 7-8
2nd prize ($150)
Ishka Hardy and Annabel Kane
3rd prize ($100) Blake Cohen
The Science of Singing
John Curtin College of the Arts
What are slaver ants? Carmel School
Year 910 1st prize ($250)
Year 910 2nd prize ($200)
Year 910 3nd prize ($150)
Year 1112 1st prize ($350)
Year 1112 2nd prize ($250)
Year 1112 3nd prize ($200)
Erin Hardy and Cecile Boufils Hominin Species
Jennifer Tran
Seren Roberts
Danny Melville
Ashri Fisher
Ruby Mazandarani
Why do we have emotions?
Is it bad to stop a dream?
Aussie Introduced Species
John Curtin College of the Arts
John Curtin College of the Arts
John Curtin College of the Arts
John Curtin College of the Arts
The TikTok enigma Carmel School
What is "Zombie" fungus?
John Curtin College of the Arts
Category: Science Communication – Science Photography – sponsored by Rowe Scientific Pty Ltd
Age division
Year 3-4
Year 3-4
Year 3-4
Prize Entrant/s Entry title School
Finalist ($60)
Finalist ($50)
Finalist ($50)
Year 5-6
Year 5-6
Year 5-6
Finalist ($50)
Violette Gatani, Gayuni Katulanda and Lucy Perry Water, Dye & Molecules Piara Waters Primary School
Sophie Ragnauth Layered Liquids
Keira Campbell and Kieran Ong
St. Thomas' Catholic Primary School
Melting Ice with Different Heat Sources Piara Waters Primary School
Kiyara Kankanam Pathiranage and Aria Roddick Sharpener Shadows Piara Waters Primary School
Finalist ($50) Mackenzie Rosendal and Vainavi Suresh Dispersing white light into colour Piara Waters Primary School
Lucy Kaye, Emma Levy, Niv Glazer and Asher Mannasseh Making and using Oldowan tools Carmel School
Science Talent Search School of the Year – sponsored by STAWA Prize School
Primary Winner Piara Waters Primary School
Runner up
Booragoon Primary School
Secondary Winner Carmel School
Runner up Willetton Senior High School
i3 AWARD PROGRAM – 2023 STAWA NOMINEES
School Year Group Entry Category
Booragoon Primary School Year 5-6
Junior Engineering
Student
Ethan Bellegarde and Cadyn Bellegarde The Page Turner
North Harrisdale
Primary School Year 5-6
Carmel School Year 7-8
Senior High School Year 7-8
Junior Investigation
Senior Engineering
Senior Science Investigation
Willetton
Senior High School Year 9-10
Willetton
Senior High School Year 9-10
Senior Science Investigation
Thivain Koralage
Electricity Consumption in My School Over a Year
Vanessa Long Green Umbrella Dryer
Sameeha Zaman and Advaitaa Koteswaran
Sivendra Anbananthan, Muhammad Al-Rafi and Jasper Steele
Senior Science Investigation
Carmel School Year 9-10
Senior Investigation
Ione Villarias and Emily Yap
Electrolyte Challenge: Natural Fruit Juice vs Sports Drinks
Can magnetic iron nanoparticles really save the world?
Ariel Berman
How much is too much?
Peat preservation for more sustainable human burials
AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FAIR (AUSSEF) STAWA NOMINEES - 2023
School Year Group Entry Category
Willetton
Senior High School Year 10 Investigation
Willetton
Senior High School Year 10 Investigation
Student Names Project Title
Sivendra Anbananthan, Muhammad Al-Rafi and Jasper Steele
Ione Villarias and Emily Yap
Can magnetic iron nanoparticles really save the world?
How much is too much?
Willetton Senior High School Year 10 Investigation
Lesmurdie Senior High School Year 9 Investigation
Matthew Miller and Gunata Cheong
Tejas Deda and Jasper Rabjohns
Carmel School Year 9 Investigation Ariel Berman
Carmel School Year 9 Engineering
Carmel School Year 9 Engineering
Carmel School Year 9 Engineering
Hannah Schwarz, Bella Phillips and Rachel Benjamin
Comparison of the fomants of vowel sounds used in the Perth region with the general Australian accent
The effect of swing on a cricket ball when different substances are applied
Peat preservation for more sustainable human burials
The perfect pen
Eliora King and Maya Fenning Nasal block
Dan Mowszowski, Ben Wald and Matthew Reubenson Food Scrap Technology
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
It is now my second year working as a Marketing & Communications Coordinator with STAWA and outlined below are some of the highlights that I have achieved this year.
OFFICE SIGNAGE
At the start of the year, we moved offices from Osborne Park to Willetton.
To assist new visitors, I created signage for the new office.
We would like to thank Signarama Canning Vale for organising this for us and for delivering a high-quality product.
SCIOS JOURNAL
As SCIOS has changed its format this year from a full academic journal to a bite-sized publication, targeted separately to Primary and Secondary teachers, I have been assigned to create a new look and rebranding for the publication.
I have been working very closely with John, Mady and Allan from the SCIOS Editorial Team every edition, as well as using SCIOS as another platform to promote any upcoming STAWA related events.
I have also been liaising with various educational companies and stakeholders who have exhibited with us in our past conferences, such as Scitech, MindFlight7, Cider
Tech House, etc., for any advertising opportunities in the journal. Having advertisements in the journal not only boosts the feel of the journal but it also gives the some helpful resources
EVENTS
I have been continuing using Canva, a graphic design platform, to create visually appealing posters and designs for our events throughout the year. I have created a few promotional images for this year’s CONSTAWA Conference that happened in April 2024.
SCIENCEIQ
ScienceIQ has been relaunched this year with the support of the Royal Society of WA (RSWA). As it is my first year in administering this competition, I have helped in promoting and getting schools to encourage their students to join the competition.
Working closely with the team at Word of Mouth, who currently administers and updates the functional elements of the ScienceIQ website, we strive to ensure that all teachers and students get access to the quizzes, and everyone has a fair go.
After the competition, I have also been helping in branding the certificates and the gift cards that will be given out to the competition winners.
The image on the left is the ScienceIQ Certificate Template, given out to all the winners and the participating teams who have competed during the term.
The images on the right are the gift card designs created for the first and second place winners of the competition.
SCIENCE TALENT SEARCH
I am continuing my role in organising the Science Talent Search with Anne Poustie (Carmel School), who is the chairperson of the competition. Working closely with Anne I help to ensure that the school registrations and student entries run smoothly, and entries are included in both judging rounds. I play an important supporting role at the awards ceremony sorting and distributing awards.
PRIMARY SCIENCE COMMITTEE
Working closely with Mady, I have helped in promoting the different networking opportunities that the Primary Science Committee host each term, including the Coffee Catch-Up and Open Lab Afternoons, through our main communication channels, which are email and social media.
To further boost in promoting these events, I have joined the WA Primary Science Teachers Facebook Group to encourage more teachers to network as well as to meet the STAWA Primary Science Committee and other teachers within the area.
CONASTA 72
With next year’s CONASTA 72 event, I have helped create the Prospectus to be promoted to all potential stakeholders interested in advertising or exhibiting at this national event next year.
The full prospectus can be found on the STAWA Website under Conferences (CONASTA).
Below is the cover page that I have produced:
WEBSITE
In the first nine months of 2024, we have had 14,000 hits for our website.
Besides the home page, the Science Talent Search page continues to hold the greatest number of visitors on the website, followed by the Online Shop (mainly to purchase Chemistry, Human Biology, and Physics Books), CONSTAWA, and the most recent, Physics Day.
SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES
FACEBOOK PAGE
Facebook following have increased a bit from 1,362 (2023) to 1,472 (as of 30th September 2024).
Women/Female-identified followers of the STAWA Facebook page aged between 35-44 continue to dominate the page in 2024.
Given the fact that the organisation is based in Western Australia, the Facebook page continues to receive frequent visitors locally, such as Perth (56.6%), Mandurah (2.6%), and Albany (0.7%) and interstate, such as Melbourne (2%) and Sydney (1.5%). In a global scale, we continue to receive some visitors from across the world such as India, United States, United Kingdom, and Pakistan.
LINKEDIN PAGE
Since last year, I have created a LinkedIn page for the organisation to further boost our presence online, using this platform as another way to promote our upcoming events within the professional environment and to reach potential key stakeholders/sponsors as well as teachers.
We have a total of 56 users who have been following our LinkedIn page, with most of them living in Perth while there are a few users who live interstate or internationally. Most of them are teachers or those working within the Science-related companies/industries.
Due to a very busy period in the past few months this year, the LinkedIn page has not been utilised to its full potential and I have been working to get this page up and running again. In addition, and in the future, I would also like to continually use this page to encourage graduate teachers (especially within the Primary Science area) to attend networking events such as the STAWA Primary Science Open Lab Afternoons and Coffee Catch-ups to boost their teacher network.
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
STAWA is pleased to continue to support Science education in WA by connecting schools and teachers who are searching for new employment opportunities.
I am continuing to utilise our communication channels to promote any Science Teacher/Specialist vacancies within WA schools.
If you are opening up any Science teacher/specialist related positions at your school sometime in the future, please send us a short job description and contact details to admin@stawa.net and we will strive to promote it via the website and other communication channels.
Feedback from primary science teachers informed us that they felt overwhelmed with the traditional SCIOS journal containing so many secondary focused articles, and that a primary focused journal would be more suitable. So, we listened!
How has this new approach been received? Very positively.
After an initial trial with a PDF format, we have reverted to the online version as this enables us to obtain engagement data to support future decisions. This online version can be downloaded for reading afterwards and no password is required if accessed via the link in your email. SCIOS Primary has 2 – 3 short, primary targeted articles, followed by STAWA promotions relevant to primary schools.
Our articles are a variety of sourced external articles and some written specifically by members - and we would love more members to contribute.
Talk Like a Scientist exploring the science language used in primary classes has been continued from the previous format. Vocabulary can sometimes be a challenge for primary science teachers, especially if they have not had a strong science education as part of their training.
In future, the Events/Activities Calendar for Primary Schools (see Primary Teachers under the Teachers tab on the STAWA Website) will also be linked to SCIOS Primary. This calendar is updated monthly and promotes STAWA activities and NFP science events for primary schools.
We look forward to your future engagement with SCIOS Primary as a reader and perhaps as a contributor.
Mady Colquhoun Editor - SCIOS Primary
SCIOS SECONDARY
SCIOS Editorial Committee Members
Allan Knight (Editor), Mady Colquhoun, Lyndon Smith
As the journal of the Science Teachers' Association of WA, SCIOS aims to promote and support the teaching of science with an emphasis on classroom practice.
Analytics data for the 2023 SCIOS issues showed a low level of engagement with SCIOS, with few members opening the link for SCIOS and reading times usually less than five minutes. As a result, the editorial team decided to trial publication of SCIOS in a new shorter format that is hoped to encourage greater reading of articles. Early data on the new format shows an increase in downloads and reading times.
We are now publishing SCIOS – Primary and SCIOS – Secondary issues four times a year. The new formats will have two to three articles only and can be accessed without logging into the STAWA site. The articles will continue to be on a variety of science teaching related issues, including pedagogical practice, assessment practice, experiences of professional learning opportunities and classroom activities and we would welcome contributions from teachers.
Mady Colquhoun together with the other members of the Primary Science committee have assumed responsibility for compiling SCIOS – Primary while SCIOS – Secondary continues to be compiled by the SCIOS editorial committee. We have been well supported by Pamela Getalado who does the desk top publishing to prepare the online ISSUU format.
As I did in the 2023 report, I would like to acknowledge the teachers and others in the wider science education community who have generously provided articles for inclusion in the 2024 issues. The sharing of their experiences in teaching science and supporting teaching is a valuable contribution to help STAWA further its vision of ‘inspiring quality science teaching and learning’.
Allan Knight Editor – SCIOS Secondary
TREASURER’S REPORT
On the termination of Angie’s appointment, Armada Business Management were appointed by the Board to manage all bookkeeping and financial matters of STAWA. A decision was made in consultation with Amada to change our accounting system from MYOB to Xero. There were several reasons for this, the main one being the task of obtaining information from a system that contained many files dating back 20 years or more, files that proved difficult to access.
Xero, whilst it has not been an easy change over, should eliminate many of the issues with MYOB. It has a clearer and easier to operate file and subfile system, it can be directly linked to the STAWA portal, there will be no duplication of time sheets to jobs, and reports and financial information can be accessed through direct links.
At the last AGM, the decision was made to no longer use Muntz and Partners as auditors and as a result Criterion Audit have been employed to prepare the 2023/24 audit report. This has been time consuming and not yet finalised as they have required answers to a multitude of questions, which interrogate our processes and help them build a thorough understanding of STAWA business. This report is being prepared on the end of financial year MYOB data and will be placed on the Portal when available.
The operating profit for the financial year 23/24 is $58,963.04 compared to $32,645.43 for 22/23. This figure is even better when it is considered that $64500 was paid in 23/24 as a non-refundable deposit to the Pan Pacific Hotel for CONASTA next year. Early this financial year we paid another part deposit of $48,000, to make a total of $112,500 so far.
With the introduction of syllabus changes in 2025 we have taken the opportunity to create second editions of Exploring Chemistry Year 12, Exploring Physics Year 11, and Year 12 General Human Biology. Unfortunately, we will need to dispose of around $13,000 worth of books at cost in the 2024/5 financial year, mostly the previous syllabus version of Year 12 General Human Biology due to poor sales.
