Vasse Primary School is one of 10 schools in WA to be named a finalist in the 2018 Governor’s School STEM Awards.
STEM education integrates science, technology, engineering and mathematics across the eight core subjects taught at school.
School principal Sinan Kerimofski said they focused on three pillars at the school which included people, places and pedagogy.
Mr Kerimofski said people was about relationships, mindfulness, a growth mindset, taking ownership, accepting responsibility and not taking blame, excuse or deny.
“That is the being part of it, the doing part of it is how – the places are the learning spaces we have in the school – you will not find regular furniture in the classrooms,” he said.
Mr Kerimofski said the classrooms were flexible in how they were designed, students could adapt and move.
“If they work better on their own they might sit on an ottoman or lie down on a couch and the pedagogy is what you teach and how you teach it.
“For our students, we focus on an inquiry base from years three to six and in our junior grades we do walk and learning, which is a real authentic learning experience.”
Mr Kerimofski said when you combine those elements with STEM you ended up with a whole package.
“STEM is not the ninth subject area, we do not have a STEM coordinator, all the teachers are involved in it and it might include coding, or 3D printing and it might not.
“It could include robotics, it could include lego, it could include branching and all sorts of things.”
Through an arts grant, students at the school worked on a model with artist Myles Happ, which Mr Kerimofski described as a STEM project.
The end product was a 3D replica scene from the Eureka Stockade, the students researched the characters to find out what they looked like, the clothes they wore and the tools they used.
The students showed Mr Happ how to mold the facial features with plastisin, it was put on a 3D scanner and dropped out of a 3D printer.
Using clay the students made hands and in art they designed the costumes for the figurines. The model also has moving parts which were engineered by the students.
“All the cogs were 3D printed and laser cut, there is a lot of work which goes into that and it obviously includes history with the students learning about the Eureka Stockade,” Mr Kerimofski said.
Year five students Jacob and Kai have worked on a project where they designed a Makey Makey, which is a is a circuit board that can be reprogrammed to connect everyday objects to a computer.
Jacob said he really enjoyed working on the project because he was able to use coding which gave him an inside view into how computer games were made.
Kai said on their project they were able to create sounds and a device which acted as a keyboard.
Assistant principal Simon Mansfield has been the driver behind STEM education at the school and said children were able to take on different projects
“Like Jacob said how he could see deeper into it, we have been giving students opportunities to provide them with tools to go that bit deeper,” he said.
“Whether that be coding, electronics or designing things with Lego,” he said.
Science minister Dave Kelly said it was important to recognise the commitment and engagement of principals and teachers in developing the skills children will require for the jobs of the future.
Education and training minister Sue Ellery said the Governor’s School STEM Awards were a fantastic way to acknowledge the outstanding work schools do to provide successful STEM learning environments.
“We know the generic skills students learn studying STEM subjects are transferrable across industries, and critical for their future job prospects,” she said.
The governor of WA Kim Beazley AC said the awards were a great recognition of the efforts and achievements of schools to prepare Western Australians for the jobs of the future.
“These awards raise the awareness of strong STEM culture in school communities. I congratulate all finalists on their excellent achievements,” he said.
“It is a fine legacy of my predecessor the Honourable Kerry Sanderson AC.”