President's Reflection February 2021 Our NYSF student Jamie gave us a fascinating insight to his experience as our NYSF student this year, including his comments on the different way it was organised due to Covid. Of course as he pointed out it would have been much better if he had been able to go to Canberra, as in previous years but he still gained so much out of the online experience and his face to face visits. I noticed that one of the acronyms he used several times throughout his talk and which left some members a little confused was STEM. This is very important focus in education these days and stands for Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics. These areas often associate due to similarities they share both in theory and practice. Previously STEM was really only referred to in higher education, industry and universities but in recent years it has become very much a part of all levels of education. Many of our primary schools now have had STEM classrooms built into school buildings so that students are introduced at a much earlier stage to these subjects. Teachers have now undergone intensive professional development in STEM. It is hoped that students, especially girls, will develop more confidence in these subject areas and consider studying STEM subjects at high school and then university so that they can consider careers in these areas. And this brings us back to Jamie’s comments that he discovered so many more aspects of STEM and career opportunities that he had never heard of in NYSF. Good luck Jamie and we wish you all the best for Year 12. |
