Penrhos win Governor’s School STEM Awards

Penrhos College are cultivating the next generation of STEM skilled women.

The college became the first in history to win both the primary and secondary school categories in the prestigious Governor’s School STEM Awards in 2017.

Penrhos was recognised thanks to the opening of the Junior School STEM and Innovation Laboratory, hosting the Future Focused Learning STEM conference and much more.

Penrhos Maths Mentor Coordinator Peter Chandler said the students were becoming increasingly passionate about STEM, and activities they had participated in at Scitech had contributed to the success last year.

“Last year it was excellent to have students exploring Scitech’s activities like solving crime scene mysteries in the Whodunit? exhibition.” he said.

“We also had some students working at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, and others doing future problem solving, robotics and other co-curricular activities.”

More recently, a selection of year eight students took part in a collaborative session in Scitech’s Kaartadjin Koorliny gallery.

The students created designs and developed prototypes for new exhibits in the space.

“At Penrhos, our older students have a lot of passion for STEM, and we’ve found that through mentoring, it transcends into the younger students,” Mr Chandler said.

“It was great for some of our students to be involved with creating design ideas for Scitech’s new gallery.”

The Governor’s School STEM Awards has been designed to support and encourage excellence in STEM education in schools.

Two primary schools and two secondary schools will be recognised for their school achievements in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) advocacy, education and engagement.

For more information about the awards, visit www.jtsi.wa.gov.au/STEMAwards.