Interdisciplinary Day
On Wednesday 19 July, our Year 9 students participated in the first of three Interdisciplinary Days with the Year 9s from Ave Maria College.
This new program is aimed at strengthening relationships between the two schools, providing an opportunity for the boys and the girls to work together in an educational setting. The program aims at allowing students the opportunity to unleash their creativity and develop essential skills, such as teamwork, critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication, while building respectful relationships. It also provides the opportunity to break gender barriers and foster inclusivity.
On the first day, the students were provided with the prompt where they needed to create a device that would enhance the lives of someone living with a disability. The day was facilitated by Akorn Education, who run STEM incursions with schools. Students were taught about empathy, and needed to consider the perspective of the person they would be designing the product for. The task involved them working together to firstly brainstorm, then vote and design the product, before building a prototype out of recycled materials. It was great to see the boys work with the girls in a productive way to achieve the aim of the day. The best 5 products were presented at the conclusion of the day, and some will be entered into the STEM MAD competition as a joint entry, which was exciting.
We look forward to the next two days, which firstly focus on STEM again on the 24 August (specifically on Engineering), where the students will be hosted by Ryan Evans from Lego Masters, before finishing the program in Term 4 with a day entitled ‘Shark Tank’. Here, the students will be provided with a brief where they need to develop an idea that they will pitch to others, similar to the TV show.
Overall, it was a great start to the new venture with Ave Maria College, and provided the Year 9’s yet another highlight in their already very unique year in their life as a St Bernard’s student.
