Year 7 Zoo Incursion

On Thursday 3 July, Wild Action brought the zoo to Kilbreda for all Year 7 Science classes. Students had the rare opportunity to see their studies of classification come alive as they touched and observed a range of animals – from a tiny kangaroo joey to a freshwater crocodile. The excitement wasn’t limited to the students either; our teachers couldn’t resist joining in, holding some of the animals and sharing in the awe of the experience. The incursion was a memorable way to connect classroom learning with the incredible diversity of Australia’s wildlife.

Spark Holiday Program

On Friday 18 July, Amelia Brooks, Simon Gurowski and I welcomed local primary school students into the Kilbreda science labs for the Spark Holiday Program. The day was designed to ignite curiosity and give our visitors a taste of hands-on science in action. Budding young scientists enthusiastically built and launched bottle rockets on the oval, with the sunny weather ensuring that even the occasional splash was all part of the fun. Inside the labs, microscopes opened up hidden worlds as students discovered the intricate details of flowers and tiny organisms. To round out the program, they experimented with density columns, layering colourful liquids to explore the fascinating relationship between mass and volume. The energy and excitement of the day reflected exactly what Spark aims to achieve: inspiring the next generation of scientists by showing that learning can be both rigorous and fun.

The University of Melbourne Girl Power in Engineering and IT Program

Congratulations to Kara Gurung and Namie Padasas, who were accepted into the highly competitive four-year program. Over the July school holidays, Kara and Namie participated in a camp at Melbourne University. Below is a reflection from both students.

Student Reflections

Over the holidays, Namie and I went on a 3-night camp at The University of Melbourne as part of the Girl Power in Engineering and IT program. We stayed on campus in dorm rooms and got to tour around the campus and do workshops with a group of girls from around Victoria who were interested in STEM like us. Namie and I got to learn about coding, how race cars and airplanes are made, different types of sustainable energy sources and so much more. 

We got to do hands-on activities and compete with our fellow camp mates in bridge building challenges and in trying to make the wooden planes we built fly the furthest. We made so many new friends on this camp and got to chat to women who worked in lots of different fields of IT and Engineering. 

It was an amazing experience, and we would definitely recommend any Year 8s interested in STEM and science to think about signing up for it next year.

Kara Gurung

Year 9  

Over the course of the camp, we had many different activities! These included two major workshops, an aerodynamic course at The Creator Space and a Drones Workshop at the Science Gallery.

We also were involved in smaller activities – such as RoboGals (python programming), bridge building and SiRe workshop (focusing on renewable energy). Unrelated to work, but more for considering our future, we had a panel evening to ask questions to experts in engineering or IT, and a tour around Melbourne University’s campus.

In our free time, we were encouraged to work on the overarching project of solving a sustainability goal – which was then presented on the last day of the camp. 

While the time restraints were difficult, it pushed us and gave us an understanding of how deadlines go at universities. Overall, it was an incredibly insightful experience – and we look forward to the next three years of the program, where more opportunities will be presented!

Namie Padasas

Year 9

National Science Week

National Science Week is Australia’s annual celebration of science and technology, and this year Kilbreda will join the festivities from 15 to 18 September. The 2025 theme, Decoding the Universe – Exploring the Unknown with Nature’s Hidden Language, invites us to uncover the mysteries of the world around us. To mark the occasion, we’ll be running a range of lunchtime activities, including our much-loved Periodic Table Reciting Competition. Last year, Kara Gurung amazed us all by reciting all 118 elements for the second year in a row. Will anyone rise to the challenge and match her achievement this year? We’ve already prepared a tie-breaker, just in case! Below you’ll find the periodic table song to help you practise.

Sarah Chuck

Learning Leader: Science