Teacher Professional Development Opportunity

Between the 28th & 31st of March 2023, Re-Engineering Australia Foundation Ltd (REA) will host the 18th National Final of the F1 in Schools & 6th National final of SUBS in Schools programs in Sydney.  The event will involve approximately 400 students and teachers from around Australia. 

In parallel, REA is proposing to host an advanced teacher Professional Development Program which will facilitate access to the best practice STEM knowledge across a broad range of topics delivered by leaders from industry. 

Background to REA

Since 1998 REA has mentored over one million students through its STEM programs which include F1 in Schools & SUBS in Schools, and we have become recognised globally for producing the best STEM students. 55 Australian student teams (6 students per team) have progressed from REA’s National Final events to represent Australia at international STEM competitions, with 17 teams finishing on the podium: 1st – 8 times (World Champions), 2nd – 6 times, 3rd – 5 times, 4th – 3 times, 5th – 6 times. 

  • F1 in Schools™ is a multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary program based on the design of miniature F1® race cars. It facilitates students collaborating with industry partners within their projects to learn STEM principles. The program focuses on students between years 5 to 12. 
  • SUBS in Schools™ equips students with the employability skills and knowledge to participate in a wide range of maritime industry and research environments, including the Navy’s Future Submarine Program. SUBS in School focuses on students between years 5 to 12. 

A fundamental differentiator of our programs is a requirement for students to work directly with Industry on their projects. Students’ interactions with industry mentors as they solve real-world problems provide an environment that instils innovative capability early in their school years. We seek to build in students the employability skills industry seeks, in a way that students see a direct relevance between classroom activities they enjoy and the world of work. 

Key outcomes seen in students and teachers include: 

  • Student career-decision self-efficacy is high, which translates to the students feeling very confident in their abilities to choose a career pathway. 
  • 99% of teachers felt they learned significantly from their participation (Inspired teachers create inspired learners). 
  • 94% of students significantly increased their measurable employability skills capabilities. 
  • 84% of students increased academic achievement across all subject areas. 
  • 77% of students indicated a change in their career motivations toward STEM.  
  • 50% of students are interested in careers in manufacturing. 
Our programs have been proven to be much more than just STEM. They provide a Metamorphic Learning experience for students and deliver outcomes that create a significant change in student (and teacher) capabilities, so profound that they don’t just change their knowledge base, they change them fundamentally.  

Teacher Professional Development Event Details 

Event location:

Penrith Panthers Convention Centre 
123 Mulgoa Rd, Penrith NSW 2750 

Dates:

The F1 in Schools & SUBS in Schools competitions will run between 28th & 30th March 

  • Tuesday 28th will be bump in for the students. 
  • Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th between 8:30 am and 5 pm will be the primary competition/judging days.  
  • Friday 31st March between 2:30 pm – 4 pm: Awards ceremony. 

Teacher Advanced Professional Development program 

  • The plan is to run a teacher training program between 28th, through 30th with ample time provided for participants to provided interact with the competition, the students, and the teachers from the competing schools.  
Costs:
  • At this stage the only costs involved will be your travel to the event & your accommodation. 
  • We will be providing lunches 
Agenda:

The topics proposed to be covered include the following: 

Introduction 

  • What is STEM … really. 
  • Why you should be excited about teaching D&T. 
  • What are the skills that Industry requires in new entrants. 
  • An introduction to each of REA’s program and the leaning pathway they provide which extends from primary school, through high schools, tertiary education and into careers. 
  • How you can create World Champion students – including presentations from teachers of F1 in Schools World Championship teams. 

Presentations skills 

  • Lead by a presentation guru who was involved in the coordination of our Sydney 2000 Olympics bid. 
  • This will cover key aspects of communication and presentation skills training and will provide knowledge on how teachers can increase the presentation skills of their students. 

Marketing Skills 

  • Your will learn the fundamentals of marketing from another industry Guru from industry responsible for some of our most iconic brand campaigns. 
  • You will learn how your students should market their teams to gain sponsorship. How you can market your school to gain industry partnerships and how you can market your schools to the community. 

Project Management 

  • You will learn the nuts and bolts of Project management in sessions lead by the Australian Institute of Project Management. 
  • You will have the opportunity to hear from industry about the importance of project management skils and building high performance teams. 

Engineering Design 

  • We will expose you to Engineers from companies such as BAE Systems, ASC (Australia Submarine Corporation) and Thales who will take you through engineering in commercial environments including the importance of designing within constraints. 
  • You will be exposed to FEA, CFD, MATLAB, Digital TWIN, PLM, Industry 4.0 and a range of other acronyms that Engineers talk about in their sleep. You will never again be surprised by an acronym, and neither will your students.  

Program Implementation & People Management 

  • We will cover topics on the fundamentals of human motivation and how to attract boys and girls to STEM career pathways. 
  • How best to implement long term STEM programs in Schools. 
  • You will hear from teacher who have created multiple sets of World Champions, how they made it all happen and the work involved. 
  • What are the steppingstones to implements self-directed project-based learning. 
  • You will have the opportunity to meet and learn from the students and teachers up to their necks in the competition. 

AGENDA

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Register your interest

  Fill out the form below to register your interest in participating in the 2023 Teacher Professional Development Event.

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