Wednesday 1 April 2026
This year, overseen by Mr Bryan Sapsworth in conjunction with all the Science disciplines, the College has introduced the STEM Consortium.
While we have been running many of these STEM activities in the past, the Consortium formalises our approach. The overall aim is to drive science engagement across the school while providing a clear structure for student leadership. Instead of a single committee, the model is broken down into six distinct groups, each managed by a team of senior students who are responsible for their own projects, budgets, and events.
We’ve seen a solid start to the year as the groups settle into this new structure:
STEM Cup: The STEM Cup has been a regular inter-house competition in previous years, but it now sits under this formal leadership model. The group has made a good start with the Junior Science Rounds, which are currently running as fast-paced science buzzer quizzes to build up house participation.
Astronomy and Space: This group has been meeting regularly and recently ran a warm-up quiz for students. They are currently sorting out their calendar for winter, ready to take advantage of the shorter days for upcoming observation events and telescope sessions.
There is a strong selection of Year 11 and 12 students stepping into associate roles to build experience for the future. The main senior leaders guiding each group this year are:
- STEM Cup: James Barrington (Year 13, Greenbank) & Hamish Patel-Smith (Year 13, Averill)
- Citizen Science: Terrence Zhong (Year 13, Marsden) and Scarlett Morris (Year 13, Middelmore)
- Engineering and Robotics: Angus Birchenough (Year 13, Marsden) and Henry Proctor (Year 13, Averill)
- STEM Promotion and Community: Brendan Lian (Year 13, Peart) and Evee Tan (Year 13, Taylor)
- Racing and Autonomous Systems: Thomas Nand (Year 13, Major) and Chanwoo Eo
(Year 13, Selwyn) - Astronomy and Space: (Led this year by a Year 12 team) Ethan Sheng ( Major), Enoch Cham (Greenbank), Jack Chen (Greenbank), Harry Davies (Major) and Anna Karpik (Marion Bruce).
Term 2 will be a busy one as the groups get their main projects underway. Because managing budgets and seeking sponsorship is a new development for these student leaders, they are currently taking the time to formalise their proposals to make sure they get them right.
Once these are sorted, they will be reaching out for support and potential funding to help get their initiatives off the ground so please keep an eye out for further updates.