News

In September, we hosted another Inclusive Education Forum at Whittlesea Tech School, this time focusing on neurodiversity. The event was the second in the series with attendees from: education, community, career pathways, and wellbeing. The forum heard from students...

The Koorie Academy of Excellence (KAE) and the Whittlesea Tech School (WTS) partnered again in 2024 to offer KAE students the opportunity to participate in a digital design workshop for NAIDOC week. In this two-day workshop that took place in the first week of the...

Last year we welcomed Zoë French to the Tech School team as our new Technical Officer - AKA our resident tech expert.   Zoë is an Industrial Design Graduate from Monash University with a wealth of knowledge in sketching, prototyping, and design methods. She also holds...

Whittlesea Tech School recently hosted the launch of our latest exhibition entitled Da Vinci: Future Machines. A look at the genius of one of history’s most famous inventors, the exhibition displays recreated prototypes of some of Leonardo da Vinci's most visionary...

We are excited to announce the official launch of our first ever guest exhibition, Da Vinci: Future Machines - an interactive and historical exhibition featuring scientific prototypes designed by the original renaissance man, Leonardo Da Vinci. Whittlesea Tech School...

On December 7th we celebrated our Student Ambassadors of 2023 with an exhibition and presentation night. The students embarked on a new challenge – creating their own interactive STEAM project to be exhibited in the Whittlesea Tech School Exhibition Space – and we...

Last year, Whittlesea Tech School was nominated for a Wurreker Award for Innovative Koorie Learner Pathways. Having worked with the Koorie Academy of Excellence (KAE) for several years, we have been running regular programs that introduce secondary students to cutting...

Last term, we introduced a new program to Year 9 students from Epping Secondary College, "Entrepreneurship: Tech Exposure". During three action-packed days, the students channelled their creativity to design unique vending machines using a variety of technologies.  ...

This year, we celebrated National Science Week by hosting a Girls in STEM day. In this one-day, custom program, we welcomed girls and non-binary identifying students from four schools to work collaboratively, creatively, and to embrace innovative thinking. Tying in...

We recently welcomed Year 8 students from Preston High School to participate in STEM Arcade - a program where students create playable, arcade-style games using a block-coding platform. The students were challenged to develop a game to help primary-aged students learn...

This year, we celebrated NAIDOC week by hosting a two-day Bush Foods workshop and an afternoon tea "For Our Elders" in collaboration with the Koorie Academy of Excellence (KAE). The program started with a discovery session on native plants and bush foods. Kylie and...

Sabrina Fernando has joined the Whittlesea Tech School team as our newest STEM Communication Officer. Sabrina’s background is in biological sciences, and she has recently graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Master of Philosophy in Biomedical Sciences....

On Friday, 11th of February, we celebrated International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Girls and non-binary students from our partner schools joined us for a day of STEM activities that allowed the students to explore new topics and technologies that they may not...

On Tuesday, July 13th, we welcomed teachers from the Banyule-Nillumbik and Whittlesea areas to our Teacher Ambassador Networking Event. The aim of our networking events is to connect educators within our region and give them a taste of what’s currently on offer at the...

We have had an incredibly creative start to our FoodLab program, with Year 8 and Year 9 students from St Monica’s SC, Epping SC, and Lalor North SC taking on the challenge. Our current FoodLab program centres on a collaboration with local industry partner, Costa...

This year's Student Ambassador Program kicked off back in March when our ambassadors joined us at the Tech School to learn and create projection art to be displayed in our exhibition space as a collaborative installation. Like most things in 2020, our original ideas...

Happy NAIDOC Week 2020! In collaboration with the Koorie Academy of Excellence and its community, Aboriginal artist, Emma Bamblett, Banyule Nillumbik Tech School and the Department of Education and Training, we are celebrating the oldest continuing living culture by...

There are Teacher Professional Learning opportunities available this term for our partner school teachers. In collaboration with the Banyule Nilumbik Tech School, we have developed these sessions to help you better support your students around a few of our most used...

In partnership with the City of Whittlesea Council, we are excited to announce a unique opportunity for partner school students of the Whittlesea and Banyule Nillumbik Tech Schools to participate in a virtual after-school program spanning the duration of the 2021...

Over the school holidays, we ran our Rural and Regional Game Jam and Virtual Indigenous Art Holiday Program in partnership with The Lab and the Koorie Academy of Excellence, respectively. Our Project Coordinators tell us all about the programs below! Rural and...

We are thrilled to announce that our STEM Communication Officers, Michael Wilson and Vhairi Mackintosh, will take on higher duties roles to coordinate two upcoming holiday programs, funded by the Department of Education and Training. Michael will be coordinating the...

It was great chatting to the Royal Society of Victoria about our biotech scientific inquiry program where young people get to design their own scientific investigation to determine the antimicrobial properties of a chosen extract. Check out the article here!

We hope everyone got to enjoy some of the amazing virtual activities and events that took place this 2020 National Science Week! This year, the Banyule Nillumbik and Whittlesea Tech Schools joined the virtual celebrations by showcasing STEM through a careers campaign...

Last week, we launched our new enrichment series program for enterprise learning. We are thrilled to introduce its new program manager, Tess McLaren! As many of you might already know, Tess is our most experienced STEM Communication Officer at the Melbourne...

If you're looking for a fun activity that your school, family or self can do whilst we are learning and working remotely, then check out our virtual 2020 National Science Week Rosetta Tomorrow Challenge. Fully online, the resource guides participants through designing...

Our Farmwall is set up and ready to use in our new FoodLab program. A huge thank you to GH Commercial for this donation. If you're interested in your own Farmwall, click on this link to find out more about the Farmwall Resilience Growing education program. We're...

Check out some of the incredible digital artworks created by young people who attended our online Design Club during Term 2. Participants were introduced to a new tool or technique in Adobe Illustrator each week. They then had dedicated time to work on their own...

We're excited to announce that our Medical Biotechnology in Focus Scientific Inquiry program is now available for partner schools of the Whittlesea and Banyule Nillumbik tech schools. This specialist program introduces young people to the global challenge of...

Last week we co-facilitated our first remote learning program with the Banyule Nillumbik Tech School for 45 students from Greensborough College. The students participated in our new Human-Animal Interactions Design Challenge, which was set to launch in Term 3 but was...

Later this month we launch our new online Design Club with the Banyule Nillumbik Tech School. This 6-week after-school club will use industry-standard design software, Adobe Illustrator, and feature a new topic each week, including basic drawing, tracing, perspective,...

We have partnered with Nillumbik Youth and Banyule Nillumbik Tech School to offer a free 6-week online introductory program to give young people a taste of what Nillumbik Youth Maker Lab is all about. Commencing Tuesday 19 May, the online program will develop a range...

Anne Jessup is a recently graduated P-12 educator who joins the Whittlesea Tech School team as our newest STEM Communication Officer. Bringing with her a special interest and knowledge in biology and literary studies, she has jumped straight into co-developing an...

Last week we held our first student ambassador day for 2020. Students from our partner schools first got to know each other and their new role at the Tech School. Then, students worked with others from different schools to create collaborative projection artworks...

Happy 2020 International Women's Day! To mark the day, we are showcasing our wonderful director, Dr Sandra McKechnie, who leads us every day with authenticity, expertise and thoughtful kindness. Check out part of her career story above.

Our Director, Sandra, and I had an incredible experience last week on Gunditjmara Country, part of our cultural immersion training with Shane Charles ahead of our upcoming STEM camp and sessions with the Koorie Academy of Excellence, Department of Education &...

We've been having a lot of fun with our new design challenge where students design arcade-style games that demonstrate STEM principles to primary school children. Students have been learning how to use Microsoft Makecode Arcade to code their own games and Tinkercad to...

Yesterday, my fellow STEM Communication Officer, Michael Wilson, and I presented at the Australian Science Communicators Conference in Melbourne. Our workshop demonstrated how we use Design Thinking to empower young people to take on global and local challenges....

Last night we hosted the Hume and Whittlesea Teachers Environment Network event in collaboration with both councils. The event focused on highlighting the value of partnerships, student-led innovation and new technologies that drive sustainability in schools. It was a...

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! To celebrate, we are showcasing the career journeys of the scientists who create inspiring opportunities for our young people every day. Check out their career snippets above. These graphics are part of a broader...

Our team started today with a beautiful smoking ceremony performed by Shane Charles. Shane will be working with our team throughout the year as part of ongoing cultural awareness training. Thanks for your time and knowledge, Shane.

Our learning technologist, Carlin, led a professional development session today for our staff, those from Banyule Nillumbik Tech School and the Learning Environments team at Melbourne Polytechnic. Participants were demonstrated the capabilities of 360-degree video and...

Over the next few days, my colleagues and I will be running a series of professional development workshops for teachers in the region. We started today with a Design Thinking workshop, and then this afternoon we heard from Laura Mitchell from Preston High School and...

We are excited to announce that our extended Whittlesea and Banyule Nillumbik Tech Schools team won the 2019 Melbourne Polytechnic Excellence Award for Delivery of Applied and Future-focused Learning. What a great way to celebrate the end of our first full year of...

Yesterday, my colleague Tess and I presented to 23 Saudi Arabian educators who are participating in a 40-week exchange program with Monash University. These teachers were keen to learn more about the Tech Schools Initiative, our approach to inquiry-based learning, and...

Our 2019 Mini Maker Faire yesterday, led by Michael and our wonderful student ambassadors, was a glorious success with 350 local primary school students enjoying numerous STEM activities! Thanks to our partner schools who also ran activities and to Telstra for...

Our team attended a professional development workshop with Telstra today about all things Internet of Things (IoT) and its widespread applications. There were also some exciting cross-tech school discussions about how we can extend our programs using IoT so watch this...

We had a blast last Friday facilitating a jewellery design workshop with students from Hazel Glen College and Diamond Valley Learning Centre. The design brief was to create jewellery that would promote the natural environment of Melbourne's north with students...

We are thrilled to announce that our tech school has just earned ClarkeHopkinsClarke the 2019 Learning Environments Australasia (Vic Chapter) award for a new facility under $8 million. Check out the accompanying article here.

Today we launched our 2020 programs with breakfast and some of the many wonderful teachers from our partner schools who have supported us during our first year in operation. It was a day of celebrating 2019 and looking forward with excitement to 2020! Check out our...

Last night we hosted the Hume Whittlesea Local Learning and Employment Network (HWLLEN) and Melbourne Polytechnic Find Their Feet careers night at our tech school for students and parents to explore the future world of work and the growth industries of Melbourne's...

We're a hub of activity today with students from Lalor North College participating on our Steampunk design challenge, teacher ambassadors designing our new 2020 Connecting with Mental Wellbeing inquiry, student ambassadors developing activities for our 2020 Maker...

Students from Lalor Secondary College had the opportunity to work with engineering and technology students from La Trobe University at our Tech School today. The students were shown how to develop wearable technology using conductive thread and then designed their own...

Last Friday, as part of National Science Week, we held a fun-filled celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for girls, women and non-binary people in our local community. Kindly sponsored by the Royal Society of Victoria and Inspiring...

We are excited to announce that we have received funding from the City of Whittlesea council to run an after-school makerspace. This weekly session provides an opportunity for local young people to make use of our facilities and equipment, and leverage the expertise...

This was a nice setting for a meeting yesterday afternoon as our team met with Maggie and Sarah from the Melbourne Arboretum to discuss how we can collaborate to involve our young people in the development of this incredibly exciting new nature engagement project,...

Our team and sister team at Banyule Nillumbik Tech School had a cracking day checking out the Top Designs exhibition at Melbourne Museum. What incredibly talented young people we have here in Victoria!

Yesterday, our student ambassadors got the chance to work with our own science communicator, Vhairi, and her old colleagues from Science Gallery Melbourne to develop their communication skills. Claire and Caleb from Science Gallery Melbourne gave students the tricks...

Today we had the privilege of hosting Gary Stager at our Tech School to run a session on project-based learning and the maker movement for our staff and partner school teachers. Following a thought-provoking presentation, Gary then ran a workshop on coding and...

Today we welcomed teachers from Melbourne's north for a professional development workshop on Hummingbird microcontrollers. The day was led by our learning technologists at the Whittlesea and Banyule Nillumbik Tech Schools, Carlin and Anthony, and it was lovely to see...

Last Thursday evening during Education Week, we opened our doors to our local community. It was incredible to see so many people - young, old, teachers, industry, interested locals - exploring what Tech Schools have to offer. The event included tours led by our...

This morning, Stefan and Vhairi welcomed the Shepparton Education Precinct team to our Tech School to show them our facility and present on our Innovation Process and inquiry-based learning approach.

A great piece has just been released on our wonderful tech school by those who designed it at ClarkeHopkinsClarke.   "When students walk through the front doors of Whittlesea Tech School they will enter a new world. A world of 3D printers and scanners, laser cutters,...

It was a delight to host the NORTH Link networking breakfast this morning. Connecting industry and community with education is one of our key goals as a Tech School, so it was an absolute pleasure to do so with so many local organisations this morning. We look forward...

Check out our new STEM role model posters containing the stories of eight innovators now on display for all of our young people to explore at our Tech School. These amazing artworks were created by four female illustrators and commissioned by the Nevertheless Podcast...

We had a fantastic time co-designing our new inquiry program, Past, Present, Poverty: Liveability for All, with our teacher ambassadors today. The Design Thinking process was facilitated by our friends at Education Changemakers and served as a fantastic professional...

Busy day today at our Tech School with the Banyule Nillumbik Local Learning and Employment Network using our facility to run a literacy workshop for 95 VCAL teachers from Melbourne's north. We also had 50 year 9 students from Epping Secondary College participating in...

Our STEM communication officers, Michael and Vhairi, spent the day filming for our new inquiry program, What & Where in Whittlesea. This program asks students to provide solutions to issues related to the rapid population growth of Melbourne's north, such as a...

Our team spent the day connecting with our fellow Tech Schools network at the 2019 Tech Schools Symposium. The day was full of inspiring reflections and rich discussions prompted by a powerful keynote from Vic's Lead Scientist, Dr. Amanda Caples, and a...

Our team had a great day gaining inspiration and advice from the UK's leading podcast coach, James Burtt. This masterclass provided fantastic insights for our STEM communication officers, Vhairi and Daniel, who are in the midst of developing our new podcast studio...

The Whittlesea and Banyule Nillumbik Tech School team are feeling excited and eager to facilitate after a successful 2-day design thinking workshop with NoTosh. Our team gained so many useful, practical ideas to incorporate into program development and delivery. A...

We are looking to create a bit of "White Night" in Epping through the Tech School.  The building itself has some great surfaces for a projection canvas and we are looking to light it up for the opening.  In collaboration with our partners ACMI, this event took...

This production engaged five students from Whittlesea Secondary College were able to to explore music composition using a range of recording, sequencing and performance devices. The music students developed an understanding of electronic instruments and how sound is...

The Launch of Techfest took place at the National Gallery of Victoria.  Students from Mill Park Secondary College were able to participate in the day's activities. The Minister for Education James Merlino joined Tech School students for the launch of Tech Fest and...

We are pleased to introduce the new co-directors of the Whittlsea Tech School.  At the begining of February Dr Sandra McKechnie and Dr Stefan Schutt joined us in sharing the role of Whittlesea Directors.  Together they have an impressive skill set and hold a passion...

Despite a very hot bus trip, our first industry bus tour was an illuminating adventure.  We got to have a behind the scenes look at the Northern Hospital and the Austin Hospital.  These institutions are very much part of the fabric of the North of Melbourne and part...

Our Tech School is really moving! Much of the capital works planning has been realised and we are entering the next phase of development. Program development is one of our next big pieces of work. We will convene our first inquiry focus panel on the 26th July. It will...

Our sod turning event went off without a hitch and was very positively received.We were fortunate enough to have Hon Lily D'Ambrosio Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Danielle Green MP and Bronwyn Halfpenny MP in attendance. Melbourne Polytechnics...