Neerim District and Kyneton Secondary College's Professional Development Day

As part of veski’s inspiring students (& teachers) program, two professional development sessions were held on Wednesday, 28 May and Thursday, 29 May 2014 for science teachers at Kyneton Secondary College and Neerim District Secondary College. Teachers from surrounding secondary colleges and feeder primary schools were invited to attend both sessions as part of our schools commitment to acting as centres of excellence in their regions. In attendance at the Neerim District’s workshop were 12 STEM teachers from primary and secondary schools in the Gippsland area, and at the Kyneton Secondary College’s workshop there were 13 teachers participating from the Loddon Mallee Region. 

The sessions were facilitated by Ms Dina Pozzo of Insium Pty Ltd, utilising the Australia Academy of Science’s Science By Doing publication. The content delivered was based upon five cover modules which incorportate a core focus on an inquiry based approach to science education. Each school received a Science By Doing professional learning pack which consists of a DVD covering each module that was explored in the program.

The head of science for Neerim District and Kyneton liased with veski prior to each workshop to predetermine which module the session covered. An element of pre-work was also required from each attendee to assess their current science teaching methods and to assist in developing an individual program plan for each school.

veski has offered 3 professional development sessions to each of our regional schools over a 12 month period to ensure all 5 modules of the Science by Doing resource are covered. This session was the first for Neerim District and the second for Kyneton Secondary College. The second and third sessions for these schools have been scheduled for later this year.

veski’s programs and events coordinator attended both of these workshops and witnessed outstanding participation from all attendees. It was heart-warming to hear the feedback and appreciation from participants at the end of the day and veski looks forward to working with these teachers across the upcoming sessions.