Why Schools Choose the Oliphant Science Awards

What do the Oliphant Science Awards mean to me? Teachers Christiana Schammer and Louise Mather responded to our call for stories from Oliphant Science Awards Coordinators. Here they share their experiences.

Christiana Schammer, Specialist Science Teacher, Annesley Junior School

Unfortunately I did not participate in the Oliphant Science Awards as a student. I wish I had as I would have loved the Models and Inventions category. 

I became involved in the Awards when I began working as a specialist science teacher at my school. I was looking for extra options for students involving projects they could work on at home. I have also explored entering different categories with individual classes to work on in lesson time. 

I know that my students and school will gain a lot from participating in the awards this year. I love that students have a chance to explore their different passions within the field of science. They often work on projects at home and I can see that families put in a lot of effort. I enjoy seeing the students’ sense of pride and satisfaction when their projects are done as well as the learning along the way. We celebrate their successes at school with all certificates being presented at a whole school assembly. The smiles on the students’ faces say it all. 

Louise Mather, Head of Senior Campus, Ngutu College

My stories are about supporting young people to design games, prepare crystals, create posters, take photos, share stories and review experiments - all the time thinking about how science is done.

The competition allows learners a creative space to think as a scientist to solve problems and understand how the world works and reflect how humans impact on this world.

The collaboration and participation process, and skill development are the important parts of the competition - winning is not our focus, but it’s sometimes fun! 

Last year one of my gardener learners was focused on using photography to capture pollinators in action. His interest was sustained in the holidays when his family travelled interstate. He learnt so many new photographic techniques as he worked to capture the fast and furious magic of a pollinator in progress. The images included birds, moths, butterflies and flies. His learning in all aspects of this project was rich and rewarding.