The Murrumbidgee Academy of STEM Excellence (MASE) is based at Murrumbidgee Regional High School (MRHS) in the city of Griffith in the Riverina region. The MASE includes approximately 20 schools in a hub and spoke model. MRHS is the hub school and its partner primary schools are the spokes. Leeton High School and its partner primary schools also participate in the program. The focus areas for MASE are Agri-Tech, Advanced Manufacturing and the Virtual STEM Academy.
Home to 171,855 people, the Riverina Region supports 75,265 jobs and has an annual economic output of $26.586 billion. Griffith contributes $1.87 billion of this with its 12,616 jobs with 17.4% of these being in manufacturing.
Stretching 500kms from east to west across south-central NSW, the Riverina region covers an area of almost 80,000 square kilometres. The region is home to approximately 171,000 people (2019 ERP), many who rely on the region’s largest employer – agriculture and related businesses – for their livelihood.
Building teacher STEM capacity is a major focus for the MASE. A dedicated STEM Maker Space has been provided by Murrumbidgee Regional High School equipped with a wide range of STEM resources. Regular professional learning is provided to staff within the program coordinated by our STEM Project Officer. Partner Primary Schools are invited to hold their staff meetings in this space where the SISP program is outlined and items from the lending library are showcased. We also invite STEM classes to use the Maker Space for dedicated STEM lessons.
The MASE has strong links with a number of STEM providers including STELR, STILE, Maths On-Line, Pitsco, the Aldrin Foundation, Share Space, iSee, the Queensland Virtual STEM Academy and Grok.
Other projects being worked on in 2021 include the International Rover Challenge (iROC) with Pitsco and the Aldrin Foundation, the Australia New Zealand STEM Education Alliance (ANZSEA), CyberSecurity, the MASE F1 in Schools program, the MASE Aeronautical Velocity Challenge and the University of Newcastle Smart Science Shows and Science and Engineering Challenge.
A significant project being developed in 2020 - 2021 is the creation of the NSW Virtual STEM Academy being hosted at Murrumbidgee Regional High School. This initiative has been an ongoing collaboration between the Queensland Virtual STEM Academy, the SISP Program and the Murrumbidgee Academy of STEM Excellence. The first cohort of students will undertake lessons in STEM enrichment in semester two of 2021. The VSA will provide STEM enrichment for students from years 5 – 9 inspiring a passion and aspiration for STEM through innovative learning, enriching opportunities and transformational partnerships.