st bishoy- imagine
TRANSCRIPT
Principal's MessagePrincipal's Message
St Bishoy- ImagineAugust 2020
It is with the greatest pleasure that we welcome Dr Ken Silburn who will be joining St Bishoy
College’s team as the Head of Science and Acting Head of STEM commencing Tuesday
15th September 2020.
Dr Ken Silburn is a science educator, communicator, Certi�ed Google Trainer, Microsoft Expert
and passionate about teaching 21st Century Skills and increasing the educational opportunities of
students on a global scale.
Ken has extensive experience in education as a former Head Teacher with the NSW Department of
Education and Training, and is an inaugural STEM Ambassador for Science and Technology
Australia, currently the President of LAZSTA (Metropolitan South West Science Teachers
Association) and Coordinator and founder of the iSTEM (Invigorating Science Technology
Engineering and Mathematics) project delivering science enrichment programs for high school
science students and the US Space Academy Program.
He is internationally renowned in science education, especially in the area of Environmental and
Space Science. He is a strong advocate for engaging students in STEM careers and is currently a
member of the Advisory Board for the International Mars One project and a Director of the
Australian Mars Society. He has participated in NASA Spaceward Bound Expeditions to the
Mojave, Desert USA, Pilbara and Arkaroola expeditions in Australia, and in 2016 was a member of
the education team for the NASA India high altitude Expedition to the Ladakh Region.
Ken is an experienced science communicator. This has led Ken to present at numerous keynotes
and teacher workshops in various countries including UAE, China, Vietnam, New Zealand, the
USA and India. Ken is currently a presenter for the Australian Conservation Foundation, Climate
Reality Project.
In 2016, Ken personally commenced a long-term project to provide science outreach programs
and teacher professional development activities to Indian and African Schools. This included
teaching in remote schools in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.
His work in promoting “Science by Doing” in teaching science was used by the Indian
Department of Education to produce training videos on science education. The resulting series
will be broadcast to excess of 2.5 million students.
Ken was the recipient of the 2013 NSW State Award for Innovation in Science and Mathematics
Teaching, the 2014 NSW Australian Academy of Physics Award for Community Outreach.
In 2015 he was the recipient of the Australian Prime Minister’s Science Prize for Excellence in
Secondary Science Teaching (https://www.smh.com.au/technology/prime-ministers-prize-for-
science-ken-silburn-the-man-who-turned-a-school-onto-science-20151020-gkdfjr.html). He
is now recognised as a Global Teacher Ambassador, having been acknowledged as one of the top
ten teachers in the world, from over 23 000 nominations, through the Varkey Global Teacher
Prize and as a recipient of the prestigious Dr Paul Brock Medal from the Australian College of
Educators.
Important DatesWed 23rd Sep- Spelling Bee (Grades 1-6)
SLCJeans for Genes day:
On the 7th August, the SLC organised Jeans for Genes day to support families with children who
have genetic disorders. On this day students learnt about the cause and wore jeans to support the
charity. The SLC would love to thank all the SBC families who donated a gold coin as together we
raised and donated $360.90
Elections:
On the 18th August, the SLC organised the elections for the 2021 School Captains and House
Captains. The current Year 11 students were asked to present a speech to the other High School
students. High School students and sta� were then asked to vote. The new captains will be
announced at the year 12 Graduation. We would like to thank all the applicants who applied for the
positions. We are so proud of you for taking the chance to nominate yourself and for the
professionalism you demonstrated in your speeches.
SLC Involvement in Pastoral Care:
This term, Pastoral Care has been run in House Groups to enable the students of each house to
build on their connections and sense of family within their house. During these Pastoral Care
classes, the SLC members have taken initiative by supporting the teachers and students in all
activities. Together, PCs have become more engaging and purposeful. We are really enjoying
learning about and developing our characters strengths.
Junior Members
Throughout Term 3, the Year 11 and 12’s have been busy preparing for their preliminary and trial
examinations. In doing so, the junior SLC members have stepped up and organised the events and
fundraisers, as well as taken initiatives in meetings, in their absence and have shown their
capabilities of being true leaders of the school.
Subject Selection Night
Music IncursionMusic Incursion: "All Hands on Drums"! Stage 4 and Stage 6 students had a great experience and
fun learning and playing polyrhythms on djembe!
Kindergarten HSIEKindergarten have been learning about Celebrations in HSIE. Here are photos with them wearing
their self made party hats.
STEMStudents were challenged this month to remake an iconic building or landscape. They were only
given 30 minutes to use some tape and newspaper to create their STEM project.
