STEM
Students from ELC to Year 12 have the opportunity to embrace STEM as part of their learning journey at Kilvington.
A person who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
— Albert Einstein
Program Structure
Kilvington aims to ignite students' interest in STEM from early learning through senior school, fostering curiosity and skill development in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through engaging, hands-on experiences, real-world projects, and career-focused opportunities.
Kilvington’s ELC aims to promote children’s interest in STEM in the year before school and to continue this interest through primary school and beyond. The focus is on providing an engaging play-based learning environment and provides inspiration for hands-on activities and experiences rich in STEM practices.
Students in Years 5 – 8 take part in transdisciplinary STEM projects where they follow design thinking protocols to create solutions to real world problems.
Our students are empowered to apply their knowledge from Science, Digital Technologies, Mathematics and Design classes, while developing their communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills.
Our Years 5 – 8s have the opportunity to work on a range of immersive and engaging projects including:
YEAR 5 AND 6: DRONE PROJECT
Learning about how drones are built and operated provides children with hands-on experience in STEM. By exploring the mechanics of drone construction, they develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as an understanding of aerodynamics, electronics, and programming. These practical experiences not only make abstract concepts tangible but also inspire curiosity and creativity, fostering a deeper interest in all STEM fields.
Additionally, operating drones helps children build spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, and teamwork. It encourages them to think strategically, plan routes, and consider real-world applications, such as environmental monitoring or disaster relief. These skills and experiences prepare students in the rapidly advancing technological landscape.
YEAR 7: TOY TIME
Students form a company and design and build a toy to teach a 10-year-old about motion and forces. The company consists of a Market Research Executive, Design and Building Executive, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Scientific Advisor.
The project runs across Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics for a period of three weeks after which each groups’ finished toy is presented at a Toy Time Showcase.
Our Years 3 and 4 students judge and then award the Kids Choice Award and an industry expert awards the Industry Award.
YEAR 8: OUR SUSTAINABLE WORLD
The aim of this program is to help students understand the importance of sustainability as the capacity to endure through environmental management and conservation, ecosystem services, eco-buildings/cities, ethical consumerism, green technologies and renewable energy.
Year 8 students participate in a dynamic three-day program, where they develop different projects looking at the sustainability of our world in relation to natural disasters. Through Science they design, build and test models of sustainable buildings. Through ICT they develop public service announcements and raising awareness videos about natural disasters.
'Our Sustainable World' gives students the opportunity to further develop their skills of inquiry, team work, experimentation, creativity, evaluation and synthesis, whilst focusing on a topic that is relevant to the world that they live in now and in the future.
As students progress through Senior School, they explore pathways into future STEM careers. They have the opportunity to attend a range of internal and external careers events designed to enable them to meet STEM professionals.
We also encourage students to attend work experience and higher education immersive experiences programs as part of our connections with Boeing, the Bionics Institute and The University of Melbourne.
We offer a wide range of VCE options in STEM subjects, including Specialist Mathematics and Systems Engineering, and we are proud of the high number of students engaged in these subjects.