News

The stories on this page are: 

• NSW Brain Bee Finals 2011
• 2011 What Matters? competition winners
• South West Sydney Youth Environmental Conference
• 2011 UniSteers competition  
• Heartbeat - Engaging Indigenous Primary Students in Health and Medicine

NSW Brain Bee Finals 2011

An exciting finale to the 2011 NSW Brain Bee Challenge saw the top three students separated by only one point each.  The overall winner was Alexander Wojno of Duval High School in Armidale, just ahead of Kane Hausfield of Penrith High School and Shena Cooke of Lindisfarne Anglican School, Terranora.  Alexander will go on to compete in the national finals at the Gold Coast in January.

Brain Bee aims to motivate young people to learn about the brain and was created to inspire students to pursue careers in neuroscience research.

Nearly 130 year 10 students from 32 schools visited the UWS School of Medicine on 4 August to take part in the final rounds of the NSW competition.  Thirteen schools contested the team final, which was won by Baulkham Hills High (Anand Madan, Joshua Scott-King, Paurush Tyagi and Sai Prakesh Vaheisvaran).  Second was Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Sydney, followed by Hunters Hill High.

Students also enjoyed interactive neurophysiology workshops, presentations by scientists and UWS advanced science students, and tours of the Medicine research laboratories.

2011 winner Alexander Wojno is congratulated by 2010 winner Wasiul Hoque

 The winning team from Baulkham Hills High School

Additional information on the competition can be found on the Australian Brain Bee Challenge website. 

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2011 What Matters? competition winners

Students from year 5 to year 12 submit a 400-600 word opinion piece on what matters in society.

On the 4 August the Whitlam Institute within the University of Western Sydney announced Madeleine Boxall from St Catherine's School in Waverley as the overall winner of the 2011 What Matters? Competition. Madeleine, who is in Year 11, posed the question 'Why has Australia left marriage equality standing at the altar?'  The ceremony was attended by Mrs Margaret Whitlam AO and Yalda Hakim, co-presenter of SBS's Dateline program.

For more information on the 2011 competition, see 'What Matters?'.

South West Sydney Youth Environmental Network Conference

UWS partnered with the Department of Education and Training Environmental Education Centres to hold the 2011 South West Sydney Youth Environmental Network Conference at UWS Campbelltown campus on 8 June.

Students and teachers attended the conference where they were encouraged to respond personally to environmental and sustainability threats and to think critically about working together and taking action in relation to environmental issues that affect our lives today.

Workshops included:

• How to go from sitting on the couch to changing the world and why we have a responsibility to the developing world
• Becoming Empowered to Make a Change
• The Art of Persuasion via Documentary
• Australian Youth Climate Coalition – Young Leaders working to save the planet
• Landcare – Getting your hands dirty
• Working together – Collaborative Problem Solving
• Creating a Successful School-based Eco-Group

Students participating in one of the workshops at the conference 

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2011 UniSteers Competition

School teams annual steer-raising competition is run by the UWS School of Natural Sciences.

Eighteen high schools from across Greater Western Sydney are competing in the 2011 challenge.  Each school has received a Poll Hereford steer that students care and feed for over approximately 100 days.  The steers are then presented for competition at the Hawkesbury showground and the Central Coast Prime Beef Show.  They are then sold on the beef market.

Participating students learn about animal care, agricultural industries and team work.

For more information see  Local schools steer challenge brings agriculture to the table.

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Heartbeat - Engaging Indigenous Primary Students in Health and Medicine 

Indigenous students in years 3 and 4 from schools in the South West Sydney region attended the Heartbeat event on 21 September.  Nearly 100 students participated in workshops and activities that raised their awareness of health issues and increased their understanding of possible future careers in medicine and health-related fields.

The event was organised in collaboration with the Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association and the Tharawal Aboriginal Medical Service.

For more information, see Students get their hearts beating at UWS

The 2011 Heartbeat events will be held on 15 September and again in November on Campbelltown campus.

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