News Archive

The recent July school holidays saw 70 Indigenous students from throughout the state participate in School of Indigenous Studies Outreach programs. 46 of these students were part of the Year 9 - 11 Science, Engineering and Health Camp, whilst the other 24 tuned up for their exams through participation in WACE Revision classes.

But it is not just a one-off holiday experience for these students, with the School committed to tracking and supporting students after their visits. The camp students are now part of the "Indigenous Science Club", a club that is hosted online and allows for interaction, chat, photo sharing and competitions. The students are in the process of building their own webpage that describes a science-related career and the pathway to get there, with the best page in the running for an IPad 2. Student Kacey Griffith, from Newton Moore Senior High School, is determined to become a forensic officer and writes on her page "make high school count: do my best on English papers and lab reports in science. I'll need strong writing skills to draft reports throughout my career".

The WACE Revision students have the opportunity to attend a session to learn about the TISC process for entering university and take up more revision classes in the upcoming October school holidays.

The Outreach programs see positive results, with many of the participating students ending up gaining entry to university. This year for example, 80 new Indigenous students commenced at UWA, 50 of whom came through the School of Indigenous Studies Outreach Program.

The programs are run with the support of the university, government and industry. This year, the Science, Engineering and Health Camp received support from Woodside which gave students the opportunity to visit the company and meet UWA graduates and current employees. One student said that the visit was the most interesting experience of the camp as they learnt about the oil and gas industry and got an insight into working for the company.

Media references

Elisa McGowan (UWA School of Indigenous Studies)  (+61 8)  6488 3428
Sally-Ann Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 7975  /  (+61 4) 20 790 098