2026 Virtual Forum: Excelling Science across NSW – Day One
17 September @ 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm AEST
2026 STANSW Virtual Forum Day One
Thursday 17 September, 4.30-6.30pm, online
Stay ahead of syllabus change with bite-sized, high-impact professional learning designed for primary teachers and high school science teachers across NSW. Delivered in convenient twilight sessions, this virtual forum lets you learn from leading educators and experts, without taking time away from your classes or travelling across the state.
Whether you’re in metropolitan, regional or remote schools, this is a flexible, accessible way to connect, learn and grow, directly from your home or classroom.
Primary Program Day 1: Early Stage 1 and Stage 1
Time |
Speaker |
Topic |
| 4:30pm – 5:05pm | Zoe Stephens,
Ngarala PS |
Science in Action – Organising and Implementing Interactive Science Days
This session will report on a project carried out at Ngarala Public School, in Epping. The Specialist Science teacher was tasked with designing and implementing a program of learning where lessons would be delivered to students from K-6 in a combination of individual classroom-based inquiry lessons and a whole stage interactive science experience. Zoe will outline the planning and preparation process for each interactive science day she implemented for Early Stage 1 and Stage 1, share some insights into the days and samples of student learning experiences. |
| 5:05pm – 5:15pm | Tea Break | |
| 5:15pm – 5:45pm | Networking | |
| 5:55pm – 6:30pm | Assoc. Prof. Christine Preston, The University of Sydney, and Bachelor of Education Primary Science Specialisation students | Embodied learning – Stage 1 senses: eye and ear. Preservice teachers from the University of Sydney who are completing the NESA Science and Technology K-6 Specialisation will present strategies suited to helping Stage 1 children understand fundamental aspects of how the eye and ear function to enable humans to see and hear. Students will demonstrate and discuss how embodied learning, where students use their own bodies as a form of representation, can support science understanding of abstract concepts. Students will identify critical concepts, critique standard diagrammatical representations and provide examples of age-appropriate activities for Stage 1 students. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss the affordances of embodied learning approaches. |
Primary Pricing
| Single Day |
Full Series | |
| Primary Member | $65 | $125 |
| Pre-service Member | $30 | $55 |
| Non-Member | $120 | $180 |
Secondary Program Day 1: Depth Studies
Time |
Speaker |
Topic |
| 4:30pm – 5:05pm | ||
| 5:05pm – 5:15pm | Tea Break | |
| 5:15pm – 5:45pm | Networking | |
| 5:55pm – 6:30pm | Dr Richard Walding, Griffith University | 2 Concurrent Depth Studies sessions:
Chemistry Depth Studies: Four great pracs that work well. Dr Richard Walding will present several chem pracs in acid-base reactions that work well in addressing the ‘derive trends’ aspect of Band 6 criteria in the 2025 NSW Chemistry syllabus. Schools in rural and remote often struggle with practical aspects of the syllabus if they don’t have adequate resources. Teachers often worry that the new practicals will be manageable but will require buying chemicals that school labs don’t use. However, the experiments Richard is presenting are not overly complex. In fact, they are simple pracs that need little equipment and can be done in any school in the State. The important part is how the collected data can be graphed to show patterns and relationships, and derive trends, so necessary to allow for a good depth of thinking. Richard will show the setup of the pracs and what concentrations, volumes and equipment works best. Teachers will leave with a variety of ready-to-go pracs that lab staff will have little trouble setting up, and that students will understand how to perform them, what to look out for, and the best approaches for analysis of data and its limitations. |
| 5:55pm – 6:30pm | Rob Mahon, MacKillop College Port Macquarie | Diving into Depth Studies
The mandatory depth study components of both the Preliminary and HSC science courses are an intimidating obstacle for many teachers. In an attempt to manage the many moving parts of these, some teachers enforce greatly constricted choices or a specifically mandated topic of depth study for all students to focus on. This restriction of student choice goes against the principles behind the depth study investigation. This workshop looks at ways to open up the bottleneck around student choice in depth study selection. In the preliminary depth study session, we will look at ways to offer a large menu of choices for students to create a physical model with working components and a digital overlay of both curated and created content. In the HSC depth study session, we will look at how to offer a “Blue Sky” range of primary or secondary investigations. In both sessions we will provide marking rubrics which allow for clarity of marking and fair comparison and across a wide range of student choices. |
Secondary Pricing
| Single Day |
Full Series | |
| Individual Secondary Member | $80 | $155 |
| Secondary School Member | $95 | $185 |
| Pre-service Member | $30 | $55 |
| Non-Member | $240 | $475 |
Registration Closes: Wednesday, 9 September 2026
Become a member or login to your member account to access our member pricing. Individual memberships cover 12 months from the date of joining, giving you access to our free Networks and webinars for members, resources and other discounted events.
Wanting to add a second session from our Virtual Forum Series?
Register for the full series – at less than the cost of adding a second day. All sessions are recorded, so even if you can’t attend live, you’ll still receive access to the content and resources – up to 12 sessions for secondary teachers and 8 sessions for primary teachers.
Professional Learning Hours
STANSW is a NESA recognised provider. This professional learning may be logged as accredited professional development hours toward proficient teacher accreditation. Standards addressed: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7.
