Gold Coast – Springbrook Rd, Mudgeeraba 4213
P.O. Box 465, Mudgeeraba Qld. 4213
ABN 93 868 568 562
Principal: Mrs Deirdre von Guilleaume
Ph: (07) 5565 0333
Fax: (07) 5565 0300
Website: www.mudgcreess.eq.edu.au
Email: admin@mudgcreess.eq.edu.au
Young Scientists at Mudgeeraba Creek Celebrate State Awards
On Saturday 18 October Year 6 student Amy Jackson from Mudgeeraba Creek State School won
the STAQ Young Scientist of the Year Award. The School also won the overall primary school
award for the Science Teachers’ Association of Queensland (STAQ) Contest announced the same
day.
Ms Jackson’s entry was a project in the Engineering and Technology section where she designed
a lap counter for swimming races. Ms Jackson said “developing the swimming lap counter was
challenging as it needed to be redesigned a number of times to get it to stick to a variety of pool
surfaces.” Ms Jackson was shocked when the award was announced as she knew there where
entries from all over Queensland. Ms Jackson said “I’m really proud to be the Young Scientist of
the Year. I love science because you can try something different and you can make almost
anything if you find the right solution.”
Teacher and Science Co-ordinator Ms Megan Hayes said “Science is an important aspect of the
Australian Curriculum and our teachers and students enjoy exploring many facets of science.
These awards give students the opportunity to deepen and apply their learning. They work
extremely hard to produce so many highly competitive entries.”
Mudgeeraba Creek’s success at the state competition comes just weeks after success at the
Griffith University Science Competition. The school had a record number of entries this year and
took away a swag of prizes across all year levels and also winning the Best Overall Primary
School for the third year in a row.
Ms Deirdre von Guilleaume, Principal, said “The school strives to deliver high quality learning
across all learning areas. Our school is delighted with the awards our students have achieved in
Science and we are particularly proud of Amy Jackson who was named Young Scientist of the
Year.”
The Queensland Science Contest is an annual event organised by the Science Teachers'
Association of Queensland. The contest is open to all Queensland students from Prep to Grade
12, and is judged across six divisions. Students may enter their projects in one of six categories,
Scientific Investigations, Engineering and Technology, Classified Collections, Communicating
Science and Environmental Action. The entries are judged by representatives from scientific and
education organisations.
The National Young Scientist Award is judged from entries received from students in public and
private schools across Australia.