President’s Message
STANSW was first founded by Oscar Ulrich Vonwilla (1882–1972)
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/vonwiller-oscar-ulrich-8932.
There followed a gap after WW1 until Edgar Harold Booth became
President (1923-25). As Director of the Sydney University Union in
the 1920s showed him to be an energetic and able administrator;
Margaret Shepherd
President STANSW
he was also President (1928-32) of the Science Teachers’
Association of New South Wales.
There was another decline following WW2. Roy Stanhope then
reinstated STANSW in 1951, and it has been flourishing ever since.
That means we will be having a 70th anniversary year in 2021.
We plan an exciting year with a large Conference, Dinner, and
Once again we reach the end of our time with year 12 students;
consequently many of us will be simultaneously excited for them
and sad. We give them so much of our energy and emotion
for such a long time – and then they are gone. That is our lot.
How good does it feel to be part of these wonderful students’
lives for such a short time? How good does it feel when we see
them walk out of that school knowing that we played a part in
the development of each of them as a person? We can feel
reassured that these future adults will make their mark on the
world, as does every other student we serve.
many other activities so we are inviting any teachers interested
to be part of the planning team for the anniversary year. Please
send your expression of interest to president@stansw.asn.au. We
will start planning early in term 4.
The official journal for STANSW is SEN and I would like to thank
all those contributors who have written and shared their great
ideas, science news and other interesting articles over the years.
Our wonderful editor, George Pinniger is diligent in presenting
to our members the best journal that he can. I acknowledge his
contributions to STANSW for so many years. Thank you, George.
So, thank you for everything you do to build NSW students’
scientific literacy so they can make informed decisions in the
world, so that they can build our future and respond to our new
needs with the changing world climate, and help remove any
inequity that occurs. STANSW thanks all of you for continually
growing and improving your practice so that you can be the best
you can be! You are to be acknowledged over and over – loudly
and proudly.
So how has the year gone so far? We are nearly finished teaching
the new Stage-6 syllabi, including Science Extension, and we still
face the first computerised HSC exam. There has been vigorous
chat on Facebook pages where teachers are debating syllabus
content points and sharing resources. As your Association, we
would love to have your feedback so we will be fully informed
when we have meetings with NESA. Please send me your
This is the time of year when the four STANSW Council vacancies
are open for nominations. Have a think, and consider how you
might give back to all those other teachers who have helped you
over your career. We are a united team of happy and enthusiastic
teachers who work together to bring professional learning
to fellow science teachers, K-12, and laboratory assistants,
and give everyone the opportunity to share their successes or
otherwise. We create knowledge through experience, and there
is much wisdom out there. Nominations for Council close on
16th October. The application site can be found on our website
at http://stansw.asn.au/default.aspx?nav_id=1&child_id=59
feedback to margaret.shepherd@stansw.asn.au.
Lots of STANSW professional learning events are still happening
this semester, so keep an eye out on the web page, and also
ENews. We have a particularly interesting program for primary
teachers, so do pass this information on to your primary
colleagues so they won’t miss out.
I wish you well for the break at the end of this term and look
forward to the next term.
Yours sincerely,
Since our Association has been growing so much Council has
once again decided to employ a full time Executive Officer to
support the Council to strategically plan how we might become
a better state-wide association. See position description at:
http://stansw.asn.au/default.aspx?article_id=298
Margaret Shepherd
STANSW President
Applications for this position close on 19th September.
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