Doonside students learning skills of the future

Ever wanted to eat cupcakes with a robot? Ok us either... But more than 600 students from seven schools gathered at Doonside Technology High in Western Sydney and had the chance to do just that. They weren’t just bonding over the baked goods, they were learning skills of the future like STEM and computer science.

A recent report from Alphabeta highlighted the changing nature of work due to developments in technology and automation and looked at the skills the Austrailan workforce will need to thrive in the new economy.

We were delighted to join Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy, Ed Husic in partnering with nonprofit organisation Schools Plus to support a STEM-themed school program and Robotics Club at Doonside Technology high that will see seven schools - Crawford Public School, Doonside Public School, Doonside Technology High School, Evans High School, Marayong South Public School, Plumpton High School and Walters Road Public School - receive support to significantly expand students’ access to digital technologies and STEM learning activities.

We’re providing $45,000 in funding as well as mentoring and professional development with some of our amazing Google colleagues to introduce more STEM education for students.

This is the third project Google has funded with Schools Plus, taking our total contributions to over $100,000 including Balga High School (WA) and Madison Park (SA).

We've long been supporters of computer science and STEM education in Australia - supporting over 12,000 teachers through Google Educator PD grants, reaching new students across the country and giving them access to a world class robotics program with FIRST robotics, and delivering professional development training to over 35,000 teachers (and counting) across Australia through our collaboration with the CSER team at the University of Adelaide. Future innovations and inventions in Australia will come from students gaining skills in computer science today, and blending that with other disciplines to solve challenges the world faces now, and in the future.

Thanks to Schools Plus for bringing this exciting opportunity to us and we can’t wait to work with students and teachers in Western Sydney to do great things with technology.