About Sydney STEM Teacher Festival

Empowering STEM educators

The Sydney STEM Teacher Festival is an innovative event designed to celebrate and empower STEM educators. Held during the NSW Government’s EdTECH Week, the festival coincides with the internationally renowned EduTECH conference and Sydney’s VIVID Festival, offering a dynamic backdrop for learning and inspiration.

Hosted by the University of Sydney’s STEM Enrichment Academy and the Sydney Academy of Teacher Excellence as part of their Professor of Practice initiative, the festival focuses on the theme “Design and Integration of STEM Subjects Using Multidisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Approaches.” It provides educators with the tools, strategies, and confidence to deliver cutting edge STEM education, engaging and inspiring their students and benefiting their learning.

Conference Structure

The festival features a carefully designed program with parallel streams tailored to specific needs of STEM educators, including workshops on curriculum areas:

         1.          Primary STEM

         2.         Secondary STEM

         3.         Cross-curricular STEM

         4.         STEM Educational Leadership

Culminating with Optional Activities and Festival Dinner

These dynamic streams ensure targeted learning experiences that address diverse interests and subject areas, allowing educators to engage deeply with innovative teaching practices and approaches.

Why Attend?

The Sydney STEM Teacher Festival is more than a conference—it’s a chance to connect, collaborate, and celebrate. Here’s why you should join us:

• Enhance Your Skills: Gain practical strategies for integrating STEM subjects and cross-curricular approaches into your classroom, as well as for curriculum areas.
• Collaborate and Network: Connect with like-minded educators, corporate partners, and thought leaders in STEM education.
• Be Inspired: Learn from experts in focused streams, showcasing cutting-edge ideas and hands-on activities as well as real-world applications of STEM.
• Drive Equity in Education: Explore strategies to improve STEM outcomes for underrepresented groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, females, and students from low socio-economic backgrounds.
• Celebrate Your Role: Join a community that takes pride in the transformative power of teaching and education and opportunities provided for, and by STEM.

Join us at the University of Sydney on 10 June 2025 for a day of professional growth, collaboration, and celebration. Together, we can empower educators and shape the future of STEM education.

Conference Committees

Governance Committee

• Professor Manjula Sharma (The University of Sydney)
• Professor Scott Sleap (The University of Sydney, NSW Department of Education)

Primary STEM

• Associate Professor Jennifer Way (The University of Sydney)
• Dr Katherin Cartwright (University of Wollongong)
• Silvia Georgiades  (NSW Department of Education)
• Dr Vilma Galstaun (The University of Sydney)
• Rachael Usher (Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese)

Secondary STEM

• Professor Scott Sleap (The University of Sydney, NSW Department of Education)
• Sandra Moore (NSW Department of Education)

Cross-curricular STEM

• Professor Manjula Sharma (The University of Sydney)
• Erika Anza-Mosman (Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sydney)

STEM Educational Leadership

• Professor Manjula Sharma (The University of Sydney)
• Professor Scott Sleap (The University of Sydney, NSW Department of Education)

Secretariat

• Dr Deborah Jackson – Bursaries and communication with teachers
• Daniel Naoumenko – Registration and logistics
• Christie McMonigal – Website and venues
• Nina Goodwin – Whova and June 10 contact