Key foundational documents have been developed and approved, including the Strategic Plan, Operational Plan 1, STEM CPP Program Plan, Monitoring and Evaluation plan and Communication Strategy.
The first program to be implemented under the Generation STEM initiative – the STEM Community Partnerships program (STEM CPP) – commenced in 2019 in three Council areas in Western Sydney PDF (3 MB). Schools and stakeholders from this program attended the official Generation STEM launch on 24 June 2019 with Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education, Geoff Lee and Larry Marshall, SIEF Trustee and Chief Executive of CSIRO.
The Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) team has developed key documents and received approval from the CSIRO Human Research Ethics Committee and jurisdictional approvals via the Diocese of Wollongong and the State Education Research Applications Process (SERAP) for NSW Department of Education schools. This has enabled the team to commence M&E activities for the STEM CPP program.
Despite this significant progress, various challenges have emerged over the past 12 months, including an increasingly complex program landscape, staffing changes and data availability, which the team is working to address with advice from the Consultative Committee. Learnings from the early stages of implementation of STEM CPP in Western Sydney will continue to inform activities within the program, as well as any future programs established under the Generation STEM initiative.
In 2019–20, activities will focus on scaling STEM CPP in Western Sydney and other location priorities; establishing and/or supporting additional programs in line with the Generation STEM Strategic and Operational Plans and the needs of students and employers in NSW; building further relationships with collaborators and partners; and increasing M&E activities.
Local stakeholder engagement and collaboration has been crucial in the successful establishment of the STEM CPP in Western Sydney. The program team has made considerable progress in establishing connections and collaborations to support the program, including with NSW Education Standards Authority, NSW Department of Education, NSW Department of Industry, Office of the NSW Chief Information Officer, local councils, local schools and education authorities, and industry bodies and businesses.