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NSW Brain Bee Finals 2012

An exciting finale to the 2012 NSW Brain Bee Challenge saw the top three saw the top three individual places going to girls with the ultimate prize of Brain Bee NSW State champion ultimately being awarded to Vivienne Qingyu Zhang, from Ascham School.  Second and third places were awarded to Suvercha Khattar from Blacktown Girls High School and Jasmine Nguyen from Cabramatta High School, respectively.

As the winner of the State Final, Vivienne will compete as the NSW representative at the National Brain Bee Challenge in Melbourne in February, 2013, during the annual Australian Neuroscience Society conference.

Brain Bee aims to motivate young people to learn about the brain and was created to inspire students to pursue careers in neuroscience research.

124year 10 students from 33 schools visited the UWS School of Medicine on 26 July to take part in the final rounds of the NSW competition. 

For the team competition, James Ruse Agricultural High School was awarded first place, Penrith High School second place, and Baulkham Hills High School secured third place.

Students also enjoyed interactive neurophysiology workshops, presentations by scientists and UWS advanced science students, and tours of the Medicine research laboratories.

For more information on the Challenge and the schools involved see Lots of buzz at the Brain Bee Challenge.

Additional information on the competition can be found on the Australian Brain Bee Challenge website(opens in a new window). 

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The Whitlam Institute’s annual “What Matters?” competition

Students from year 5 to year 12 submit a 400-600 word opinion piece on what matters in society. The 2012 finalists were selected from more than 3,500 entries from over 200 schools.  The 2012 finalists were:

  • Year 5/6 runner-up - Rebecca Chung from Abbotsleigh College
  • Year 5/6 winner - Alexander Husarek from Lapstone Public School
  • Year 7/8 runner-up - Natasha Langdon from Hurlstone Agricultural High School
  • Year 7/8 winner - Sheree Kuan from MLC School
  • Year 9/10 runner-up - Laura Bee from North Sydney Girls High School
  • Year 9/10 winner - Richard Tong from James Ruse Agricultural High School
  • Year 11/12 runner-up - Tamara Lennon from Trinity Catholic School
  • Year 11/12 winner - Amy Ma from Sefton High School

The finalists will attend a special What Matters? Awards Ceremony at the University of Western Sydney's Parramatta campus on Friday 17 August for the announcement of the overall competition winner. 

For information on the 2012 competition, see 'What Matters?'(opens in a new window).

 

2012 UniSteers Competition

School teams annual steer-raising competition is run by the UWS School of Science and Health.

Sixteen high schools from across Greater Western Sydney competed in the 2012 challenge.  Each school received a Poll Hereford steer that students cared and fed for over approximately 100 days.  The steers were then presented for competition at the Hawkesbury showground and the Central Coast Prime Beef Show.  They were then sold on the beef market.

Participating students learnt about animal care, agricultural industries and team work.

For more information see Richmond High takes out UniSchools Steer Challenge                                                          

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Heartbeat - Engaging Indigenous Primary Students in Health and Medicine 

Indigenous students from primary schools in the Greater Western Sydney area attended Heartbeat events -  Heartbeat - Keeping Pace, Heartbeat - Get the Rhythm, Heartbeat - Signals and Signs events in 2012.  Over 400 students participated in fun and engaging workshops and activities that raised their awareness of health issues - as individuals and in their families and communities - which may inspire some to future careers in medicine and health.

The workshops and activities were run by UWS staff and students, the Tharawal Aboriginal Medical Service and St John Ambulance (NSW). Indigenous UWS students from Medicine, Nursing and other Health Science degrees acted as guides for the visiting students and provided personal insights into student life at UWS.

Heartbeat image

Students from Leumeah Public School

For more information, see School students investigate the signals and signs of good health and Future Indigenous health professionals keep pace at UWS and UWS helps Indigenous students decode the signals and signs of a healthy lifestyle

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