Samsung shares the magic of Vivid Sydney with students from regional Australia

Samsung Electronics Australia to fly 24 students from South Australia’s Mount Burr to Vivid Sydney.

Samsung Electronics Australia, in partnership with Social Ventures Australia (SVA), will host students from regional South Australia for the students’ first trip to the ‘Harbour City’ to see the magic of Vivid Sydney.

This will be the first time on an airplane for the majority of the 24 students who are from Mount Burr Primary School, Nangwarry Primary School and Glencoe Central Primary School, making it a trip they’ll never forget even before they land and take in the iconic sights of the ‘Big Smoke’.

The schools are among 15 other schools included in the STEM Learning Hub, an initiative co-created by Samsung and SVA in 2017 which endeavors to bridge Australia’s STEM skill gap by providing students and teachers from low-socioeconomic communities access to Samsung technology and resources that they would otherwise not have had access to.

Currently, a disproportionate number of school children in Australia’s low socio-economic communities do not have access to same resources as their peers from metro cities. As a result, by the age of 15 students can be up to five times more likely to be low performers than a student in a higher socio-economic area[i].
These children are also less likely to develop their talent in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), where as many as 75 per cent of the fastest growing jobs will require these skills and knowledge[ii].

Josh Grace, Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung Electronics Australia, said: “Breaking barriers and enabling new experiences through technology is at the heart of the Samsung brand. Samsung is committed to helping students realise their potential and achieve their dreams.

“Through our partnership with SVA we want to provide innovative educational experiences that use technology to complement traditional classroom practices and enable the next generation of thinkers with the skills required for the future of work. We are excited to have the Mount Burr students here in Sydney and hope they learn a lot and just as importantly, have a lot of fun!”

The South Australian school was selected by Samsung and SVA for the Vivid experience after demonstrating excellence in their STEM studies. To help the students prepare for Vivid they participated in a photography tour around Circular Quay with well-known photographer, Rob Mullaly. During the tour the students learnt how to take pictures on the Samsung Galaxy A-series smartphone so that they could capture Vivid Sydney in all its glory.

Anne-Marie Fitzgerald, Principal, Mount Burr Primary School said, “Whilst we very much value the benefits of our small school and community we also understand the importance of providing our students with learning opportunities beyond our local area to broaden their experiences. The Samsung Vivid Sydney experience provides an exciting opportunity for our students to engage in purposeful learning beyond Mount Burr.”

Suzanne Cridge, Director, Education, Bright Spots Schools Connection, SVA said, “We want to see all children in Australia, no matter where they grow up, have access to great technology to support their learning. We are delighted that Samsung supports SVA’s STEM Learning Hub, which is helping create inspiring learning experiences for young people across the country.”

The STEM Learning Hub is part of a wider network of 42 schools which are included in SVA’s Bright Spots School Connection. Since the commencement of the Hub, more than 790 teachers and 8,000 students have participated in the program.

All of the schools involved in the STEM Learning Hub have access to professional development, STEM-specific training and Samsung technology to advance their students’ knowledge, and respond to their changing education demands, equipping them with the STEM skills needed for future prosperity.

Samsung is a partner of Vivid Sydney and has two technology-enabled experiences at this year’s festival including the Samsung Electric Playground and Samsung Galaxy Studio. Samsung’s experiences have proven to be among the most popular installations at Vivid Sydney, welcoming more than 60,000 visitors since it opened on May 24, 2019.

See here for more information about Samsung Australia’s CSR program and the STEM Learning Hub.

^[i] OECD 2016. Low-Performing Students: Why They Fall Behind and How to Help Them Succeed

^[ii] PWC, Future-proofing Australia’s workforce by growing skills in science, technology, engineering and maths, http://www.pwc.com.au/stem.html , 2015