STEM CPP CASE STUDY 
Seven Hills High School

This case study describes the implementation of the STEM Community Partnerships 
Program (STEM CPP) at Seven Hills High School, focusing on 2023. The STEM CPP 
aims to create strong partnerships between local schools and industry, with the 
goal of highlighting local STEM careers and opportunities and providing avenues 
for students to develop their STEM skills in an engaging and rewarding way.

Context

Seven Hills High School is a co-educational government school 
located in the Seven Hills suburb, Blacktown City Council, 
and Greater Western Sydney region of Sydney. In 2023, the 
school offered years 7 to 12 and had 38 teaching staff. Student 
enrolments total 451, with 55 per cent being male students. 
Seven per cent of students were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait 
Islander and 20 per cent have a language background other 
than English. The School’s ICSEA1 value is 967, which is lower 
than the median of 1,000 for schools in Australia. The school 
first became involved in the STEM CPP program in 2021 and is 
currently involved in a number of other STEM programs and 
activities, Including: an on-site Vocational Innovation Centre, 
Girls’ Tech Day (hosted by Amazon Web Services), Future Space 
Program/Young Space Explorers Forum, Gifted and Talented 
Science Day at WSU Parramatta, Streamwatch (citizen science 
program), ParkLife Metro presentation on opportunities in 
infrastructure, Games Club (critical thinking and problem 
solving), and a STEM Club.

STEM CPP was originally part of an extra-curricular activity 
(in 2021 and 2022) at the school but is now a part of the iSTEM 
elective subject (2023). The school took part in most aspects 
of STEM CPP including the student inquiry project, student 
showcase, and industry mentor.

Case study questions and methodology

The questions that this case study sought to answer included:

• What outcomes did STEM CPP contribute to for students, 
teachers, and the school?
• What factors contributed to the program’s success?
• What barriers and issues were experienced?


This case study is based on semi-structured, face-to-face 
interviews with the lead teacher implementing the program 
at the school and a school leadership team member and 
CSIRO program team feedback. 

In addition, two students responded to the STEM CPP 
evaluation survey; although this very small sample size, a few 
results have been included to provide some student voice 
in the case study. The industry mentor did not respond to 
requests for an interview.

Findings

Based on feedback from the two educators (interviews), two 
students (surveys), and program staff (feedback), it was clear 
that a number of changes and outcomes occurred as a result 
of STEM CPP, with many directly attributable to STEM CPP, and 
others that were likely part of larger trends that the program 
implementation coincided with. The following two pages 
summarise the key findings in three areas: observed changes, 
what worked and facilitating factors, and barriers and issues. 
Evidence for these are outlined in the Appendix.

Conclusion

When asked about the counterfactual (i.e., what would the 
school be doing if they had not participated in STEM CPP), 
School staff stated they would probably be doing something 
similar but that it wouldn’t involve a focus on local issues and 
a community connection. The connection to real-world STEM 
and community issues appears to be the primary benefit of 
the program, despite some challenges with the school and 
industry mentor connecting. Some changes were somewhat 
anticipated, such as STEM CPP students involving their peers 
(not involved in STEM CPP) in their inquiry projects.

Acknowledgements

This case study was prepared by Christopher Banks, Impact 
& Evaluation, CSIRO Education and Outreach. The I&E team 
would like to thank all those who volunteered their time to 
participate in the interviews and surveys openly and honestly.


1 ICSEA is the Index for Community Socio-Educational Advantage, which 
provides an indication of the socio-educational background of students 
attending that school. The median ICSEA value in Australia is 1000.



STEM CPP outcomes

The outcomes that STEM CPP seeks to achieve or contribute to are:

1. Students have increased knowledge and 
understanding of STEM
2. Students have increased interest in STEM
3. Students have increased confidence in STEM 
4. Students increase their transferrable skills
5. Students have increased awareness of STEM pathways 
and careers 
6. Teachers have greater confidence and skills to teach 
STEM through inquiry-based learning methods
7. Council and industry develop challenge scenarios that 
reflect their local needs
8. Schools, councils and industry engage more with 
one another
9. Students have an increased aspiration to study STEM
10. Students have increased awareness of available STEM 
education pathways
11. Schools develop a culture that promotes and supports 
students to study STEM
12. Students are more engaged with community issues
13. More students choose to study STEM after Year 10
14. More diverse students choose to study STEM after 
Year 10
15. More high potential students choose to study STEM 
after Year 10
16. Council and local industry increase investment 
in activities that promote and link students with 
STEM‑related careers
17. More students pursue NSW-based STEM education 
pathways post school
18. More students are STEM literate in their education 
and careers post-school 
19. More students are employed in STEM roles




Observed changes

KEY CHANGE

STEM CPP DIRECT 
OR CONTRIBUTION 
TO OUTCOME2 

OUTCOMES 
CONTRIBUTED 
TO:

DESCRIPTION

More girls are 
interested in and 
engaged with STEM

Contribution

2, 9, 14

There was a reported increase in the number of young 
women interested in STEM at the school, although this 
was not directly attributed to STEM CPP, but rather an 
overall trend that STEM CPP contributed to.

STEM is seen 
as cooler

Contribution

9, 14

Over the past few years, STEM has been seen as less 
nerdy and uncool by students, with the diversity of 
STEM opportunities becoming more widely known 
(e.g., the creative side).

There has been 
a broadening view 
of STEM

Direct

5, 10

STEM CPP directly contributed to increasing awareness 
of the variety and diversity of STEM careers, how useful 
it is in everyday life, and what is involved in STEM. 
This was reported by both educators and students.

Increased interest 
in STEM electives 
from students, 
including previously 
un‑interested or 
lower academically

Contribution

2, 9, 15

The iSTEM elective, which STEM CPP was a part of in 
2023, has seen more interest and uptake from a range 
of students, compared to the high achievers involved 
in the extra-curricular STEM CPP opportunity in 
previous years.

Increased peer 
connections and 
students involving 
friends in their 
STEM projects

Direct

2

Due to the individualised nature of STEM inquiry 
projects, some students engaged their friends 
(not doing STEM CPP) to assist, who in turn were 
exposed to STEM. In addition, some former STEM CPP 
participants informally mentored current ones.

Increased value 
placed on STEM 
due to (open) 
inquiry projects

Direct

7

It was reported that students placed more value on 
STEM because of the investment they placed in their 
individualised inquiry projects and the connection to 
local issues.

Increased recognition 
of school and 
students

Direct

11

The inquiry projects and student showcase allowed 
the school to publicise the work of students through 
multiple communication channels, which led to more 
opportunities to recognise and celebrate students’ work.

Students developed 
more resilience, 
confidence, 
and teamwork/
collaboration skills

Direct

3

The undertaking of the inquiry projects (and the 
group work) led to increased collaboration skills and 
resilience and presenting the outcomes of projects 
contributed to increased confidence.

Skill transfer to other 
subject areas

Direct

4

It was reported that some student skills and capabilities 
(like resilience) gained through participation in STEM 
CPP were employed by students in other subjects.





2 As assessed by author



What worked and facilitating factors

Authentic and 
real‑life STEM 
connected to 
community

The community-driven inquiry projects and the real-world application of STEM was a key 
driver of engagement and interest in STEM among participants.

Structure of program 
and fitting in with 
existing curriculum

Educators at the school valued the clear structure of the program, which fit seamlessly 
into existing curriculum and built on previous inquiry-based project work by students.

Support of CSIRO 
program officer

Educators felt supported by CSIRO program staff and valued the flexibility and willingness 
to make things work.

CSIRO brand and 
confidence it will be 
a good program

The high-profile and respected CSIRO brand and reputation helped the program to be 
accepted by the school and parents.

Showcases that made 
students feel special, 
more engaged, and 
less introverted

The student showcases, particularly in-person ones, made students feel special 
and provided opportunities for recognition and connection without the pressure of 
a public presentation/speech.

Excursions and 
engagement with 
wider community

Educators reported that students were engaged during excursions and highly valued 
the opportunity to speak directly with industry professionals.

Support of school 
leadership team, 
wh trusted teachers 
to get on with it

The educators reported that the school leadership supported STEM programs like STEM 
CPP and trusted them to deliver them without interference.





Barriers and issues

Difficulty connecting 
with industry mentor, 
who wasn’t based 
locally

Educators reported difficulties connected with the industry mentor due to timing issues 
and also because they were not based in the local area of the school.

Virtual offerings 
were not engaging

Educators indicated that students were disengaged with any virtual offerings and 
preferred face-to-face connections.

Students wanted 
more time talking 
with people

Educators had predicted that students would be most engaged with hands-on STEM 
activities but students seemed more interested in discussions with STEM professionals.

Timing of activities

Educators reported difficulties aligning school and class schedules with opportunities 
offered by the program.







Appendix: Evidence for findings3

Observed changes

More girls are interested in and engaged 
with STEM

…my first year I had one or two girls, and now getting 
a few more.

And more girls I think are picking it [STEM] now, than initially.

There has been a broadening view of STEM

I think a lot of [students not engaged with STEM], even though 
they don’t normally do STEM or they didn’t necessarily have that 
interest…seeing how it works and getting the interest that it’s 
beyond just coding and robots. You can be creative and still have 
a part in STEM. And I think it’s just opening it up…it’s not just 
coding, it’s not just building a robot. It’s all this stuff. It’s all of the 
stuff behind it. It’s being creative, it’s being artistic.

…it [STEM CPP] adds that extra…community level. It connects 
them in…it makes it…authentic…I think in some way it shows 
them where things can go. So, it’s not just, oh, we’ve come 
up with this idea and nothing’s going to happen with it… 
because they get to speak to these people: industry experts or 
[people] in different fields. And they [the students] realise that 
they don’t just have to be a computer person or an engineer to be 
in tech, to be in STEM. STEM’s a really big field. So, it opens that 
up, I think. Because some of them, they kind of like it. It’s a little 
bit fun to play with a robot for a little while, but then as it gets 
harder, then they think, maybe not. But them being able to show 
this whole range of things, and it’s all about solving problems 
and coming up with solutions, and it’s not just about writing 
code and creating your robot. It’s actually much bigger. So, I think 
isn’t that ideal?

STEM is seen as cooler

[STEM] has evolved…a lot more people who I didn’t think would 
be picking the subject have picked the subject…we’re very broad 
in who we have in the class.

Increased interest in STEM electives from 
students, including previously un-interested 
or lower academically

It’s [interest in STEM elective subjects] increased. Yes. Especially 
this year…since we’ve implemented this elective [iSTEM that 
involves STEM CPP]…the numbers have been growing.

…we modify the [inquiry] project so they can still do it. 
They might do something slightly different or something that 
they can do. But yeah, they’re still working in the groups and 
they’re still contributing. And they’re still building those skills. 
And they are getting that understanding of STEM.

Increased peer connections and students 
involving friends in their STEM projects

And some…[participants] are drawing their friends into it 
[inquiry projects] as well. Who may not be in the [STEM CPP] 
class, but they’re seeing what they’re doing [inquiry project], 
so they’re bringing in an interest into their friends to do it. 
Whereas if we just ran it in class, we didn’t have any of these 
external things, it’d just be what we did in class, there wouldn’t 
be that aspect of, oh, come and sit with me at lunchtime because 
help me with this. And then they start getting their interest and 
they come along and they’re building their confidence as well.

…there’s one student and she’s brought in a friend who…
doesn’t do the class, but she’s been doing a lot of work on the 
[inquiry] project. [I have taught her]…for three years and she’s 
barely said a word. And now they’re both going for captain…they 
didn’t feel like they had that ability to be a leader and to be able 
to voice their opinion and be able to stand up and talk to people 
and tell people things. But because of the STEM [CPP program]…
they’ve now found that confidence…[and]…a voice…

And some of our Year 10s who had done it [STEM CPP] in Year 9, 
they actually were helping the [Year] 8s and 9s with their ideas, 
their projects, their presentations for the showcase. So even 
though they weren’t participating, they still came along and 
spent a lot of their own time prepping the younger students.

Increased value placed on STEM due to (open) 
inquiry projects

I think because they can value it [inquiry project], because 
they value it and they take ownership of it and it builds their 
confidence up…they do really want to talk to people. And are 
happy to do the showcases the way it is. Because they spend a lot 
of time [developing] projects. And they’re really proud of it.

It’s just giving them [the students] that option…trying to…
increase that engagement by saying: ‘Here are the options, 
but you get to pick’, rather than just going: ‘This is what we’re 
doing. You’re going to do this.’…we gave them the option of 
picking different categories. It just happened that the two that 
we showcased this year were the same themes of engaging the 
youth…so they’ve created something to make things better [in the 
community] based on what they’ve experienced.

Skill transfer to other subject areas

Yeah, it [resilience] does [is useful]. Whatever they’re facing, 
they’ve got that challenge. Or whether it’s in an exam or in 
everyday life. Yeah, so I think the skill transfer is really, really 
important. Probably more so than the academics.

3 All quotes are from the semi-structured interviews with school staff.



Increased recognition of school and students

Recognition in the community. As I said, the achievements, they 
get put on Facebook and on the website. And I think the kids get 
the recognition. Not just from their parents, but from anyone 
who likes our page and then it goes to other people. I think that 
is important.

And [the inquiry projects and showcase]…goes on our Facebook 
page. And you know, it gets promoted in the community. And a 
lot of the kids are on our Facebook page so they see what they’ve 
[the participants have] done. So, it improves their confidence and 
I think it’s really important.

Student’s development of more resilience 
and confidence, and teamwork and 
collaboration skills

And I think that also draws more students in too. It gives them 
more interest and…it builds that resilience because I think one of 
the biggest things with STEM is it teaches them that failing is okay. 
Like it’s fine for things not to work, because that’s what happens.

I think through [STEM CPP], they [students] develop more 
persistence and resilience…at the beginning, if they read 
something and they can’t do it, they’ll give up quite easily. 
Or say it’s too hard or want you to help them. But I think through 
the programs, with STEM CPP and the fact that you’ve got to 
problem-solve and you’ve got to do your research and have an 
evaluation and change things around, and [the teacher’s] not 
giving them all the answers or anything, they have developed 
that area a lot better. And that they’re probably a little bit more 
persistent and resilient…

…a lot of projects are group-work based…You have to discuss 
with each other and work together and collaborate and argue 
their point if they want to do something one way, they’ve got to 
justify why they want to do what they want to do. So, I think that 
all helps.

What worked and facilitating factors

Showcases made students feel special, 
more engaged, and less introverted

And the way the showcase is run as well, it makes it much easier 
for those students who might be a little bit more introverted, they 
don’t have to stand in front of everyone and present. It’s that 
booth, that table, and they can come and say, ‘Oh, so what’s with 
your project and what’s happening?’…they’re so more willing to 
go and participate, because they don’t have to stand in front of 
300 people and present their idea. It’s just small groups come up 
and talk to them. They still talk to 300 people, but just in different 
ways. It’s not as scary for some of them.

I’ve got some students who wouldn’t even say two words…
in class. And now they’re going out and they’re presenting at 
showcases and then putting their hand up for things now, where 
they wouldn’t have before. So even if we just stuck to what we did 
in class, they wouldn’t have been [as engaged].

CSIRO brand and confidence it will be a 
good program

It [working with well-known CSIRO ‘brand’] makes it easier, 
and you know, you get the benefits of – it goes both ways. 
Publicity and the CSIRO is a good company.

...you get more [working with CSIRO] I guess…the parents are 
more willing to support their students, the children doing it. Staff 
are more supportive of you taking students out and taking time 
away from their [regular classes]– because it’s the CSIRO. It’s not 
just some [unknown organisation].

[CSIRO is] a bit more prestigious than some unknown – or not as 
well known – [organisation]

Support of CSIRO program officer

She’s been great…she’s always following up. Makes sure I get 
things in when they’re due. And always chasing. And it’s never 
a ‘no’, it’s like…’no, that’s fine.’ Yeah, so really flexible and really 
good. She was great when we went out to EY. And organising 
all that.

Structure of program and fitting in 
with existing curriculum

…we’ll keep doing it [STEM CPP], because…I do like the 
structure...I may change it for different…cohort[s], I might make 
it a specific – here, we’re going to work on this one.

…with the [iSTEM] elective running, we were able to pick that one 
[STEM CPP] up pretty quickly without having to create our own 
stuff from scratch.

…it [STEM CPP] was quite structured. There was…ready-made sort 
of resources. So, it wasn’t having to create things from scratch. 
It…fitted in with the [iSTEM] program really well. So, I could run 
it as part of one of the units, so I didn’t have to try and do it as 
an extracurricular or…try and fit it in somewhere and try and 
squeeze it in. I could just run it…because there’s problem-solving 
project-based units, so we could fit it in without having to do too 
much extra work.

Excursions and engagement with 
wider community

…we did go to EY earlier this year, and the kids really enjoyed it...
they really enjoyed talking to the people. It wasn’t so much the 
hands-on activities. They liked talking to the people. And so I 
think more of that kind of stuff, connecting with companies.

…having more people being able to come in as well because 
that’s what they [the students] really liked. That connection to 
that wider community to see what their ideas could do.



Hands-off support of school leadership team, 
who trusted teachers to get on with it

I mean, that support, if they [school leadership] come and have 
a look at what’s going on in the classroom, and show interest in 
the students and their projects. And the showcase. And they’ll 
publicise and promote. Yeah, so they’re not against it, but they 
don’t take a massive role.

Yeah. And we [the principal and teacher] trust each other. She’s 
always, oh, got this excursion or this one. ‘Yep, yep. Do it, do it.’

Authentic and real life STEM connected 
to community

We’ve really only had the one visit, but it was quite a diverse 
group of people who were talking to them. So, I think that was 
really good. There was quite a lot of females, which was good. 
And also the fact that they weren’t just all tech people. I think 
that really opens it up to them. It’s like, okay, I don’t just have to 
be this nerd. I can be creative or I can be something else. I think 
before they actually go and see it, before they have people come 
out to tell them, they think STEM and tech is such a small niche 
thing. They don’t realise how big it is and how many different 
skills are required. So, they think if I don’t like computers, and 
I can’t code, then I can’t be in tech. But you can, it’s just there’s 
different jobs and different roles. So, I think that’s what they 
really liked, being able to talk to people on different things. And 
just seeing the different types of people…

Because having those outside programs makes it a lot more 
authentic and real life for the students. So, it doesn’t matter how 
much we sort of say well, this is what happens in the real world, 
for them to actually have people come in to actually see what’s 
happening. To have people from the outside come in and help, 
come in and evaluate their work when we do the showcases. 
That’s what I think really works for them and makes it really 
authentic and gives them that buy-in.

Barriers and issues

Students wanted more time talking with people

So, we did a couple of excursions this year where they did like 
mock interviews with people in technology and they had a few 
hands-on activities. And I was sitting there thinking, oh, they’re 
going to be annoyed because they didn’t get enough time to play 
on the VR headset and whatever other technology. And then 
when I said to them, ‘What was the best thing? What did you 
want more time with?’ They’re like, ‘We wanted more time with 
the people.’ So, that was really interesting, because I thought, 
these guys just want to play on the fun stuff. But no, they wanted 
to actually talk – they’re like, ‘No, I really liked talking to the 
industry people.’ So yeah, they actually really like that.

Timing of activities

I know it’s not always the CSIRO’s fault, because things come – 
you know, in the industry you move quickly and the short notice 
is – there were a couple of things we wanted to do but either the 
timing of it, because it was during our exams or something like 
that, or the short notice that could hinder some of the activities 
we got to do. So, they did miss out on a couple of things.

Virtual offerings were not engaging

[STEM CPP]…offer a lot of online stuff, but it’s not as effective, 
I don’t think, because since COVID, they’re [the students] just 
really over the Zoom stuff.

…they don’t like the online Zoom. They like that real life in 
person thing.

And then especially after COVID, they’d [students] well and truly 
had enough of Zoom and screens.

Difficulty connecting with industry mentor, 
who wasn’t based locally

No, I think in terms of barriers…it’s just us…not working with our 
industry expert. But if we had someone who was closer, I think 
that would be good, because – someone who could actually 
come out. Because that’s what the kids really like. They like that 
person – they used to love it when the [Aware] group came out. 
So, they’d come and help. So having the people that could come 
and visit on a regular basis works really well with the students. 
Rather than just someone who’s too far away for us to really 
connect with…maybe even connecting with – having more I 
guess expos or workshops where they can connect with other 
schools to work on projects. So even if it’s like hackathon days or 
something, maybe at the beginning of the projects or towards the 
end to finish it off. Or coming up with some things.

But for us, that’s been our biggest downfall. Because we haven’t 
really connected with our [STEM industry] person. So, we did 
initially try to connect and then everything just happened with 
COVID. And they weren’t someone local, so our kids really do 
well when people come out rather than on a computer screen.



Students’ attitudes towards STEM before and after participation (n = 2)


CSIRO Science Connect

Christopher Banks,Executive Manager, Impact & Evaluation
+61 7 3833 5999 | christopher.banks@csiro.au

csiro.au/generationSTEM