Inaugural Year in Review: MQi x YW Secondary Schools Program

That was quite the inaugural year of the MQ Incubator x Young Wisdom Secondary Schools Program!🙌🎉

We spoke to thousands of students and got to work with over 2,200 in substantial ways, ranging from our ‘Deep Dive’ design thinking workshops to our term-long Ideas Challenge program. We ran or supported at least 39 different events and programs, which brought us into contact with over 75 schools!

We want to again thank all of the innovative educators who sought out and coordinated these opportunities for their students throughout the year; none of this would be possible without your support, it’s been a joy getting to collaborate with you, and we look forward to seeing you again in the New Year!

Our overarching focus remained on building future-proof, transferable skills like creative thinking, problem solving and persuasive communication, which will benefit students throughout life regardless of their career aspirations. We also aimed to always provide a realistic understanding of what an entrepreneurial career looks like, warts and all, and start to equip students with the skillsets and mindsets needed to navigate such careers now or in the future.

Full-day bootcamps held at the Macquarie University Incubator

Our best format for delivering on these aims in a single day proved to be our Student Startup Bootcamp excursions to the MQ Incubator. These were enjoyed by 36 different schools in the end from all over Sydney:

The feedback was incredibly positive from students and teachers alike, including:

"It was unquestionably authentic, real-world learning with value well beyond the classroom. It stretched most of the students well beyond their comfort zone but did so in an environment which encouraged risk-taking and in which the leaders modelled taking the same risks themselves. The end result was a visible transformation in the confidence, performance and polish of the students within a single day. It was masterful." - John Wright, Deputy Principal at Castle Hill High School

"The Student Startup Bootcamp at Macquarie University Incubator was a fantastic experience, pushing students out of their comfort zones and enhancing their design thinking skills. They collaborated with peers, tackled real-world problems, and developed crucial life skills. This immersive day fostered confidence and entrepreneurial spirit." - Sally Filtness, D&T Teacher at Barker College

"I found the day to be absolutely amazing. Personally, I've been to 2-3 other similar programs, but none of them have engaged me and my peers as well as this one did. Everything, from the structure of the day, to the quick 5-minute brainstorms, was well thought out and executed perfectly. The thought of collaborating with students from different schools, let alone presenting to them, was daunting at first, but the activities we were given allowed us all to not only quickly familiarise ourselves with each other, but we were able to work efficiently and effectively to pitch our ideas. I am extremely grateful for this experience, and it has most definitely boosted my confidence when it comes to presenting and working with people I'm not familiar with." - Stage 5 Student

In addition to the 8 fully-funded multi-school bootcamps we offered, we also saw our first 5 bookings for tailored single-school bootcamps as part of deepening relationships with schools like Castle Hill High School and Redlands. All schools are welcome to enquire about these and other services for 2025, by the way!

We worked with Stage 3 students on a market stall day, SRC students on student advocacy and school improvement initiatives, Year 9 Accelerated Business students and Year 10 HPGE students as part of curricular programs, and extra-curricular term program students on accelerating their validation activities. It was fantastic to test the mettle of our content and methodologies in very different contexts from just innovation and entrepreneurship for the purposes of new startup (product/service) creation.

Supporting NSW Department of Education initiatives

A highlight of the year was our increasing engagement with the Department of Education, in supporting their Launch your Career video series with a livestreamed event on entrepreneurship. We collaborated closely on planning the session and providing a panel of entrepreneurs, including our Year 12 student panelist (and Term 1 Pitch Night winner) Benjamin from Watergate Labs. We happen to know a group of 60 HPGE students from Artarmon Public School were very excited to see him speak live on screen, along with many other schools across the state and beyond via DART Learning.

We also had the great opportunity to attend the 2024 Game Changer Challenge finals at the Department's HQ in Parramatta and gladly helped students from across the state polish their pitches before also assisting as pitch judges on day two of the finals event. It was a fabulous time and we're looking forward to more Department collaboration in 2025!

Pilot program success: the Term 3 Ideas Challenge

Another highlight of the year was the inaugural Ideas Challenge in Term 3, which attracted 139+ participants from 14 different schools and ended in a thrilling pitch night. 

We were heartened and spurred on throughout the year by feedback from teachers and students alike. We’ve shared a bunch with you throughout the year, but here’s an unsolicited email from a student finalist in the recent Ideas Challenge Pitch Night that we wanted to leave you with:

“I just wanted to say thank you for the opportunity to express my idea. Being able to pitch it in front of an audience that truly supported and were interested in it meant a lot to me.

I hope you continue this program, as it was wonderfully empowering to be able to be listened to by such a supportive group of adults!

Thank you for continuously supporting me throughout this process, and good luck for all of your future plans!!”

👆That’s why we do it!

Looking ahead to 2025 with much gratitude and anticipation

The Ideas Challenge will be back in Term 1, and we’re currently accepting applications from students who will be in Years 7-11. Applications will remain open until the 21st of February, so there’s plenty of time to find and enter and idea you’d be keen to explore further! And for the educators here: we’d love to visit your school in Weeks 1-3 for an assembly visit, a year group meeting or even a single class to share this opportunity.

We’ll be back at it from Monday 13 January and please feel free to keep in touch throughout the holidays if we can assist you with anything, including planning for 2025.

🎄Wishing you a wonderful holiday and a well-deserved rest.

See you in the New Year!✌️

Best wishes,

Melissa Ryan, Shahe Momdjian and the Secondary Schools Program team