FAQ

Bee on the Team (BOTT) is an in-school STEM program, fully funded through a Maker Projects grant with the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, and delivered by The National Theatre for Children (NTC) and LEGO® Education. Bee on the Team kickstarts with a live theatre performance and classroom educational materials from NTC and continues in the classroom with LEGO® Education SPIKE Prime sets and curriculum for your primary school students. The live performance centres around basic questions in the scientific process: asking questions, experimentation, collaboration and more. LEGO® Education SPIKE Prime sets and curriculum allows for hands-on technology and engineering learning in the classroom. For more details, check out the About BOTT page.

Yes! Bee on the Team is completely free for your school. The program in its entirety is valued at over $10,000, but it is available at no cost to your school. Through a Maker Projects grant with the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, this program is possible for a select number of schools across regional Victoria to support STEM education.

Bee on the Team is a comprehensive program and takes a commitment from the schools that host—however is fully supported and very easy to manage for the school at large, classrooms, and for individual teachers who may run the in-school teams. To apply, go the Apply to BOTT page. Once we receive your submitted application, our staff will work with you to facilitate the next steps.

For the live show, the actors will bring all materials and equipment they need with them. All your school has to provide is a space for the show—and the audience. Typically a space of 6 metres wide and 5 metres deep is enough for our actors to put up their set and make their “stage.” The National Theatre for Children is accustomed to performing in a wide range of spaces like gymnasiums, school halls, auditoriums or multi-purpose rooms. In our ideal setting, your students have enough room to sit comfortably on the floor, with an aisle down the middle of the audience for our actors to utilise.

Different portions of the program are geared toward different grade levels. Here’s a breakdown:

Bee on the Team Live Show & Materials

The live performance and related classroom materials are for all grades P-6. All primary school students are welcome!

SPIKE Prime

The LEGO® Education SPIKE Prime sets and curriculum is specifically intended for grade 3-6 classrooms. Keep in mind these sets and curriculum can be used year after year—in other words, this year’s grade 1 can experience this curriculum next year, and so on.

For schools hosting Bee on the Team, one person at the school will need to be in charge of facilitating the program. We call this person the “Program Administrator.” We recommend this person would be a school administrator, lead teacher, or other staff member who can coordinate with classroom teachers at your school.

The Program Administrator is responsible for the following:

• Scheduling the live performance of Bee on the Team

• Distributing the Bee on the Team materials to the classroom teachers

• Sharing and facilitating the use of SPIKE Prime across grade 3-6 classroom teachers

Lead Teachers or Coaches lead the classroom or lunch time sessions for your student teams and assist them through your STEM/Science Expo for display to the school community. We recommend two Lead Teachers/Coaches. There is a lot of flexibility surrounding the timing and scheduling of how to run your project sessions. For example, sessions can take place once a week over a school term, fortnightly during lunch time clubs, monthly after school, etc.

Note that Lead Teachers/Coaches do not need a science background, just an interest and passion to help your students with their exciting STEM projects. The Program Administrator may also serve as a Lead Teacher if desired. The best Lead teachers are passionate, dedicated, patient, caring, positive role models who are willing to make the commitment of time. They are good listeners who enjoy having fun and spending time with the students in undertaking their projects and forming the presentation for the school STEM/Science Expo.

Never fear, your school is not alone.

First, your school will receive all necessary materials for all aspects of the program, including printed guides for the Program Administrators, Coaches, and teachers to use. The Administrator Guide has instructions and how-tos, advice and resources, checklists for how to run an Expo and more. The Team Meeting Guide has detailed meeting plan suggestions for Lead Teachers/Coaches to show them how to guide their teams through each session as well as ideas for how Coaches can get creative with their teams.

Simply a project showcase to your school community!

The culminating event for the BOTT program is an in-school STEM/Science Expo. An Expo provides student team members with an opportunity to showcase what they have learned with their families, friends, and community in a fun, non-competitive event. Expos can generally last one to two hours, depending on how many teams are participating. At an Expo, team members share their personal experience with the project topic and what they learned by working as members of a team. All teams showcase their LEGO® model, alongside a Show What You Know poster with other teams, and anyone else attending the Expo.

The Expo can be held in individual classrooms, the school hall or library.

Every team member receives a participation certificate.