Entering the school's Maker Space with Voyager teachers Kieran and Sarita for creative chemistry, the students quickly transformed into scientists wearing lab coats and safety glasses ready to mix liquids and make some rather unusual concoctions.

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Students extended on their classroom learning around states of matter while putting scientific methods into practice through hands-on learning. The Maker Space is thankfully still standing as their experiments were controlled.

Coding with the Bee Bots on themed mats and crazy props was an interesting way for students to use computational thinking and work in groups while putting digital technologies into play. Students enjoyed the various challenges they were set and now have a much clearer understanding of how to break down complex instructions into simple steps using directional language and basic programming.

The Plants, Poop and Pollinators session gave students the opportunity to explore insects and invertebrates at a closer level and to understand their significance in our world. This was an exciting extension from learning in the classroom as students demonstrated some outstanding prior knowledge on this topic after their Big Write about ants earlier in the term.

Students were keen to get up close to investigate and viewed different creatures through microscopes. Students then transformed themselves into dung beetles and worked in pairs to collect poo balls.

Dynamic Bodies was an exciting active sports science program that gave students strategies to be a successful sports person. Students' biomotor abilities were measured including speed, agility and strength. Students set the pace and jumped very high and it was all measured.

This was a great opportunity to explore how different sports and athletes require different training targets. There was certainly plenty of fun and friendly competition going on as well as the use of some state of the art resources.

Students and teachers alike are eagerly anticipating another visit from the UNE Discovery Voyager team next year, and thanked the school's P&F for providing the opportunity.

Here are some of the students' reactions:

"I liked that we had to jump to see how high we could jump and we then related it to running. Doing all the different experiments was really good because I learnt that very interesting stuff can happen when you add chemicals!" - Heidi Richards, Year 3

"I liked it when the fire was in the drum because it reacted to the fuel. After Kieran put the fire in it just went up in flames and it was really just so awesome. I have never seen anything like it! - Axel Bates, Year 4

"I learned about flowers and how they have petals and that animals that like nectar can land on them. The bees get nectar and pollen and so do the butterflies. It was interesting. - Matt Rose, Kindergarten

"The chemistry was so good because we made an elephant trunk and all groups compared how it was coming out. It was funny! Then in Dynamic Bodies it was good to predict which way you had to go to the finish line. It was a race with lights. It was a challenge to see how fast we could go with both running speed and thinking." Shayden Manu, Year 5

Leader of Pedagogy Jacqui Wait said it was an absolute privilege to have the UNE Discovery Voyager Team spend the day with the school.

"Students were able to extend their knowledge beyond the classroom with experts in their field. The visit was valuable as we were able to access so many experiences due to the state of the art technology that is available through this program.

"We look forward to continuing our partnership with UNE through more visits and accessing their Natural History Museum and SMART Farm.

"It is so important that learning goes beyond the classroom and for students in rural and regional areas this is a great way to embrace such experiences."