SailLAB in Schools
by Boating Industry Association 17 Dec 23:22 PST
SailLAB in Schools (WA) © Boating Industry Association
As Chair of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, the BIA has welcomed Australian Sailing's offer to brief the next meeting of this national group on its SailLAB initiative.
Australian Sailing has recently officially launched SailLAB, a free STEM education program designed to integrate the science and innovation of sailing into Australian classrooms. The program was successfully piloted across 2024-25 in nine Western Australian schools, engaging more than 400 students from Years 5-12. SailLAB includes:
- Six Primary Modules and 10 Secondary Modules, encompassing topics such as wind, forces, design engineering, oceanography and meteorology.
- Student workbooks, PowerPoint presentations, teacher guides, assessments, and completion certificates.
- Challenges based on the STEM Learning Cycle, encouraging students to question, imagine, plan, create, test, improve, re-test and analyse.
- Connections to real-world STEM and marine-industry careers.
An additional 10 modules are currently in development, covering ropework, materials science, navigation, sustainability, and innovative technology highlighted through SailGP.
Interest for the 2026 program is robust, with over 40 schools registered nationwide, representing more than 2,000 students.
SailLAB is supported by the Western Australian Government's Strategic Initiatives Grant and is available at no cost for all schools.
More details available here.