Book Week and STEM Week – A Message from the Scholar, STEM and Literary Captains

Book Week is celebrated annually in the Junior School through the annual parade and various library events. However, this year the Scholar Portfolio decided to break new ground and bring this event to life in the Senior School, celebrating the theme ‘Symphony of Stories’. In keeping with this theme, we decided to combine the Senior School Book Week celebration with another world of storytelling – the rich and inspiring stories of scientists in STEM. This year, the National Science Week theme was ‘Seeds of Science: Nurturing Knowledge For All’. Week 6 therefore became MLC School’s first joint Book and STEM Week, featuring exciting hands-on activities to spark curiosity, encourage scientific thinking and immerse students in the world of reading.

On Monday, students had the opportunity to grow their own Crystal Garden, use microscopes and dissect whole seeds to develop a deeper understanding of plant growth. MLC School Old Girl Shreeya Haridas (2017) was invited as a guest speaker on Tuesday to share her insights as a woman in STEM. Shreeya shared how her passion for climate change and sustainability led her to her current position as a Sustainability Manager, leaving us with a resounding message: ‘STEM gives us the tools. Sustainability gives us motivation’.

The 2026 STEM Diorama Competition was a notable highlight for the week. Students in Year 7 to Year 9 were invited to research a famous scientist and capture their story and scientific discoveries by creating an imaginative diorama. It was wonderful to see students from all cohorts celebrating their peers’ work and voting for their favourite scientist diorama, with particularly strong representation of female scientists such as Ada Lovelace, Marie Curie, and Ayesha Tulloch.

Another first for the Senior School was the Spelling Bee on Thursday. Students battled it out and put their spelling skills to the test with a broad selection of words. When challenged to spell words such as acquiescence, vicissitude and synecdoche, the MLC School girls bravely rose to the occasion, creating a brilliant opportunity to expand their vocabulary while participating in healthy competition. No players were disqualified for incorrect answers, but plenty of chocolates were given out!

The culminating event of Book and STEM Week was the dress-up day on Friday 28 August. Both students and staff were invited to dress up as a STEM-themed figure or book character, with numerous Best Dressed awards presented at assembly. The costumes were incredibly diverse and refreshingly creative. With each outfit, we saw books come to life, including the popular picture book The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, Roald Dahl’s classic Matilda and the IB English text by Olga Tokarczuk, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. In the STEM world, we saw students dress up as Albert Einstein, forensic scientists and even periodic table elements!

The enthusiasm of the Senior School staff and students throughout the week was truly inspiring, serving as a beautiful reminder that the creativity sparked by science and reading is, in fact, a lifelong joy.

– Anna Obaid (Year 12)
Scholar Captain

– Kathleen Chrun (Year 12)
STEM Captain

– Siena Jury (Year 12)
Literary Captain

Click on image gallery for full size images.