Staff road test: Macquarie School Holiday Programs

Junior Science Academy

Remember how you felt as a child when it was almost school holidays? Bursting with excitement as that last school bell rang, signalling freedom and fun? For parents of school-aged kids, it’s a slightly different feeling. What to do with the kids during school holidays is a concern for many working parents.

Fortunately, Macquarie offers a range of school holiday programs – such as gymnastics, swimming, a Junior Science Academy and Robocamps – to appeal to a range of interests for 5 to 14-year-olds.

Daniel Johnston, a Research Partnership Manager in Research Services, signed up his two boys to the Junior Science Academy in the January school holidays. The boys had a great time and it made the parenting juggle a lot less stressful having them on campus. Here he shares his experience.


daniel_johnstonOne of the main difficulties as a working parent is making sure that your children are engaged in meaningful activities during the break that they also enjoy. They need space to relax but also to grow. I know that the care and activities in Macquarie’s programs draw upon expertise in learning and teaching and follow best-practice in care and safety.

My boys, Harry (10) and Elliott (7), attended Microscope Magic, Rube Golderg, Theme Park Design and We Build This City – all part of the Junior Science Academy at Macquarie University.

They were always very happy when I picked them up and told me about the various experiments that they had carried out each day.

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Elliott and Harry Johnston

Each topic extended their knowledge in areas that they might not have encountered before and helped them to develop interest in new aspects of science. The practical elements sounded like a lot of fun, and I didn’t need to deal with all the mess and required resources at home! They built roller coasters, boats, kinetic movement contraptions and worked as part of a team. They often came home with information that I never knew!

I always felt very comfortable in dropping the boys off and picking them up, with a good system for identifying parents responsible for each child. It’d be great in the future if the venue was moved from the demountable, but it is a safe and accessible part of the University. It was super-convenient with me being onsite for the day.

With two working parents in our family, having holiday programs on campus is a real help. It allows me to share the holiday load with my partner and I get the advantage of being nearby to the boys if there was ever any problem during the day.

Harry and Elliott are familiar with Macquarie and curious about what sort of work goes on in the University in general. Even at this young age, it’s heartening that they don’t think that going to university in the future is beyond them – if that’s what they want to do.


Find out more about Macquarie’s school holiday programs.

Visit the Carers Hub to learn more about the other ways Macquarie supports parents and carers.

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