Bee’s Knees Challenge 2025: Celebrating Our Winners, Creativity and the Power of Young Minds

Every year, the Bee’s Knees Challenge reminds us just how extraordinary students can be when science, creativity and environmental care collide. The 2025 Challenge was no exception — in fact, it delivered our strongest field of entries yet.From thriving pollinator gardens to innovative habitat designs and inspiring video storytelling, this year’s students showcased an impressive understanding of ecosystems, biodiversity, and the vital role bees play in our world.

This year’s winning school, Haileybury, delivered a standout submission that edged ahead in a very close competition. Their pollinator garden, paired with a beautifully produced student-led video, demonstrated exceptional teamwork, thoughtful planning and a genuine commitment to supporting local bee populations.

Haileybury students in beekeeping gear working on a hive

🏆 Meet the Bee's Knees Challenge Winners: Haileybury

Haileybury’s winning project stood out for its depth, execution and heart. Their students built an outstanding pollinator garden filled with diverse flowering plants, layered habitats, and carefully considered design choices to support bees year-round. The accompanying video submission didn’t just document the garden — it brought the project to life with storytelling, science communication and passion.

This incredible work was driven by a team of talented young creators:Joy, Siddiksha, Sashane, Leo, Arun, Edward, Jeremy, William, Raphie, and Elki.

A project of this calibre doesn’t happen without dedicated teachers behind the scenes. A huge congratulations to:

• Nicole Turner — Club Lead and champion of the project

• Mr Benedict — Technical and presentation support

• Mr Rattle — Gardening guidance and practical expertise

Their leadership, coordination and enthusiasm empowered students to think deeply about sustainable gardening, pollination cycles and community impact.

Haileybury’s garden design drawn in pencil

Garden build steps

Garden build steps

Actual photo of Haileybury’s finished garden

🌱 A Standout Submission: St. Anne’s School, East Kew

One submission that truly impressed our judging panel came from St. Anne’s School, East Kew. Their pollinator garden was beautifully designed, their research was strong, and their student-made video was one of the most polished and engaging we received. Their work demonstrated teamwork, creativity and genuine care for the environment — a project the entire school community should be proud of.

The students behind this inspiring work were:Sasha, Penelope, Harrison, Clara, Ian, Matthew, Lily-Rose, Frederik, Orson, Aston, Jenson, Sophia, Ella, Ned, Annabel, William, Sebastian, Jason, Cary, and Thomas.

Their teacher, Lauren Logue, deserves a special mention for guiding such a large and enthusiastic team. The level of collaboration, creativity and genuine care for the environment was evident in every aspect of their submission.

🌼 Thank You to All Participating Schools - and to Bee the Cure - Save the Bees Australia

A heartfelt thank you goes to every school that entered the Bee’s Knees Challenge this year. The creativity, teamwork and environmental thinking shown across all submissions were truly inspiring. Every garden, every idea, every piece of research contributed to a national celebration of pollinators and student-led STEM learning.

Bee under a microscope

Bee on purple flowers (from St Anne’s submission)

Kid designing garden using pencil and grid paper (St. Anne’s)

Two kids sitting at a desk looking at a flowering plant in a glass jar while writing observations

We also want to give a very special thank you to Save the Bees Australia, whose support helped bring this Challenge to life. Led by environmental advocate Simon Mulvany, Save the Bees Australia continues to be one of the country’s strongest voices for pollinator protection, education and community awareness. Their generosity in providing prizes for this year’s winning team added an extra layer of excitement and recognition for the students — and we are deeply grateful for their partnership.

Although we cannot showcase every submission publicly, the two highest-scoring entries:

• Haileybury’s winning project, and

• St. Anne’s East Kew’s exceptional runner-up submission

have been uploaded to our ACES Club page for families, teachers and students who would like to view their work. Both videos demonstrate the power of hands-on STEM, student storytelling and genuine environmental care.

💛 Celebrating a Record-Breaking Year of Creativity

The 2025 Bee’s Knees Challenge brought together schools from across Australia, each contributing something unique to the tapestry of student-led environmental action. Haileybury’s project stood out for its depth and execution; St. Anne’s delivered a beautiful, deeply thoughtful submission that came incredibly close; and every other school added their own spark of creativity to this year’s collective story.

To the teachers who guided, encouraged and supported their students — thank you. Your passion is what makes challenges like this possible.

And to every student who planted, researched, filmed, designed or brainstormed — we are so proud of the work you created.We can’t wait to see what you’ll grow next year.

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If your school would like to take part in a future STEM Hub Challenge or work with us on hands-on STEM programs, we’d love to hear from you.

Get in touch with our team anytime at STEM Hub — we’re always excited to support more schools on their STEM journey.