Four Year 6 students from Matthew Flinders Anglican College have been recognised as some of Australia’s top young innovators, taking home major prizes at the Future Anything Activate National Grand Final in Brisbane on Tuesday, 18 November.
The 2025 National Finals event was hosted at the State Library of Queensland in Brisbane to a live audience of over 250 guests, with hundreds more from around the world watching online.
More than 600 teams across Australia entered the 2025 Activate competition, with high school teams making up 75% of the entrants. Despite being among the youngest competitors, three Flinders Primary teams were shortlisted in the top 30 nationally.
This marks the third consecutive year that Flinders teams have claimed national Future Anything awards for developing scalable and sustainable solutions to problems they care about.
At Flinders, all Year 6 students take part in the annual Future Anything Activate program through the College’s i-impact design thinking curriculum. In Semester Two, guided by their year 6 teachers, the students create social enterprises driven by empathy and innovation, and submit them for judging.
Future Anything was founded by Nicole Dyson and aims to “unleash students’ passion, potential and agency in every classroom”.
Flinders’ Winning Prototypes
Fishmobile - Runner Up, Showcase Expo ($17,000 prize package)
Website: www.fishmobile.com.au
Year 6 students Billy T and Daniel L won the 2025 Activate Showcase Runner Up award for their “Fishmobile” – a bike trailer designed to give kids the freedom to fish when and where they want, promoting outdoor play and sustainability.
In their national pitch, Billy and Daniel emphasised the health and environmental benefits of the Fishmobile, noting, “The Fishmobile gets people outdoors, which is great for fitness, friendship, mental health and keeping kids off screens. And it’s better for the environment than driving. If 100 kids ride a bike with the Fishmobile twice a week instead of being driven, we save around 100 tonnes of CO2 every year”.
Made from recycled plastic, bamboo, bamboo fibre and aluminium, the Fishmobile can be towed via bicycle or pulled by hand, making fishing gear more accessible for young people.
#heartkoalas - Sustainability Award ($250) and Hustle Award ($250)
Website: https://nbjkjkk.my.canva.site/heartkoala/
Also in Year 6, Eloise R and Isla H received the 2025 Showcase Sustainability Award and Hustle Award for the highest number of sales for their embroidery kits designed to help people learn to conserve koalas in the wild while providing a fun craft activity.
The students, along with peer Elke H and her venture The Sensory Spot, showcased their products at the Activate Brisbane marketplace event on Tuesday, 18 November.
Human-Centred Design in Action
In Term 3, students in Year 6 at Flinders worked through their i-Impact design thinking program, which incorporates HASS, Science, Design Technologies and Digital Technologies. They had to respond to the Activate program challenge: “As an entrepreneur, pitch an innovative social enterprise that makes the world a better place.”
Students formed project groups and developed their ideas collaboratively into products or services and submitted their prototypes to the Activate judges. This included a video pitch to persuade the judges to select their social enterprise from a pool of over 600 teams nationwide.
Flinders Year 6 Teacher Jackie Quin said the awards recognition highlights the impact of teaching entrepreneurship in primary school.
“Through our bespoke human-centred design thinking curriculum, our students are learning to solve real problems that matter to them. From Prep to Year 6, they build confidence, creativity and genuine business skills to make a positive impact.”
Future Anything founder Nicole Dyson visited the students during their preparation for the National Final event, and supported them with an online briefing and mentoring sessions.
Flinders at 2024 Activate Grand Final
- Jesse and Jack won Runners-Up for their ‘Safe Surf’ prototype, an innovative inflatable rash vest and a GPS wristband that boosts surfer and swimmer safety at the beach.
- Flinders Teams Qualified for 2024 Activate Showcase Grand Final
Zara R, Willow C and Asher K presented their project, The Coral Cuties;
Lawson W and Callan B presented The Contaminated Canals; and
Leila S presented her Stress Less project.
Also, Isabel W was successful in progressing to the semi finals with her Screen Time Browser prototype.
Flinders at 2023 Activate Grand Final
- The Flinders Year 6 Primary teaching team was named the ‘Educator Team of the Year’ at the Future Anything 2023 Educator Awards. Learn more here.
- Three Year 6 students won First Place, People’s Choice and Runners-Up awards of the Activate Showcase Finals:
Emerson B in Year 6 won First Place and the People’s Choice Award for his support product, WICS (Wow I Can Swim), which is designed to help cancer patients enjoy swimming again by waterproofing their central line tape. The winning prize pack included $1,500 cash as well as mentoring, marketing and branding support to develop a go-to-market strategy for WICS through the Office of The Queensland Chief Entrepreneur and Advance Queensland, as well as the event sponsors.
Isla G and Emma Z, also in Year 6 at Flinders, won Runners-Up for their product, “Incredible Insects”, which features Fiona Fly, Bella Bee and Flora Firefly as custom edible chocolates to spread awareness about the important role insects have in our world and to raise awareness about their decline.
