Library

Winifred Berry and Handbury Libraries

Skype-a-thon with Anthony Salcito, Vice President of Microsoft:

Nine students applied to attend, and all had excellent reasons for wanting to participate. They ranged from Grade 5 to Year 11, and brought with them a range of interests with which to engage Anthony. They all felt like they got quality time with Anthony, and they were delighted to be able to answer questions as well as ask them. 

Jarrod Hurst welcomed them with a Gunditjmara greeting and a welcome to country. He then displayed his autographed Tigers footy jumper and explained what it represented. Each participant introduced themselves. Lachlan Tonissen had some wool samples to show, and told Anthony about the Wool Capital of the World. Angus Dohle brought in a set of shears and a modern handpiece, which Anthony incorrectly identified as Edward Scissorhand’s missing limbs!

Charlie Cameron had sent a photograph of the silos at Brim being painted, which led to a discussion about decline of railways and the impact of that on rural communities.

Hayley Spence asked about philanthropy, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Kelly Ferguson welcomed him in Chinese, then addressed the photograph of the Year 9 China trip of 2016, which had been framed and hung behind where Anthony was sitting. She explained about our relationship with GaoYou and what happens when Year 9 exchange visits. He was very interested to talk more about this as he is off to China (via Melbourne, Sydney and Perth) very soon.

I was overjoyed by the quality of the connection – we had some issues with the test call last week so we bought a new web cam, and used a more powerful device (thanks to Mr Peter Steer). (Our tech team here, Mr Mitchell Clode and Mr Ian Cook, is brilliant!).  They, along with Mr Ben Hunter, our MPAC manager, also assisted me to find a room that would work on a range of levels – and it came up beautifully on the screen. Thanks to Mr Julien Guez for allowing us to use the French room.

Miss Kristen Waldron’s enthusiastic response in terms of how we set things up sustained me in the few weeks between learning of our participation, and today.

Given it is exam period for Year 11 (the two students who led the conversation) and a red line week for the younger ones (no interruptions due to exam preparation) I was pleased that so many of the teaching staff allowed students to attend.

Thanks to Mr Stephen Nelson for bringing our two Grade 5 participants to the event, and sitting in on the session.

Thanks to Mr Neil MacLean for lending us an Australian flag.

Thanks to Mrs Jen Hutton for lending us a banner – the beauty of our College Tower was commented on early in the piece. Thanks for getting images out to the world on Facebook already! And for further articles in the Spec and Weekly Times still to come.

Thanks to Dr Andrew Hirst for attending the session and following up with a thank you email to Anthony.

This event has forced me to engage with Skype in education for the first time. I would encourage you all to take on the hard possibilities – you never know where they will take you!

Recall of all books:

Please ensure all books lent to your children this year are returned before the end of next week. Senior School students will be allowed to borrow in the last week of term, and VCE 2018 students will be issued any text books they require for next year.

All other books still on loan by the 4th December will be charged to accounts. At this point in time I am collecting Senior School books by trolley to the locker room and classroom doors on a regular basis due to the actual Library being unavailable from time to time due to the renovations.

Mrs Margaret Simkin