ICT

GO GIRL, GO FOR IT 

At the end of last semester, 20 young ladies attended the Go Girl Event. They participated in different activities, met industry professionals and came away with some show bags and goodies. But more importantly, they came away understanding the different jobs that are open to them in the technology industry. 

Here are their thoughts:

Go Girl, Go for IT was a great event. I enjoyed talking to different people from different companies. I also enjoyed the trade show.

Isabel Halvorsen 7E

The Go Girls event was an interesting experience in that it allowed me to understand just how broad and diverse a field Information Technology is. My favourite part was the lecture about Artificial Intelligence because it is such a new and interesting field and I would love to learn how it will affect IT in the future.

Isabelle Groom 11E

I loved learning new things like AI in bank ANZ. I enjoyed the trade show, met new people and got many gifts. I would love to come again because I learnt new things about technology. Also enjoyed learning what my careers are in IT. Everything was perfect - I loved everything.

Mayukha Polavarapu 9H

The Go Girls' event was a fun and eye-opening experience. I learnt more about the different career pathways that branch off technology and how diverse the growing industry is. I think such knowledge is important to know as technology is the future.

Mischa Kong 11G

The Go Girl IT was held at Deakin University. It was a fun experience where we learnt about people in the ANZ and how many job opportunities there were using technology. We also found how women are able to partake in these careers compared to the past. A highlight for me and other people was being able to engage in the Trade show, which allowed us to communicate with many other companies as well as learn about them through unique activities which we all found enjoyable. Overall, the experience was eye-opening, joyful and a great collaboration event.

Cindy Chang 11B

The Go Girl IT event was a blast. We had two lectures about our careers which was a massive help. It’s about deciding and having more knowledge of the path careers and about AI with Tim Hogarth the CIO of ANZ. His speech about AI and its future was quite interesting and believable. There was a Trade show where they talked about what they did in their job and there was one which caught my attention. They told me more about what positions are there in software engineering. It was an excellent experience, and I would most definitely go again. 

Akshita Geete 9B 

The Go Girl IT excursion was a wonderful experience with the day jam-packed with multiple different workshops through the course of the day. All the activities related to one central topic: technology. Our day started off with an early meet up at 8:15am to enable a quick arrival at Deakin University. Once we arrived, we were immediately ushered to our first workshop which was led by some of the staff at ANZ about their jobs and a future career in the IT sector. Next, we undertook a detailed seminar that gave us an insight into the past, present and future of AI and technology. Our day ended with a visit to the Trade Show where many different companies, small and big, set up small stalls that told us information about their work and IT related jobs there. I thoroughly enjoyed my day at the Go Girl IT trip and greatly thank Ms Ho and all the other staff involved in the planning of the day.

Ria Anand 9B

I Loved it! It was filled with unbelievable and interesting knowledge. We got amazing advice for career paths and information about IT and women in IT. I thoroughly enjoyed this day as it was displayed in a fun and engaging way. I learnt more about university and jobs I could take depending on my interest. Overall, I am looking forward to another opportunity to come here again as it was informative and interesting. 

Palchhin Palchhin 7F

As a group of about 20 people we headed to Deakin University to attend the Go Girl IT event and many of us enjoyed the engaging experience. We learnt about the numerous careers in ESTEAM and what motivated some people who chose IT as their career. Overall, it was a great experience, and I would definitely go again.

Valerie Leong 7F

This experience was amazing! I had so much fun learning about new career paths in ESTEAM. We got VR experiences and many different workshops. This experience was so that more girls and women can learn about ESTEAM, Information Technology, Innovation and Careers. This has helped all of us learn more about empowerment of women in STEM.

Odella Fernandes 7F

I enjoyed my time at Deakin University because I learnt about the people in IT and their jobs. Everything was very interesting and engaging. I would definitely want to go again if I had the chance in the future.

Rebecca Chen 7F

This was an amazing experience! We got to interact with many industry professionals and learn more about the role of IT in various other sectors like banking. The most rewarding part was the information provided on internships and the degrees and majors that could lead to a career in IT.

Sofia Linardou 12H

Go Girl IT was really cool. We got to learn about different jobs, AI and Tech.

Sophia Rink 7G

This experience really broadened my perspective as I had the chance to meet new people and learn new things. I had a great time!

Bella Duong 9H

At the Go Girl, Go for IT, I really enjoyed the trade show where we learnt about different companies and they gave us some free merch. We really had fun! I would definitely come again!

Geet Monga 7C

During this experience I learnt what I want to do for my career. I got to meet new people who told me about their career. I would come back for the free things and information.

Kaylene Wong 9I

I had such an eye-opening experience as I found out about all the summer work experience and internship opportunities. I can’t believe how much experience I can gain in high school.

Tali Rudzki 11L

Go Girls was an extremely enriching experience that provided our group some beautiful insight into the tech sphere of today! Starting with a career planning session in the morning, then the seminar discussing IT of the past, present and future, all provided us with new experiences and previously unknown knowledge that will become important contributing factors in considering future careers.

Ananya Jha 11F

This experience was very exciting and well put together. We did two things with ANZ including the Artificial Intelligence talk by Tim Hogarth. We did a career session where we set our goals. We also did the trade show. The facilities were amazing and overall if you get invited to this event my advice is to go because it will teach you so much more about ICT.

Emilia Jhoomun 7F

On Wednesday 21 June a few girls from our school headed to Deakin University for the GO Girl Go IT Program. It was highly helpful for people looking for career paths in ESTEAM. We got a good insight on all the different careers available that are related to IT and ESTEAM. As well as the lecture by Tim Hogarth CIO in ANZ about AI. Finally, we saw a trade show which held lots of stalls of some companies. As we went around, they explained to us what they did. Overall, we had a great experience, and I would love to go again.

Zaina Salil 7H

Semester 1 saw our very first Amazon Web Services challenge. The winning team have been invited to attend the Amazon Head office in Melbourne. But the date is yet to be confirmed.

There have been many Grok challenges and competitions that have been completed by students in Year 7 through to Year 12. These challenges and competitions have given McKinnon students a taste of programming in Python, HTML and CSS. Some have also participated in the Cyber Comp which assesses students’ cyber security skills. 

Semester 2 brings more competitions and challenges for students interested in extending their technical prowess should check the Compass Dashboard for upcoming events or come and find Ms Ho in A04 or by email.   

Here is a list of the upcoming events:

• NCSS Python Challenge which will be starting on Monday 31 July 2023 and will be running for about five weeks, notes will be released along with problems containing the information students will need to complete the programming challenges.
• Web.Comp will run again and start on Monday 23 October 2023, this is a 4-week series of challenges where students learn as they go along. Each week, interactive notes with the information students will need to complete the week's web design challenges will be released. Students earn points for completing problems and claim a place on the leaderboard - participants will receive certificates for their results in this competition.  For the students who excel at the challenge, an additional tournament will be released. The “Tournament” is a week-long competition where students can design their own web pages and submit their creations to compete against other students' designs. 

Ms Mary Ho

ICT Teacher/Learning Area Manager