Our Specialists
Suzanne Banfield - French
My French Story
I am not a native born French speaker, only starting lessons in Year 7 at senior school - our kinder children are already ahead of me!
I was not a strong French student, enjoying the subject but not really putting in the necessary work to improve. One day I had a light bulb moment: I really wanted to visit France and see all the sights first-hand. Once there I would need to speak French so I'd better do something to improve.
Every night thereafter I read aloud in my room for 15 minutes any French textbook or novel I could find. My French grades improved dramatically.
Since school I have lived in Paris, acquired a French sister-in-law, helped translate whilst travelling in a number of emergency situations, chaperoned my son’s soccer team to a French soccer academy and developed many French friendships.
GOALS FOR FRENCH 2019
One of the goals with the French programme at Arlington is to raise awareness amongst the students of the benefits of learning a language. In due course they may not wish to continue with French however their brain pathways will be open to language learning. Any new language they wish to learn will then prove much easier for them.
By providing more classes, the students are now exposed to hearing and speaking French almost on a daily basis. This gives them the opportunity to succeed and feel confident in having a go.
Most people I talk to say 'I didn’t learn anything in my foreign language class at primary school'. Our aim is that by the time the students leave the 11s, they instead say 'I can speak so much French.'
Michelle Berner - Music
My name is Michelle Berner and I love to make music! I grew up in a musical household, and was lucky enough to have a plethora of instruments in the house. I play piano, guitar, some bass guitar, drums and the flute, but my first instrument is my voice. I have performed as a professional vocalist for 22 years in bands and musical theatre productions.
It gives me much pride to say that I work at Preshil. I love our school - the grounds and especially the people in it.
For a music teacher, life is bustling at Preshil. On Mondays I work at both campuses as an instrumental voice teacher, and I am a classroom teacher for the rest of the week: Tuesday to Thursday at Arlington, and Blackhall Kalimna on Fridays. We also have many ensembles here, and I am thrilled to run the senior and junior school choirs.
I enjoy singing and performing. It gives me great pleasure to watch others perform as well. Performance is a powerful way to learn, and I love learning! I like to work on developing my craft as a vocalist, and as a teacher. I am currently working on my Master of Teaching and l am keen to study further after its completion.
It is a privilege to teach young people, and I learn a lot from them as well. It is our progression together as a community of learners here at Preshil that I treasure most. I am very excited to see what we can do together, this year and beyond.
Claire Roberston - Art
I am the Art specialist at Preshil, Arlington. I work Wednesday to Friday up in the Treehouse Studio. If we haven’t met, please drop by and introduce yourself. This year I am excited to take on an additional position of responsibility, working with Rosie to develop a plan for Preshil’s future outdoor education program.
When I am not at school, I am in my studio at the Abbotsford Convent. I have been a practising artist for 16 years now and have exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. I work across a range of mediums including video, installation, photography, performance and more recently sculpture. My work is always conceptually based. I have a Masters of Fine Arts and have studied both in Australia and in New York.
I love travelling, especially when it involves being outdoors. I go camping whenever I can and have hiked all over Australia from Victoria’s green and lush alpine region to the red and rocky Larapinta in The Northern Territory.
In September this year, my partner and I are heading to Japan to hike as part of the conceptual development for a collaborative art and garment project. My partner is an emerging fashion designer and we are working towards the launch of our art and garment label Clark-Robertson. We have a creative family, which includes my partner Dave, Forest who is a 4 year old LEGO master builder and Ernie our Golden Retriever cross Labrador who likes to eat rubbish. Some weekends you find us all sitting in our back courtyard making ceramic bowls, cups and sculptures.
Before I started teaching, I worked at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Queensland in Education and Public Programming. While developing programs for families and children in this context, I realised how inspiring it can be to work with children.
I love working at Preshil because art and creativity are valued. Both in my own art practice and at school, I am always exploring ways to facilitate experiences that move, shift or ask my audience/students to look at something through a different lens or in a new way.
I’m looking forward to an exciting year ahead.
Elizabeth Golding - Learning Support
A warm welcome to Arlington for all students, parents and families for 2019!
I work with students across the Arlington campus in learning support in both literacy and numeracy. This takes place in the classroom, in small groups and on an individual basis as well.
I am a trained primary teacher and I have further qualifications as a Reading Recovery Tutor. I have run professional development sessions for teachers in the State, Catholic and Independent education systems in previous jobs.
I really enjoy working at Arlington and working with students on an on-going basis as I find this very rewarding.
I am passionate about reading so I am always available to chat with students and adults alike, about what you are reading and we can compare notes, so please come and say hello!
Emily Smith - Librarian
Hello my name is Emily Smith I am the librarian in the Junior school. I have an interest in mindfulness, history, mythology and I love historical fiction. You will sometimes see me at lunchtime doing yard duty and sometimes at electives. And remember there are always board games to play and storytime on Fridays in the library. So come up and say hello, I am always here to help find a book or just have a chat.
