Celebrating Book Week
Celebrating Book Week
Each year, the Children’s Book Council of Australia unites children and literature through the celebration of Book Week in Australian schools. During this week, our Nicholas and Barbreck Libraries have been abuzz with activities, enlightening displays, book club forums, guest speakers and some curious mind challenging games. It is incredibly rewarding and exciting to see the girls’ enthusiasm, particularly in our new Barbreck Library. The girls enjoy the colourful and comfortable couches, cushions and window nooks for quiet reading of their favourite books.
Author Nicole Hayes at the Book Week panel discussion.
The week ‘kicked-off’ with award winning author, podcaster and writing teacher, Nicole Hayes, leading a breakfast panel discussion in the Nicholas Library for our Senior School students. I say ‘kicked off’ literally, as Nicole has recently published writings about the AFL Women’s competition. Her debut book, The Whole of My World, was the first novel written about the competition, with the lead character featured as a female. In 2017, Nicole collaborated on a book titled, A Footy Girls Guide to the Stars of 2017, in celebration of the inaugural elite women’s competition in Australia.
I extend my congratulations to Head of Educational Resources and Information Centre, Ms Kathryn White, and Junior School Teacher Librarian, Mrs Victoria Baldacchino, for enabling an opportunity for our girls to be inspired by young authors like Nicole, and for encouraging our girls to read every day.
The Book Week theme this year is ‘Find Your Treasure’, which is fabulously encapsulated by an ‘escape room’ style game in the Nicholas Library. Students are challenged to problem solve through a range of puzzles and quizzes to unlock a treasure chest.
Book Week also signifies the importance of reading and serves as a reminder of finding time in our busy lives to continue learning as adults.
Respected U.S. statesman, famous inventor, prolific author and successful entrepreneur, Benjamin Franklin, consistently invested an hour a day in ‘deliberate’ learning in his adult life. Some call this Franklin’s Five Hour Rule. His learning consisted of waking up early to read and write. The Five Hour Rule reflects the very simple idea that, over time, the smartest and most successful people are the ones who are constant and deliberate learners. The concept suggests that “if you’re not spending five hours per week reading and learning, you’re being irresponsible”.
Arguably, some of the busiest people in the world found time in their hectic schedules to read. While in the Oval Office, former President of the United States Barack Obama spent an hour reading at the end of each day. Warren Buffet, the world’s most successful investor, devoted 80% of his time to reading and thinking throughout his career. Bill Gates read a book a week while leading Microsoft and still takes a two week ‘reading vacation’ every year – what a great idea! Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook, reads at least one book every two weeks. Tesla co-founder Elon Musk grew up reading two books a day, according to his brother. Oprah Winfrey credits books with much of her success: “Books were my pass to personal freedom.” Besides expanding one’s knowledge, Jack Ma, co-founder of e-commerce company Alibaba, says that “reading can give you a good head start, this is often what your peers cannot obtain. Compared to others, readers are more likely to know other industries’ strategies and tactics.”
So why do the world’s smartest and busiest people deliberately find one hour a day to read while others make excuses about how busy they are? For many people, their professional day is measured by how much they get done. As a result, they speed through the day and slow down their improvement rate. The Five Hour rule switches the equation by focussing on learning first. Learning is the single best investment of our time that we can make. Or as Benjamin Franklin said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
Further reading:
2018 Women in Industry Networking Event
On behalf of the St Catherine’s School Old Girls’ Association, I warmly invite all Community members to attend the Women in Networking Event, commencing at 6.30pm Wednesday 5 September.
The SCOGA Event will feature seven industry panels simultaneously, with attendees enjoying the opportunity to hear from Old Girls and current parents who are leaders in their field. For Senior students currently pursuing career and tertiary pathways, this SCOGA Networking Event promises to provide authentic and relevant career journeys.
The SCOGA Event will cover the following industries:
LAW & ASSOCIATED INDUSTRIES
- Sarah Keating (’99) | Barrister, Victorian Bar
- Jane Hodder | Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills
- Wendy Wilmoth (’67) | Judge, County Court of Victoria
- Philippa Symon (’09) | Lawyer, Corporate M&A, MinterEllison
CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
- Fiona Menzies (’87) | CEO, Creative Partnerships Australia
- Georgie Seccull (’04) | Sculptor & Installation Artist, Georgie Seccull
- Rebecca Coates (’82) | Director, Shepparton Art Gallery
MEDICINE & ALLIED HEALTH
- Dr Clare Gordon (’96) | Owner & Osteopath, Liforce Osteopathy
- Dr Natalie Yap (’07) | Paediatric Trainee, The Royal Children’s Hospital
- Dr Amanda Roberston (’79) | General Surgeon & Renal Transplant Surgeon, Royal Melbourne Hospital
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
- Mandy Balla-Kellett (Balla ’86) | Senior Communications Manager, NAB
- Jane Rudden (Fraser ’88) | Regional Director, Marketing & Corporate Communications, TBWA
- Sophie Mirabella (Panopoulos ’86) | General Manager, Government and Media Relations, Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd
BUSINESS OWNERS & ENTREPRENEURS
- Toni Joel (Silver ’82) | Owner and Director, Tonic Australia
- Annie Abbott (Hawthorne ’94) | Director, habbot Pty Ltd
- Georgia Beattie (’04) | CEO, Corporate Venturing Australia
- Anna Burnes (McDonald ’88) | Chair, AGECOM Enterprises Ltd
FINANCIAL SERVICES & BANKING
- Laura Valmorbida ’94 | Managing Director – Financial Services, Management Consulting, Aust. & NZ, Accenture
- Leila Lee (Anderson ’03) | Head of Distribution, Square Peg Capital
- Jacki Tulloch (Palmer ’97) | Senior Wealth Advisor | ANZ Private
STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING & MATHEMATICS)
- Professor Susie Nilsson (Begg ’86) | Group Leader, Biomedical Manufacturing CSIRO and Group leader ARMI, Monash
- Professor Jane Halliday (Wettenhall ’66) | Group Leader, Public Health Genetics, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
- Monica George (’01) | Manager Urban Development, Victoria at GHD Pty Ltd
Through these events, we hope to celebrate talent, share knowledge and experience, and make and maintain connections with each other and the School.
