YEAR 4 students at St Rita’s School, Victoria Point, have joined the one-to-one computer revolution with a little help from their local community bank.
The Victoria Point Community Bank branch of the Bendigo Bank has committed to “sponsoring” the interest for three years on a loan the school accessed through the Archdiocesan Development Fund to fund the laptop roll-out.
About 75 Year 4 students will be the first ever at the school to have full access to laptop notebooks (and good quality carry cases) to use for seamless learning between school and home.
Year 4 student Billie Peeters said it was exciting to use the laptops in class.
“They will help us ‘know more, do more, and be more’ and be better learners,” she said.
Teacher Amy Heshusius said now the students had the laptops it meant they had instant access to lessons.
“We don’t have to wait to get computer time in the lab, we’ve got it in the classroom, on hand, as they are learning,” she said.
“(This is) especially for incidental learning. When something comes up we can straight away grab a computer and search the Internet,” Ms Heshusius said.
She said it also meant they can build their capacity at not only using computers, but also problem-solving, so when they made the transition to high school it would be a lot easier.
Principal Anne McKenny said the program was a significant step forward in providing students with access to technology, preparing them for a high-tech future.
Ms McKenny said the technology would be a vital resource in supporting their school-wide philosophy in enabling students to “Know More, Do More, and Be More”.
She said students were excited about what lay ahead.
“Our use of technology in teaching and learning is a key element and we delight in the amazing progress we have made as a school community to advance our capability to do this well,” she said.
“This move from shared use of computers to a 1:1 program with Year Four is a distinctive move forward in 2013.”
Victoria Point Community Bank branch manager Justine Kennedy said the school and the community bank had enjoyed a flourishing collaborative relationship in recent years and was proud to be a sponsor of the computer program.
She said the team at the bank displayed student artwork as a regular feature in its branch.
“This is such a great opportunity for the community bank to champion a fantastic program,” she said.
