Geelong Sub Branch

Anne-Louise O'Donoghue is Regional Director in Geelong

Anne-Louise has had a lifelong passion for, and connection with children’s literature and as part of her Master’s Degree in Education she explored how young children’s metacognitive thinking could be evaluated and extended through carefully planned and scaffolded explorations of children’s picture books. She has worked in a variety of educational settings including Pre-schools, Early Intervention Services and Tertiary Education. In her current role at The Geelong College, she is a classroom teacher at the Junior School and is an advocate for the development of Reggio Emilia inspired teaching and learning inspired pedagogy.

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A message from

Jo Panckridge 

If you are a current member of CBCA VIC Branch and live in this region, but don't receive direct emails from Jo, please advise the office. 

Welcome to a new year with, hopefully, less disruptions and more opportunities to promote books, and reading.

2021 saw many modifications to programs, scheduled PD and activities designed to promote Australian children’s literature. For most of us, even CBCA Book Week became an online event and Author/Illustrator presentations had to be postponed or cancelled.

With something of a shaky start, 2022 still shapes up to be a year full of new opportunities for CBCA VIC Branch members.

With this in mind, I would like to share some member and non-member events available this term and ask for you to consider what you would like from the CBCA VIC Branch/Geelong Region to support the work you undertake using Australian literature with children/teens.

Our first CBCA Victorian event, you will have already seen promoted, is the Night of Notables on Tuesday February 22, in Melbourne.

This is the night the Notable List is revealed. It is always a great event, with Sophie Laguna and the amazing Marc McBride (illustrator) speaking. It is also a wonderful opportunity to ‘rub shoulders’ with some of our wonderful Victoria authors and illustrators, have a chat with them and learn a little of their processes and inspirations. Check the CBCA VIC Branch website or promotional emails for further details.

We have our fingers crossed that our twice-postponed Storytelling Masterclass will be rescheduled to a date TBC in Term 1 this year.  This event, for members and non-members promises to be a hands-on, fun opportunity to hone your skills in storytelling. The skill of storytelling, as opposed to reading, is a wonderful asset to any educator’s toolbox and is a certified addition to PD hours.  More information on the Storytelling Masterclass will be available shortly.

Another wonderful initiative, first undertaken by the CBCA VIC Branch is the Shadow Judging Program. Due to its great success over the last few years in Victoria, CBCA National Board has been successful in securing a grant from the Commonwealth Government to run this program nationally. We are seeking expressions of interest from Victorian schools and libraries in March to be a part of this fabulous program. More information about the Shadow Judging program will be sent to you soon. Information about this program is also currently available on the CBCA VIC Branch website. We have had wonderful feedback from the 17 schools who participated in the program in 2021 on the benefits gained by students of all ages.

Finally, could I ask you to consider what you would like from us to support the work you do in classrooms, libraries and beyond.

Are you looking for PD, author/illustrator talks, face-to-face networking opportunities, resources, or something else?

I would love to hear your suggestions. All the best for a great start to 2022.

Past Events

Story Telling Masterclass  FLYER

Originally planned for 2021, rescheduled to 2022!

A fun, hands-on and engaging PD opportunity was held on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at The Geelong College.

Participants developed their skills as a story teller!

On Thursday 13th May, 2021 in the Helen Mackie Library @ The Geelong College in Newtown, we heard from four of our Victorian based Judges.

Divided into two online sessions for a discussion on the books nominated on the Shortlist for 2021 CBCA Book of the Year Awards.

  1. Karys McEwen (Older Reader Judge)
  2. Marissa Caluzzi  & Julie Faulkner (Early Childhood & Picture Book Judges)

These sessions were followed by Younger Reader Judge Ruth Woolven speaking in person on this year's YR Shirtlist.

It was a free event for CBCA VIC Branch Members, Non Members were asked to pay a small admittance fee.