In this Issue

Falcon Weekly News

Week 3    Second Term 2006

Smart Boards - Interactive Electronic Boards will render the chalk board and the white board obsolete
Falcon to acquire 2 Smart Boards

Technical Students Visit
ABJ Engineering
Visit highly informative 

Eight primary schools attended the festival; Whitestone, Bryden, Barwick, Musakili, Masiyepambili, Murray Macdougal, Reps and Victoria Falls primary schools.  Musakili School in Zambia gave the festival an international touch.

Right: Gary Teichmann explains the tricks of the game to a group of enthusiastic Junior Rugby players

A large number of parents and visitors attended the festival. The chalets at Quiet Waters were fully booked.  Many visitors stayed with staff while others braved the chilly and airy nights to camp at the Bryce Hendrie swimming pool.  Others chose to stay in town and commute to Falcon during the festival.

Referee Orlando Fernandes keeps a close eye on the scrum during a Junior Rugby match

Altogether 20 matches were played on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning and Barwick school triumphed to victory.  Gary Teichmann presented the prizes at the end of the festival on Saturday..

Left: Captain of the winning side, Barwick proudly walks away with the trophy while Gary Teichman, Reg Querl and Joe Makurumidze join the applause.

Right: Gary Teichmann poses for photographs with the winning team, Barwick School.

Visitors to the festival were taken on several conducted tours of the College and its environs.  The Snake Club was a popular venue with the visitors. Graham Armstrong, master in charge of the Snake Club, was in attendance to explain the intricacies (and dangers) of handling and looking after snakes. 

Left: Graham Armstrong shows visiting parents how a spitting cobra is handled

Right: Graham Armstrong gives the visitors a close glimpse of the dangerous cobra fangs. The cobra can discharge enough venom to kill 3 adults

 On Sunday Johan Strauss from South Africa demonstrated a "Smart Board"" an interactive teaching tool that is replacing the chalkboard and the whiteboard in schools.  The Smart Board demonstrations, at the Bushtick were very popular, particularly with the school children.  There is more of the "Smart Board" elsewhere in this issue.

Gary Teichmann at Falcon
Gary Teichmann special guest at the inaugural Junior Rugby festival had a busy schedule.  Soon after arriving, he watched several Junior Rugby matches, mingled with the junior Rugby players and signed autographs.  In the evening he addressed the boys at the Oates house lawn.  The lively question-and-answer session after his speech had to be interrupted to give the junior boys the opportunity to watch a video and retire early to bed. 

On Saturday Gary Teichmann watched more Junior Rugby matches, talked to the junior Rugby players and signed more autographs. In the afternoon he was spectator in the Falcon College First XV versus Churchill Rugby match.

In the evening he was Guest Speaker at a dinner hosted in his honour at the Dougal Turner Hall.  About 150 guests attended the dinner.  Gary Teichmann addressed the guests after the dinner.

Time to wine and dine.  Guests at the Teichmann Rugby Dinner

On Sunday morning he had breakfast with the Falcon College Rugby coaches before departing for South Africa.  

It was, indeed, a great honour for Falcon College to host Gary Teichmann.  His visit was an insipiration to our youth, particularly the junior rugby players.

Smart Boards - The New Classroom Technology
Interactive Smart Boards will replace blackboards and white boards

A new concept in classroom technology will render the chalk board and the white board obsolete - the Smart Board is certainly smart technology.  Johann Strauss from South Africa was at the Bushtick on Saturday to demonstrate this amazing technology. The Smart board is an interactive electronic teaching aid.  The board, which is touch-sensitive was very popular with the visitors and students.  Johann found it difficult to persuade young children to leave the Smart Board once they started interacting with it.

Left: Johann Strauss shows visitors how to manipulate the interactive Smart Board.  

Falcon College will soon be commissioning two Smart Boards, complete with the state-of-the-art video projection units.  The chalk board and the white board are certainly being driven into obsolescence at Falcon College

Design and Technology Students Visit to ABJ Engineering

On Wednesday afternoon (24th May) twenty ‘O’ and ‘A” Level students from the Design and Technology Department accompanied by staff members Tony Bancroft, Ian Mayger and Jonathan Makola visited the Bulawayo Foundry ABJ Engineering. Pupils were fortunate to be able to see all stages of production ranging from Pattern Making, Preparation of Moulds, Sand Casting through to the finishing of the products in the Machine Shop. There was even an opportunity to see the assembly of wheelbarrows (a sideline of ABJ) using jigs to manufacture the various components. The outing proved to be most informative and of a high educational value and Falcon College extends its gratitude to Messrs Brian, Mike and Wayne Querl for hosting this worthwhile visit. 

 Top left: Pattern making, Top Right: The Foundry in operation
 Bottom: Finishing on the lathe