RH: So tell me who you are and what you do here? 

AC: I'm Amelia Charles, I used to be Amelia Brooks. I am currently PA to the Deputy Head of School Quality teaching for K-12. Before that, I was the BBC (Bishop Barry Centre) assistant.

RH: OK great, what does Deputy Head of School Quality Teaching K-12 mean? 

AC: I assist all the teachers making sure that they get their accreditation. We also run all the professional development in house for staff, for teachers, and the PD days for everyone. We also run a couple of weekend conferences a year. 

RH: So teaching teachers how to teach. Would that be fair? 

AC: Yes! One might say that, ensuring high quality education happens in all classrooms by assisting teachers in their pedagogy. 

RH: Amazing. And before that, you were the BBC Assistant, and what did that entail? 

AC: Truly, anything and everything that came through those doors, but primarily I did attendance and the joyous job of administration of detentions. 

RH: So supervising them? 

AC: No, but allocating them, giving them to all the students, and then notifying all the parents that their children had been given a detention. Perhaps then I might have to have a robust conversation with parents that their child does in fact have to do the detention and then allocating staff to it. 

RH: Can you remember the weirdest reason that somebody got a detention that came across your desk? Not necessarily a bad reason, but just a strange one - not naming any names. Of course. 

AC: Ah yes, someone got a detention for having an inappropriate private email address and sending an email to David Lindsay (Head of Senior College). 

RH: Goodness me, there's a way to learn that in adult life you definitely need to have an address which is simply 'firstname.lastname@xxxx.com' or something similarly professional. 

 RH: So tell me about your time here as a student. 

AC: I came here for Years 11 and 12, at a time when girls were only admitted in the Senior College, the ratio was very different . So there was about 40 girls in the year and the rest of the 180 of our year group was boys, so that was a lot. Some might say 'the odds were good, but the goods were odd'. But I came from a co-ed school before that, so it wasn't coeducation that fazed me at all. I remember the BBC had a very different aroma back then. Lots of Lynx Africa and body odour - I think it almost permeated the carpets. I remember we had the best Year 12 Common Area which was on BBC lower ground, where TAS is nowadays. Half of it was Drama and the other half was the Year 12 Common Room. We had a full kitchen, our own bathrooms. It was a great space to spend your free periods. I also remember the musical productions; they were a real highlight. I did Pirates of Penzance and Les Miserables. I remember because of licensing agreements we had to do 'Les Mis' on site, so I got to know the ins and outs of the buildings very well, including the hidden tunnels that go out of the Chapter House and down through the arcade. It really expanded our exploration of the city. 

RH: What was the naughtiest thing you did at School? 

AC: Oh SO many things, but I remember Study Hall. It was a very different place back then. We had this study hall monitor person, who wasn't a teacher, they were just there for crowd control essentially. Also to make sure you didn't leave. We did absolutely everything we could to get out of that place by distracting whoever was the monitor at the time. I got detention a few times, but I'd usually end up just chatting with the supervisor and they'd let me go early. It was a different time! 

RH: How has being an Old Andrean affected your job? 

AC: I definitely had a good knowledge of the School when I started, even though it has changed a lot. The layout of certain things – the Cathedral, Chapter House, Fairfax Room, it helped knowing all of those things ahead of time. I see some staff, especially those who come from the corporate world with a 'deer in headlights' look in their first couple of weeks. I was pleased to avoid this. 

RH: And finally, I understand you have a daughter here? Tell me about her. 

AC: I do! My daughter Hazel is in Gawura School in Year 3. It's amazing to have her here and in Gawura School. She has such wonderful opportunities that we couldn't necessarily give her because we're not On Country for her - but she still gets to be immersed in First Nations culture by being here. We love it. Gawura School is such a huge part of the school. It actually started the year that I graduated in 2007. I remember Mr Heath gearing up the community for the start when I was in Year 12. And it's such a beautiful opportunity for kids. So, I think I'd always hoped that Hazel would end up here,