Pastoral Care

Recharge, Reflect and Restart

Recharge, Reflect and restart. How to maximise school holidays for future success.

We all know the three Rs of school, but what about the three Rs of the holidays? Follow these steps to help your teen make the most of the school holiday and get ready for the new term…

Recharge

Try to give your teen (and yourself) plenty of downtime so that you are all relaxed and refreshed by the time school starts again. If you can, keep the final days of the holidays fairly quiet, rather than tiring everyone out with last-minute activities.

Reflect 

The New Year’s tradition of reflecting on the past and making resolutions for the future is not just for adults. Encourage your teen to learn from their experiences of Term 1 and set themselves up for the next term. There’s no need to hold a formal ‘review’, just find some time to chat about:

• things they did and didn’t like about school in Term 1
• things they feel they did and didn’t do well
• things they’d like to do and achieve in Term 2

Then encourage your teen to think about what they can do to achieve their goals, and how you can help them. If they had some challenges in Term 1, talk about what happened and why, and work out what your teen (and you) can do in Term 2 so they have a better time. When your teen has strategies for handling problems of the past, backed up by your support, they are much more likely to start Term 2 with a positive mindset.

Restart

A gradual transition from ‘holiday mode’ to ‘school mode’ makes the first day back much easier, so start getting back into the school routine a few days before term starts. Make sure your teen gets all their school things ready well ahead of time, and let you know if they need anything new. Remember also to check how they are feeling about going back to school, and talk about any concerns they might have.

One important factor to consider is sleep pattern.  Students’ sleep schedules understandably loosen up during a school break. So how can parents help their children get back on a sleep schedule for going back to school? Take it one day at a time!

The process of adjusting a sleep schedule should be incremental. In the week leading up to going back to school, have your child wake up 15 minutes earlier and go to sleep 15 minutes earlier than they have been during their break. Continue to adjust their bed and wake times in 15-minute increments every few days until your child is sleeping and waking at the desired times for school. By the first day back to school, they should be adjusted to the new sleep schedule and ready to go.

Then make sure they get a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast, give them a big hug, and send them off to class knowing that you’ve given them a great start to Term 2.

The Pastoral Care Team wishes all parents, guardians and students a safe and relaxing school holiday.

Sources:

https://www.learningpotential.gov.au/articles/four-rs-for-high-school-holidays

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/school-and-sleep/back-to-school-sleep-tips

The Pastoral Care Team