Clyde North Campus News
We are just about at the halfway mark for Term One already with most students settling into a good school routine. But what constitutes a good routine and where do I get one, I hear some students asking.
Routine for the average adolescent may not quite fit into the concept that parents, guardians, and caregivers envisage. This is especially true over the long summer holidays, when sleeping in and late nights become the routine of many young people. Therefore, the return to school can be challenging in resetting the expectations around routine.
As adults it is our role to provide the structure and conditions that will enable our young people to:
Rest, sleep, eat well, have time for family and friends and be on time and organised for school.
Sounds simple, but alas family life can be complicated even complex trying to negotiate all the different agendas and schedules of each member of the family.
So, what is the role of the young person now at secondary school in all of this? Simply put rest, sleep, eat well and be organised for school. As parents and guardians, we need our young people to take a level of responsibility based on age in developing their healthy and organised routine for school.
Too often we are seeing students coming late for school because they slept in. We understand the difficulties that are beyond our control such as bus and traffic incidents causing delays, but these are the exceptions. Our young people know that should they be late for their shift at the local café, MacDonalds or other such stores, they would be reprimanded and may even have their pay docked. Time is money as they say in business. Therefore, it is critical that we embed in our young people from Year Seven a work ethic that is based around organisation and punctuality.
When students are late for school they miss important information, take longer to settle, and get organised for learning and even miss the fun stuff. Therefore, we are placing the responsibility of being on time with our young people. Should they be late without reason they will be required to attend a support session at recess, lunchtime, and afterschool in order to make up the lost learning time. This includes Tutor Group which is the first essential part of the school day and routine.
Parents, guardians, and caregivers, please support our drive to embed a culture of organisation starting with being on time for school every day.
House Welcome Evening
A huge thankyou to our Year Seven parents and students who took part in our House Welcome Evening. This was a great opportunity for many of our new families to gain a deeper understanding of the House System and the importance of their child’s House Charism. Critical to the success of this evening is the time allocated for Learning Advisors to meet with each family to build a shared understanding of the learning strengths and needs of their son/daughter.
Wednesday 5th April 6:45pm for a 7pm start – Geode Centre
We are very excited to offer parents/guardians of years 7,8 & 9 a seminar on Cyber Safety by The Cyber Safety Project. Navigating the cyber world is difficult enough without us as adults feeling our children know more than we do but not enough to maintain safety online. We feel it critical that we offer parents/guardians the opportunity to be informed and develop confidence in managing the cyber world that has engulfed our children. We have engaged a fantastic company, Cyber Safety Project who have already led our staff through several modules in managing cyber safety and students will receive critical workshops in the first week of Term 2. To support parents/guardians we have arranged a free (but bookings will be essential) workshop/seminar for parents in the last week of Term 1. The timing is perfect, right before holidays, parents will feel more confident and skilled in managing the pressure from young people to be constantly online during the holidays.
More details on how to book will be emailed to parents very soon.
Special focus: Energy drinks – not necessary!
A concerning trend among teenagers is the consumption of energy drinks. I need to be very clear that the only drink permitted in class time is water, no coke, etc. Energy drinks are not permitted at the school. There is no reason or value in our young people consuming these products. I have included some facts that we all should consider in supporting our young people to live healthily.
- Students try to cope with their hectic schedules by sleeping less and consuming high energy drinks to stay alert. They find it hard to balance the demands of studies, jobs, friends, and families. The combination of sleep deprivation and energy drinks can have harmful effects on their health. Large amounts of caffeine can cause severe heart and blood vessel problems, including high blood pressure, higher heart rate, and heart rhythm disturbances. Caffeine can harm a young person’ developing nervous and cardiovascular systems. Excessive consumption of energy drinks can disrupt the sleep patterns of teenagers and induce risk-taking behaviour. The amount of sugar added to an energy drink may be more than the maximum amount recommended for the entire day. (Victorian Health Dept)
I wish you all a safe and productive week.
Julie Banda
Deputy Principal - Head of Clyde North Campus