Year 8 Pastoral Guardian

I am sure you welcomed home a very tired and proud daughter on Friday afternoon, after her three-day outdoor education experience.  All students on camp experienced varying degrees of personal, physical, social, and emotional challenges that called for them to dig deep and go beyond their comfort zones.  Consequently - and very importantly - students experienced significant personal rewards for their persistence, teamwork, and preparedness to ‘have a go’.  The learning about themselves and what they are truly capable of achieving cannot be under-estimated!  Every teacher who journeyed with your daughter over the three days came away feeling incredibly grateful and inspired for being able to witness the enormous growth that occurred. 

With this week’s Parent Corner focusing on brain chemistry and managing stress, I am providing you with some questions that will encourage your daughter to reflect on her outdoor education experience, the role that cortisol, dopamine, and melatonin played in her participation, and how these skills can be transferred to her academic life. 

Cortisol: 

1. What was one fear you overcame (or worked on)?
2. What techniques did you use to help lower your cortisol levels/address your fear?
3. How do you now feel because you adopted these positive strategies and experiences?
4. What same or new techniques could you apply to your academic studies?

Dopamine:

1. Name some experiences from camp where your dopamine chemicals were released.
2. How did you feel during and after this experience?
3. How could these techniques be applied to your academic studies?
4. What other experiences/activities could be tried?

Melatonin:

1. What differences did you notice in yourself by not having electronic devices with you last week (eg ability to fall asleep, meaningfully connect with others, sense of calm)?
2. How can your sleep hygiene and routine be improved to increase your melatonin levels?
3. How can your diet be improved to improve your melatonin levels?
4. How can your use of technology at night-time be modified to improve your melatonin levels?

Parents, thank you for the wonderful support you gave your daughters prior to the outdoor education experience.  Your positive encouragement enabled your daughter to believe in herself and to grow.  Now, as we face the final term of Year 8, let’s apply our understanding of brain chemistry to equip our students to face the term with confidence and a ‘can do’ attitude so that optimal academic success is achieved. 

Jeni Barlow

See what your daughters thought of their Outdoor Education Experience last week

We have no more photo available at this stage.  A gallery will be published when we are able.