HOY Update
Welcome to Semester 2; time is flying and it is hard to believe we are half way through the schooling year .
At The Gap State High School, we believe in Learners Who Flourish. We believe that every day our students should feel a sense of belonging and connection. As such, our Connect program is continuing to develop and improve. At the end of T2, we were lucky enough to have Brisbane Broncos players visit our Year 9 cohort to discuss the importance of Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness and Emotional Literacy and how they practice it on a day-to-day basis.
The Year 7-12 Connect Program aims to develop and build student wellbeing, resilience, emotional literacy, hope and positive relationships. It is underpinned by the GEM principles of Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness:
- Gratitude: is paying attention to what we have and being thankful for the little things in life and acknowledging what went well
- Empathy: is the ability to understand another person’s thoughts and feelings from their perspective and is closely linked to kindness
- Mindfulness: is about being in the present moment to reach a state of clarity and calmness
Research shows development of these personal and social competencies leads to improved academic results, learning culture, attendance and reduced disciplinary actions. Here are some try at home activities you can complete at home.
GRATITUDE
Whole Family Activity:
Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
As a family create a scavenger hunt list of things that make you happy or you are grateful for, you can make your own list or use the examples below:
- Something that makes you happy
- Something you love to smell
- Something you enjoy looking at
- Something that is your favourite colour
- Something you like in nature
- Something that is useful for you
Each member of the family uses the list and has to find as many things as they can.
You can hunt for things inside or outside, or both. You can hunt for real things, or you can also do this using magazines or pictures from the internet.
After a set amount of time hunting, come back together, have a look at what each person collected and let them explain why they are grateful for each item.
Family Habit Builder:
Every night at dinner, have each person talk about their favourite thing about that day.
EMPATHY
Working on empathy helps us to identify, understand and feel what another person is feeling. When we show empathy or we do something kind for someone else our brain releases oxytocin. This leads to increasing our self-esteem/confidence, energy levels, positivity and overall happiness.
Whole Family Activity:
Neighbourhood Kindness Challenge
As a family, choose an act of kindness from the list below that you would like to do for a neighbour or family friend. Each family member can select one to commit to, or you can choose to do one together.
- Cook them something delicious like a cake, hot bread, or cookies
- Write a note to put in their letterbox thanking them for being a great neighbour or friend
- Design them a Thank You card
- Pick or buy some flowers to deliver to them
- Choose a little plant from your garden to give them
- Make them a gift from things around your house
- Offer to do a job for them, like wash their car or water their garden
- Offer to take their pets for a walk
- Invite them over for afternoon tea
- Invite them on a walk
- Recommend one of your favourite books to borrow and read
- Ask them if they need anything from the shops next time you buy groceries
- Say hello next time you see them, and ask them how their day is going
Feel free to do more than one and spread the kindness even further! Report back to each other in one week and share how your acts of kindness were received, and how doing them made you feel.
Family Habit Builder:
Every night at dinner, have each person thank another family member for something they’ve done or said today, or give another family member a compliment. Please don’t hesitate to contact your relevant Head of Year if your child requires any support.