From the Principal

It has been a busy but exciting week at the College.

Last Friday was our Primary (3-6) swimming carnival. Congratulations to all swimmers who entered an event. Thank you to Miss Keane, the staff and our Year 10 leaders who all contributed to a successful event.

Yesterday was the induction Assembly for our Secondary student leaders. Each of the students who have been appointed this year are humble, gracious and committed students who want to make a positive contribution. I look forward with eager anticipation to the contribution they will make to our community this year.

Yesterday was a very exciting day with the first day of classes in our new Secondary classrooms and Year 8-10 students got access to their lockers. The building provides quality learning and meeting places for students.

Knowing I am an avid podcast listener, a friend recommended one by Dr Michael Mosely called ‘Just one thing’. The idea of the series is that many of us are looking to improve our health but often struggle with the quantity of often contradictory information available. He provides tips on small changes that people could try if they were to change just one thing to improve their health.

This led me to think about ‘just one thing’ I would recommend to students or parents. For Secondary students, the one thing I would recommend is a screen time curfew. There is ample evidence of the impact of screens on sleep and on mental health. Both the amount of time and when screen time occurs makes a difference. Docking devices at a set time and in a set location, especially away from bedrooms, can help in winding down at the end of the day and can help prevent the negative and dangerous interactions that can happen during the late evening and morning hours.

For primary students, my one thing would be to imagine if…. Many young children have a wonderful sense of curiosity and wonder. I especially love engaging with them on the playground. Yesterday in Kinder, we were making choc chip cupcakes in the sandpit. Apparently mine came out of the oven burnt because I cooked them for 40 minutes and in the Kinder oven, they only need 2 minutes. Wow! Imagination is not just fun. It is an important tool for developing student critical and creative thinking as it helps them to deepen their empathy and engagement, move concepts from concrete understanding to abstract understanding and develop new ideas. Within our PYP program, we especially want to foster student questioning. This requires students to use their imagination, to push beyond their current understanding.

For parents, my one thing would be to be present in the moment. Life is busy. We can be distracted by the list in our head or worrying about the many aspects of life over which we have little control. When our kids are young, there can be the tendency to want to fast forward to when they sleep through the night or can manage certain things for themselves. Any parent of older children will tell you how quickly they grow up and that many things that seemed like a big deal don’t seem that important anymore. The most powerful thing we can invest into our children is our love. Investing in our relationship with them will help immeasurably during the more challenging moments that are part of the parenting journey.

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

~ Colossians 3:12-14

Jodie Bennett

Principal