SECONDARY NEWS
From the Assistant Principal

Miss Kim Bailey
kbailey@arm.catholic.edu.au

Congratulations...

Congratulations to Elkie Sargeant, who will be performing in the NSW Schools Spectacular this weekend in Sydney. Elkie has been studying Dance via Distance Education.

Year 10

Last week, Year 10 students were involved in activities focusing on preparing for their final assembly, the Year 10 Camp at Copeton Dam and the Graduation Mass, which will be held on Friday 1 December.

Year 10 Copeton Dam

Year 10 students will head to Copeton Dam in Week 8 from Monday 27 to Wednesday 29 November. A note with details has been posted on Compass, where families are asked to give consent to the trip and pay the $160, which covers bus travel and cabin hire. If there are any enquiries, please contact Mrs Guest.

Year 10 Work Experience

This week, Year 10 will be completing the second Work Experience session for 2023. We appreciate local businesses' generosity in providing placements for the students.

Year 10 Graduation

Students and parents have received invitations to the Graduation Dinner to be held on Friday 1 December, at the Inverell RSM Club. Students have been allocated their numbers, and tickets can be purchased from the school office. We ask that tickets be purchased by Monday 27 November. If there are any changes or queries to the numbers already allocated, please contact Miss Bailey as soon as possible.

Upcoming Year 10 Events

Monday 28 November – Wednesday 29 November:

Christian Living Camp at Copeton Dam – students will come to school on Monday morning with their requirements for the camp and be bused to the Dam.

Thursday 30 November:

Graduation Mass Practice - 9.15 am at Sacred Heart Church.

Friday 1 December:

Graduation Mass, Presentation of Awards & Morning Tea - 9.15 am at Sacred Heart Church

Graduation Dinner Dance – 6.30 pm at the Inverell RSM Club.

EXAM & ASSESSMENT FEEDBACK

A great approach for students is to undertake a simple SWOT analysis:

Strengths:

What are your strengths as a student?
What achievements from this year can you celebrate?
What do you do really well at school?
What skills have you developed?
What learning have you really enjoyed?

Weaknesses:

What are your weaknesses as a student?
What areas could you improve in?
What skills need more work?

Opportunities:

What opportunities exist for you to improve your approach to school?
What could you do differently next year?
What could you do to have better quality learning experiences next year?

Threats:

What is standing in the way of you achieving your personal best?
What obstacles do you need to overcome?
What actions could you take to deal with any threats to achieving your personal best?

Staff are currently finalising the assessment process for their classes and preparing reports, which will be distributed at the end of the term.

All classes will be operating as normal for the remainder of the term as there is still coursework to be completed across all KLAs.

How much sleep?

We all know that sleep is important for general health, for growth and development and for emotional well-being. However, you may not know that important memory processes take place while you are sleeping, ensuring you retain what you are learning and studying.

Perhaps you have heard that teenagers need between nine to ten hours of sleep per night. But where does this come from and how valid is this claim? In 1980, Mary Carskadon of Stanford sequestered a group of adolescents in the university's sleep laboratory for several days, letting them sleep for as long as they wanted, up to 10 hours. She found that the teenagers slept just over nine hours, with very little variation. This single "naturalistic" study is the primary basis for the adolescent sleep recommendation. However, some researchers argue that just because teenagers slept nine hours when left alone does not mean that this is the best thing for them, just like letting people eat whatever they want is not necessarily the best thing for their health. So there is no definitive answer at this point in time.

The amount of sleep needed by teenagers is most likely very individual, just like it is for adults. It is probably safe to assume that adolescents need more sleep than adults and that the average for most people is at least 8 hours of sleep per night. Pay attention to the signs and have students listen to their bodies. If they lie down in bed and fall asleep instantly, this is a sign they are not getting enough sleep for their body. It should take at least 15 minutes to fall asleep. If they wake up in the morning and are feeling exhausted, then check all lifestyle factors: are they getting enough sleep, eating healthily and getting enough exercise?

If teenagers are sleeping in for many hours on a weekend, unfortunately, this does not mean they are “catching up” on their sleep. According to University of Texas Southwestern sleep specialist Dr. Gregory Carter, when we think we're catching up on sleep, what we're really doing is messing with our circadian cycle -- the body's internal clock, which dictates sleep patterns. Excessive sleeping in is in fact a signal that during the week students need to go to bed earlier. The aim is to work out the optimum bedtime so that the need to catch up on large amounts of sleep on the weekend is eliminated.

There is nothing wrong with having a power nap in the afternoon when students get home from school, as long as the nap is no longer than 40 minutes. A short nap can help students regain their energy levels and allow them to focus on the work they have to do that evening. However, a longer nap will also disrupt sleeping patterns for that night.

Google Classroom Guardian Summaries

Remember to accept the invitation to sign up for Google Classroom Guardian Summaries. Please contact Miss Bailey if you have any questions or problems.