Senior Years and Wellbeing 

It was wonderful to have most of our Year 11s and 12s, back on site last week. I had missed their energy, their conversation and their noise. I have not, however, missed tripping over their school bags as I walk out my door!

I asked our Year 11s and 12s to reflect on their time at home and what they have learnt.Thank you to our senior students who have shared some of their reflections from the remote learning period. I was overwhelmed with their honesty and I must admit was a little bit emotional reading some of the stories

Here are just some of their reflections:

• During the remote learning period I have worked on my time management and motivation skills which will be essential for when I return to school. 
• Have loved the freedom do work at my own pace in my own time. 
• I was surprised how easy communicating with teachers and peers was during class time and the effectiveness of technology and the methods we are using to learn.
• Usually I am a person who doesn’t like change very much, but with the circumstances I have had to be able to adjust and adapt to my new life.
• In the end looking back on the last six weeks, it is clear that our school network, teachers and students are able to over come any obstacles that we are faced with. Our school’s core value of resilience has become a huge part in our changed lives too.
• I have loved the challenge of stepping into a new way of learning
• Being home has allowed a deeper reconnection and the chance for quality time spent with family that has been one of the highlights to this remote learning journey.
• It has been surprising how productive I have been considering all the distractions around me like going outside or spending time with my family.
• I have loved having some extra time to do study but also some things for me that I tend to put aside during the busyness of everyday life. I have become so much more appreciative of the little things in life.  

What all our students have achieved has taken great courage and our teaching staff are extremely proud. I have a challenge to all our students as they begin to return to face to face learning:

If you worked better at home, if you managed to get more work done, because there were less distractions then how do you keep that going when you are back at school and who is the only person who can be responsible for that?

If you interacted more with your teachers and your class mates, why should that be any different when you are in the classroom

If you have made an extra effort to spend time with your family and keep connected to your friends, don’t let that go. 

If you just slowed down and took better care of yourself – why would you give that up?

Our students are all going to return as more independent learners with an amazing new skill set. They have adapted like we never thought possible and have shown they can achieve anything they put their mind to. 

Kristen Waldron