Boarding News

The Importance of Good Sleep

I continually meet with students in boarding to discuss various issues they have, the major concern, understandably, being homesickness and worries about home, closely followed by school workload anxiety. These concerns lead to a lack of sleep as they run everything through their heads at night. I know, we’re all guilty of it.

We do worry though about the girls and their sleep, or lack of, and are trying to instil good sleeping habits for now and their future as all research shows the importance of good sleep.

While researching sleep routines and habits, it is evident that the main key is to build a better mentality towards a balanced lifestyle to get a sleep schedule on track. Taking care of yourself and forming healthy habits is crucial to one’s wellbeing. Getting enough sleep is proven beneficial to your health, such as; strengthening the immune system and reducing the risk of heart disease. For students, here are some specific reasons why they should have good sleep:

Sleep influences athletic performance

Research shows sleep deprivation can negatively affect people’s physical and physiological function. For teenagers and young athletes, the following outlines how sleep can impact performance:

• Accuracy and reaction time: Adequate sleep improves better body reactions in sports and helps young athletes hit their goals more accurately
• Endurance: Good sleep improves glucose metabolism which leads to better energy and keeps you motivated
• Motor memory and cognitive function: Having ten hours of continuous sleep helps with muscle memory, results in better reaction time, coordination and split-second decision making
• Injury risk and recovery: The human growth hormone, important for tissue repair and muscle and bone development, is only secreted during deep sleep.

Weight gain and sleep deprivation

There is a physiological correlation between sleep and body weight. The hormone Leptin is produced by you to control the feeling of hunger. Leptin also has its counterpart Ghrelin; which is produced in the stomach and stimulates hunger. When we are not having enough sleep, our body produces less Leptin but increases the level of Ghrelin.

Sleep can affect grades

It is harder to concentrate when sleep deprived. Additionally, because sleep plays a key role in helping students memorising what they have learnt, without sleep, students may seem to work harder but not achieve as well as expected.

So, how do we get a good night’s sleep?  To answer this question, it seems easy enough in theory - get more sleep, however in practice, it sometimes requires an overhaul, which I work with the girls in creating.  Here are some ways to ease into a new sleep routine:

Don’t overload your schedule

I know it is hard to scale back but I find the girls sometimes are overwhelmed with different tasks and commitments. Have a look at their schedules to prioritise important and not as important tasks to allow some downtime.

Too much noise?

This one is not as easy in boarding, as in a sleep sharing environment, we do have some noisier sleepers than others and it is quite irritating to students who have trouble sleeping. We recommend earplugs and eye masks to these students.

No technology

For good sleep to happen, you need no technology. All students up to Year 11 have different tech hand-in times before quiet time and then bed. Year 12 students are advised to put Do Not Disturb on their phones to encourage a good night’s sleep.

Going to sleep routine

I talk to a lot of students about this and what best works for them. Some like to start with having a shower before bed, then to spray lavender or eucalyptus on their pillow, whatever works for each individual, I support for good sleep. Other healthy sleeping habits that improve the ability to sleep are:

• Try sticking to a regular bedtime
• Homework should be done at a desk rather than in a bed. Bed is for sleeping only
• Take some time to calm down or even do meditation before going to sleep

When we all sleep well, we are all happier. 

We are closely monitoring the current ever-changing COVID situation and will endeavour to keep boarding families updated when Queensland Health decisions and directives are given. At this point in time, all leave and activities will go ahead as planned: