Middle Years 

Life is curious, I must say this lockdown came on us quickly and I was not really expecting it. I hope this week has been good for everyone (parents and students included). We have been lucky having normal schooling for five months, with only a short lockdown early in Term 1. I would like to congratulate all Year 7 to Year 9 students. Staff were particularly impressed with the Year 7 students, describing them as capable and focused. Our Year 8 and Year 9 students just got on with the job, they knew what to expect and they applied the skills learnt during past remote learning times. 

Now we need to quickly settle back at school and get ready for the examinations next week. My advice is to accept the challenges without overthinking the examinations. Students need to understand that teachers want you to show them what you know, and you are more ready than you think. Remember “to gently back yourself”. All Middle Years students should approach these as “L-Plate Examinations”, and all students are learning examination techniques and learning how to revise. 

I am proud of how students coped this week, and the transition to remote learning was seamless. Our switch from face-to-face lessons to remote without too much fuss shows good adaptability. Remote learning poses different challenges, as we all approach this task in different ways. In our online Wellbeing classes, I said to students - they have a choice about how engaged they were, and I asked them to indicate if they had full engagement, partial engagement or no engagement. As you would expect I received a full range of answers; one student said their engagement was a ‘solid medium’ and this still shows commitment to the learning. It is clear, some students enjoyed remote learning while other did not. I respect both positions. I also respect students’ honesty, it is ok not to like remote learning, and for many students it is not natural being away from peers. The main thing this week was to “have a go” and “do the best you can”. We also discussed the power of changing your mindset when times are challenging. 

I heard Maggie Dent on the ABC on last Saturday morning, and she made some very good points about this latest remote learning phase. This advice was also part of our online discussions this week:

• One week of lockdown is not a big issue and will not interrupt this year’s schooling.
• She reminded us to interrupt our ‘poor me’ thoughts, we naturally have a negativity bias, we are looking for the storm clouds all the time.
• Accept the things we cannot control. We cannot control the pandemic.
• What did you do last time (in lockdown) that worked?
• Remember to re-set our perspective.
• Gratitude is important.
• Lighten up and have fun.

Another theme we discussed in Wellbeing classes this week is the importance of mindfulness. Being mindful in our approach is important and I often use this calming skill to step back if things are getting stressful. Our brains want predictability and try to control events, but our primitive brains can quickly go into overdrive. When this occurs, it is important to be able to slow our thinking down and notice our thoughts. I spoke to students about how our cortisol levels rise in our blood when we get stressed, and we can feel our body’s reaction. We need to actively do things to reduce cortisol; activities such as exercise, listening to music, reading a book, playing with your dog, talking to friends will help bring cortisol levels down.

These Headspace videos are worth watch, and the first link is one of my favourites. 

Changing Perspective https://youtu.be/iN6g2mr0p3Q?list=RDCMUC3JhfsgFPLSLNEROQCdj-GQ

The Beginner’s Mind https://youtu.be/pDm_na_Blq8?list=RDCMUC3JhfsgFPLSLNEROQCdj-GQ

Getting Started https://youtu.be/t_yXe_6mYTA?list=RDCMUC3JhfsgFPLSLNEROQCdj-GQ

I would like to thank parents for their immense support over the last week, and I am delighted we are back on campus. 

Mrs Julia Winter Cooke

Head of Middle Years