Dunhelen

                                                                  Mrs Francis Scuderi

Wellbeing

Dunhelen students have worked very hard this term and should be proud of their achievements. Staff have recognised their efforts and at many times throughout the term have also ‘checked in’ with students to see how they are travelling mentally and physically. Some of our Year 8 classes took on a challenge that required them to complete some wellbeing activities and send a photo to their teacher. Each activity was worth a certain amount of points and from this, winners were selected. The competition culminated in a pancake-making day. Thank you to Ms Armstrong, Ms Mujkanovic and Ms Zijai for this. Thank you to Mr Bernes, who also held a cooking competition and pancake picnic with his Year 9 students. I know the students appreciated all efforts to make learning at home enjoyable.  

Extra-curricular Activities

This term, we were fortunate enough to participate in some extra-curricular activities even while in Home Learning. Some of the activities that we contributed to included: Maths Olympiad, EngGirls, Photography competition, SSV virtual tennis challenge, Interact Club, Drama productions, Musical presentations, Annual art show preparation and PEs Race around Australia, just to name a few. More wonderful examples of our students at work! I encourage all students to get involved in the wider life of the College.

Short Story at Assembly 

This week at Assembly I read the students a very short story. The message is clear and one that I try to remember myself. Going into the holidays with restrictions may seem a little hard but I wanted the students to know that their lives are full of good things and to keep this in mind always. I do not know the author of the story or its origins but I do think it is worth sharing.

The Black Dot 

A teacher asked students to prepare for a ‘surprise’ test. The students were anxious as the teacher handed out the test paper with the text facing down. He then asked the students to begin. To everyone’s surprise there was nothing written on the page, just a black dot somewhere around the bottom of the page.

The teacher then asked, “I want you to write what you see there.”

The students were confused but started on the task. 

At the end of the lesson the teacher collected the papers and started reading them aloud to the class. Every single one tried to describe the black dot and its position on the paper.

The class listened and then the teacher explained. “You will not be graded on this, I just wanted to give you something to think about.”

He went on, “You see, everyone focused on the black dot and no one wrote about the white part of the paper and the same thing happens in our lives. Our life is a special gift and yet we focus on the black dots. We worry about friendships, money, disappointments, getting the brand-new shoes, etc. but these black dots are very small compared to everything we have in our lives." He continued, "We allow the black dots to spoil our minds. Try and look away from the black dots and focus on the blessings you have. We have so much to be grateful for and so much to enjoy. Be happy and enjoy life.” - Author Anon

Safe Holidays

Wishing all the students, teachers and families a happy, safe and restful break.