Associate Principals' Report 

Teenagers and Sleep

Earlier this year I did some work with my Year 10 Psychology/Biology class around the importance of healthy sleep patterns and the biology of sleep. We surveyed the group about their sleep habits and they then analysed the data. I shouldn’t have been surprised (but admit I was) when the class average over a normal week came back at 7.4 hours sleep per night. Given that the medical advice is that teenagers around the age of fourteen should get between 9 and 9.5 hours sleep per night to help support healthy physical and mental development this is of concern (and I don’t think my Year 10 class is significantly different to any other class group within the school). 

You will repeatedly hear about teenagers and sleep discussed in the media, and the reporting often focuses poor sleep patterns resulting from the impacts of using electronic technology before bed time. I have had many conversations with concerned parents over recent years about the issue of trying to manage their child’s use of mobile phones, computers or gaming devices. The clear advice is that they should be off any electronic device around an hour before settling down for bed, and that these devices should not be in their bedroom overnight (especially mobile phones). Negotiating set rules with your teenagers around phone and computer use in the evening (and following through on these) is extremely important in helping them get the amount of sleep their brains and bodies need. I can’t overstate how much a regular amount of good quality sleep each night will help to improve your teenager’s physical health, mental wellbeing and academic performance.

There is much more to helping your teenager improve their sleep habits than just changing their use electronic devices at night. To read more about the importance of sleep for teenagers the following website is a useful starting point:

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/HealthyLiving/teenagers-and-sleep

Paul Donaldson

Associate Principal 

End of Term 1

Fairhills High School has been a buzz throughout Term 1 with a range of activities.  

Our staff are always pleased to chat to parents at Parent Teacher interviews and we were pleased with the number of parents who connected online with our teachers.  The convenience of online interviews means that parents have the chance to connect with staff from the comfort of their homes.  The process was straight forward and, by all accounts, staff and parents enjoyed the direct interaction.  Parents are reminded that if you have any concerns about your child’s progress, you are always welcome to contact staff either directly at the school or via Compass.  Given the teachers’ busy schedule, they may not be able to contact you immediately, however, staff will make every attempt to do so within a reasonable time-frame.

We were pleased to host the Effective Inquiry Workshop today with five primary schools and three key presenters from the Eastern Regional Office.  Together we explored how we can all work collaboratively together to create positive transition experiences by discovering what we already have, thinking about what might be possible and discovering ways of improving the process of transition.  We all participated in rich discussions and enjoyed a chance to further connect with the staff from our local primary feeder schools.

We are looking forward to meeting the parents of Grade 5 and 6 students at the school’s Discovery Night which will be held on Tuesday 27 April 2021.  This will be a great opportunity to meet our new principal, Mr Ian Van Schie and also speak to a range of our staff about the many changes that we are introducing at the school. 

I hope all our students have a safe and relaxing holiday.

Karen Dean

Associate Principal