From the Leader of Learning

While our Year 12 students are undertaking their HSC examinations, our Stage 5 students have commenced their assessment blocks. Success in examinations is about skill development. If your daughter is displaying signs of anxiety towards examinations, there are two areas to consider: organisation and managing stress.

Parent Webinar ~ How to Help Your Child Manage Their Time

Elevate Education will host a free webinar for parents on Wednesday, 26 October. Elevate Education has worked with our Year 12 students this year. Their webinar series will allow parents to learn how they can help better support their children at home by reinforcing the skills they learn at school. The first in the series is:  

How to Help Your Child Manage Their Time ~  26 October @ 6:30pm (AEDT)

In this webinar, Elevate Education will be showing parents how to:

✅ Align family expectations on homework

✅ Work with your child on managing other activities such as your daughter’s hobbies or sports

✅ Create the best weekly planner tool for your child

Click here to register for free

7 Ways Mindfulness and Meditation Can be Helpful to Students

What is Mindfulness?

Headspace (www.headspace.com) defines mindfulness as “the intention to be present in the here and now, fully engaged in whatever is happening, free from distraction or judgement, with a soft and open mind”.

How does practising mindfulness help schoolwork?

• Reduces anxiety and risk of depression – By becoming mindful, a person stops judging themselves and those around them and recognises that every situation “is what it is”. When you stop judging and comparing, you are able to reduce anxiety.
• Increases resilience – resilience is the ability to experience something bad but not internalise it and to be able to move on, still gaining benefit even from a negative experience. Practising mindfulness and meditation quietens the mind and enables acceptance without judgement, which is key to achieving resilience.
• Improves ability to learn and recall information – research by the University of Miami has shown that practising mindfulness for 12 minutes a day improved attention and memory.
• Improves concentration – regular practice of meditation may help improve concentration by enabling the brain to focus more accurately and filter out unwanted or unhelpful messages.
• Improves creativity – practising mindfulness and meditation has the potential to allow the brain to unlock and unleash creativity. Creativity is of benefit to all students, not just in terms of artistic talents but also in relation to problem-solving.
• Helps manage exam stress – meditation can help you calm and focus your mind which helps to manage stress related to exams. This tool can be used in the lead-up to the exam and also during the exam if stress levels begin to rise.
• Leads to better sleep – getting enough sleep is crucial to ensure students have the mental and physical energy to learn. However, as academic and social pressures increase, this can lead to students having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. By reducing anxiety and stress, you can ultimately sleep better and longer.

Where parents and carers feel that organisation and managing anxiety and stress is an ongoing issue for their daughter, our College staff are here to assist. Reaching out to your daughter’s Tutor teacher is the first step.

This article on College life meets The Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools – Charter #1, #2