Our leaders focus for Term 3 is wellbeing and Eliza Corbin and Tess Moloney will lead this with the support of all the other student-elected leaders. The girls have set up an Instagram page to share inspirational quotes and links to wellness sites.

At the family meeting this week, the girls lead a session on the importance of developing healthy sleep habits and offered some tips on how to improve these habits.

The expectation that staff enforce bedtimes and girls understand why this routine is important was the focus of our first family meeting this term.

Social and cultural forces and the pervasive use of technology have collided with the biology of the adolescent to prevent many teens from getting enough rest.

Like most teenagers, our boarders are maturing in an era of ubiquitous electronic media.
While our current boarding guidelines remove all devices for our junior girls, by necessity, the senior girls are allowed to retain their laptops overnight for academic purposes. For this reason, our girls must be aware of the impact that late-night exposure to lit screens can have on their ability to get a good quality sleep.

Sleep-phase delay is exacerbated when teens are exposed late at night to a lit screen, which sends a message via the retina to the portion of the brain that controls the body’s circadian clock. The message - it’s not night-time yet. This one factor is enough to trigger issues, but the problem can magnify rapidly when we add in the social, emotional elements of late messages from friends.

Sleep research suggests that a teenager needs between 8 to 10 hours of sleep every night. Yet, most adolescents only get about 6.5 – 7.5 hours of sleep per night, and some get less. With academic demands and extra-curricular activities, the importance of sleep can be pushed aside. When the girls say they are tired, they don’t realise that, more realistically, they are sleep deprived for this developmental phase of their life.

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New date for the Boarders' Fashion Parade

Friday 10 September is the new date proposed for the Boarders' Fashion Parade. If you have booked tickets for the earlier date and know you will not be able to attend the September date, please contact the Boarding Office to arrange for a ticket refund.

Home-based activities last weekend

The performance of the Australian swimming team provided great entertainment for a weekend where leave was still somewhat restricted.

The girls got into the competitive spirit of the games on Sunday afternoon with our own mini-Olympics. Jina's mentor group came out with the Gold on the day – a pizza supper for all the girls in that mentor group.

Other activities over the weekend included spontaneous cooking and conversations and marshmallows around the firepit.

Staffing update

Last week we introduced Ms Amy Day to you. Following her University placement, Amy was offered a position. While we are disappointed that this means she will not be able to continue her work in the Boarding House, we congratulate her as this is such a wonderful opportunity that sees her start her journey in her chosen career.