Years 7, 8 and 9 Program Leader | Mr Damien Coman

As usual we hit the ground running in Week 1 at Terrace, but I would like to go back to the end of Term 1 momentarily. Mr Cam Adair spoke to parents and all students in Years 8 and 9 about gaming and social media addiction in adolescents. His facts were quite alarming, but made a lot of sense. It is one of the biggest challenges that both schools and parents face as we have moved into a ‘different world’ online - one that the adults never experienced in exactly the same way, so therefore do not have the same understanding that we have in other areas. For those who missed him, Cam’s Ted Talks are online to view. We continue to work with students in Years 7-9 about responsibilities online in our Formation program.
 
It is also the time of term to review and plan. Reviews will take place with House Tutors and of course Parent/Teacher/Student interviews. Taking the time at this early stage to think about how students prepared for assessment and gaining feedback from their teachers will be part of the process. In Formation, students will also be guided to review and develop their weekly routine, homework times, revision times and create a plan for assessment for the term. These should then be written on their wall planner on a copy that is placed in their room so it is right in front of the student each night.
 
On Tuesday 14 May we have Mr Bill Jennings from ‘Time and Space’ running a Mother and Son night for Year 7 students and their mothers (or the significant female in their life). Bill travels with his program all over the country and we are lucky to have him at this special time of year to coincide with Mother's Day. It creates opportunities to communicate and also hear from some other students in the year about the types of thoughts and feelings they have at present.