Weekly Update 1 april

Lisa Damour, a US psychologist and the Director of Laurel School’s Centre for Research on Girls, has written a new book called ‘Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood.'

Dr Damour says that girls are highly attuned to what others expect of them and feel compelled to meet a variety of high standards. They feel pressed to be successful in school, friendly, helpful, physically attractive, athletic and popular. This is a lot to ask anyone!

She goes on to say that parents tend to expect more of their teenage daughters than their teenage sons and cut them less slack. We see girls as more fragile, we give them less privacy and we often hold them to higher standards of behaviour.

Dr Damour wants parents to view teenage years more positively not just five years to ‘get through’. She advocates trying to understand what makes your daughter tick and how you can help guide them to become grounded young women. She does advocate initially monitoring social media accounts to keep an eye on your daughter’s digital activity but says parents should ask themselves if they are doing this because they have serious concerns or simply because they can.

Dr Damour outlines the seven stages of being a teenage girl as:

1. Parting with childhood.
2. Joining a new tribe.
3. Harnessing emotion.
4. Contending with adult authority.
5. Planning for the future.
6. Entering the romantic world.
7. Caring for herself.

This is an interesting read for parents of girls.

Anne Coutts
Principal

FROM THE HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL

The personal development book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, written by Stephen Covey, has been required reading for leaders for many, many years. Recently The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, by Sean Covey, caught my attention as being very useful when discussing situations or possible reactions to situations with our children:

Habit 1: Be Proactive.

Being proactive is more than just taking the initiative. It is accepting responsibility for own behaviour (past, present, and future) and making choices based on principles and values rather than on moods or circumstances.

Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind.

All things are created twice – first mentally, second physically. Individuals, families, teams, and organisations shape their own future by creating a mental vision and purpose for any project.

Habit 3: Put things first.

Prioritise, and do the most important things first. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

Habit 4: Think win-win.

Thinking win – win encourages conflict resolution and helps individuals seek mutually beneficial solutions. It’s sharing information, power, recognition and rewards.

Habit 5:  Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

When we listen with the intent to understand others, rather than with the intent to reply, we begin true communication and relationship building.

Habit 6: Synergise.

Synergy is about producing a third alternative – not my way, not your way, but a third way that is better than either of us would have come up with individually.

Habit 7: Sharpen the saw.

Sharpening the saw is about constantly renewing ourselves in the four basic areas of life: physical, social emotional, mental and spiritual.

There may be opportunities to employ aspects of these ‘habits’ in discussion with your daughters at different times – to listen, to make choices on principles and values, to seek mutually beneficial solutions or to accept responsibility for our actions are amongst some other sound advice.

Request for assistance!  We urgently need four soccer/ football coaches. If any mums or dads can assist could you please contact Miss Lorraine Peck, Head of Sport.

Best wishes,

Peter Milligan
Head of Senior School

FROM THE HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

“The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates, the great teacher inspires.”

William Arthur Ward

Our teachers at CGGS provide inspiration not only to our students but also to the profession. I wrote in my last article about the successful IPSHA Deputies and Curriculum Coordinators Conference held at the Junior School earlier in the term. At this conference four of our teachers presented to a group of over fifty educational leaders. The conclusion of the event, brought with it a flurry of excitement as I was approached by several delegates, all commenting on the calibre of our teachers and the innovative work they are doing in our classrooms. Sometimes it takes comments like this to make me stop and think, we really do offer educational excellence at CGGS, as to us these initiatives become the norm.

This year at the Junior School we have a real focus on promoting our excellence to the broader professional community on a local, national and international scale and we have a number of staff presenting at a range of events for educators.

Locally, the Junior School is part of the ACT Primary Years Program (PYP) network. Where we collaborate with PYP educators from the other PYP schools across Canberra. Next term there will be a series of ‘TeachMeets’ in various school locations with teachers volunteering to share their PYP classroom experiences. I was extremely proud when Alex Galland, Curriculum Coordinator, shared the line-up of presenters with me and other CGGS staff.

During the holidays Mrs Lisa Cockerill, Acting Director of Junior School, and Miss Tara Bourne, Year 3 teacher are heading to Gold Coast to present at the ‘No 2 Bullying’ conference. Here they will deliver a session on our newly developed ‘CGGS Way’ which is an innovative approach to improving and dealing with student behaviour. It has been fascinating to share insights and reflections of the students as Lisa and Tara have prepared video footage for their presentation, which have demonstrated the immediate success of this program.

At an international level, Mrs Alex Galland will present at the International Literacy Association Conference in Boston in the United States during the upcoming holiday. Alex and Mrs Louise Cullen, who left CGGS to take up a position at a school in China at the end of last year, were approached to deliver a full day at the Boston conference following on from their success in presenting at a national conference here in Australia last year.

As you can see we really are spreading our innovative approaches in providing educational excellence to our students, far and wide, and these are just some of many other examples. This, in turn, contributes to our successful recruitment of outstanding teachers when we have positions available as CGGS is seen as a quality environment where teachers’ careers can flourish.

Damaris Patterson
Acting Head of Junior School