Weekly Update 4 november

This week, a group of dozen students from Years 7 to 12 participated in an extraordinary opportunity to collaborate with two local Canberra space centre scientists and a NASA-sponsored scientist, based the in Napa Valley in the USA, to operate a deep space satellite dish in the Mojave Desert. While the full story can be read elsewhere in the Weekly Update article, watching the students work on complicated formulae and then see the dish move 12,000 kilometres away was amazing. I understand this was the first time this was attempted in a school setting – usually this exercise is held at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla. Remarkable.

Year 12 student Christine Drew was the winner in the past week of the student section of the 2016 Moran Prize for excellence in portrait photography. I would encourage you to go to the Moran Prize website and select the Student section where will find the picture of her dad in the woolshed – a beautiful photo. The prize included $5,000 for Christine and $5,000 for our Creative Arts Faculty. Christine also was awarded the major prize in the Australian Photography Awards this week for the portrait. Jemima Campey (Year 12 Glebe) was a finalist in the Moran competition – a great achievement.  Congratulations to both students!

A big thank you to the Student Representative Council for their “Unsung Heroes Day” initiative where they recognised the work of the staff, particularly the Maintenance Crew, with messages of thanks and a chocolate! I know the staff were very appreciative of the gesture.

Finishing this week on a very practical yet important note – could I please ask parents for your support in relation to the summer uniform guidelines:

Hats:

Hats are to be worn to and from school, at recess and at lunchtime – even when sitting in shaded areas under the trees.

Dress Length:

Summer skirts must be worn at knee length.

Jumpers:

Jumpers, if needed in summer, should be kept clean and free from holes and must not be tied around the waist.  Jumpers can be worn as the outer school garment inside the school grounds.

Blazers:

The School blazer is a compulsory part of the uniform and all students must own a blazer which is clearly labelled with their name. The blazer is to be worn to Assembly, Chapels and official School functions, including excursions. The blazer is the outer garment to be worn outside of the School grounds. In the case of unseasonably cool weather during Terms 1 and 4, students should wear the summer uniform and the blazer, not the school jumper, as the outer garment when outside the School grounds.

Many thanks and best wishes

Peter Milligan
Head of Senior School

I recently read an article titled No more Little Miss Perfect that highlighted a problem I have been concerned about for a number of years - the crippling effects of being a perfectionist on our children’s ability to perform and their well-being. So last week when we held our Annual Junior School Concert I was very pleased to see our students make mistakes, refocus and carry on.  

The problem of perfectionism is particularly prevalent in girls with the author of the article, Clare Kermond, citing recent research findings linking perfectionism to anxiety, depression and eating disorders. As a mother of daughters I can share that one of my girls had, and occasionally still has, perfectionist tendencies and that she has struggled to complete school/university work, not because of ability but because of her own extremely high standards.

Now it is important to distinguish perfectionism from high achievement. Andrew Fuller, a mental health expert specialising in adolescent mental health clarifies the difference: "Perfectionists, like high-achievers, tend to set high goals and work hard. However, a high-achiever can be satisfied with doing a great job and achieving excellence, even if their very high goals aren't completely met. Perfectionists will accept nothing less than perfection. Almost perfect is seen as failure."

Concerns about perfectionism are growing in the educational and wider community and in February this year at the Global Forum on Girls’ Education in New York a particularly pertinent key session titled The Myth of Effortless Perfection: How It Harms Girls and what Schools Can Do to Fight It, challenged us to address the problem as an integral part of the school curriculum. The Global Forum was attended by more than 900 delegates from 23 countries including a group from the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia.

Dr Tom Nehmy, a clinical psychologist who you may remember from his sessions at Canberra Girls Grammar earlier this year, began to focus on perfectionism after identifying it as a “common thread” in many cases of depression, anxiety and eating disorders. The growing interest in understanding and combatting perfectionism is happening, according to Nehmy, because "people are joining the dots and understanding that it is a pervasive risk factor for many mental health problems".

Nehmy writes that if we want to tackle the problem of perfectionism effectively we must employ a strong pastoral care model and focus on process or effort, over product. "The challenge is to maintain a high achievement drive without seeing any mistake as a failure or being afraid to take a risk." Being a risk – taker is an attribute of the IBPYP Learner Profile and as such is a valued and often talked about trait we actively foster.

If you are interested in finding out more about perfectionism and how to combat it you may wish to view Reshma Saujani’s TED Talk, Teach girls bravery, not perfection. I will be sharing this Ted Talk with members of our Junior School teaching staff in the near future.

You may also want to reflect on the list below, provided by Clare Kermond, and see if your child exhibits any of the signs for unhelpful perfectionism.

• constant self-criticism and comparison with others
• withdrawing from social groups and activities over the fear that "others won't like me as I am". constant self-criticism and comparison with others
• seeing any mistake as a failure
• spending hours on school tasks that should take minutes
• unable to accept constructive criticism
• rigid thinking, i.e. there is only one way to get it right

Warm regards

Angela Whitaker
Head of Junior School

References:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/no-more-little-miss-perfect-20161018-gs4q9d.html

https://www.ted.com/talks/reshma_saujani_teach_girls_bravery_not_perfection?language=en

Mindfulness is a special way of paying attention that can help with how one copes with everyday life and there are great benefits for your physical and mental health.  As our senior students approach testing week and IB exams and other year levels engage in assessment tasks it is timely to consider:

Source: http://fitbottomedgirls.com/2016/06/15-things-mindful-people-do-differently/

Good luck to all students in your academic assessment tasks in the coming weeks.

Jeanette Widmer
Director of Pastoral Care