Middle Senior School Communications, 21 March 2024

Term 1 - Week 9

Upcoming Event

Friday 22 March: College Bush Dance

Term 1 - Week  10

Wednesday 27 March: Easter Chapel
Thursday 28 March: Leadership Development Day Yrs 10-12, Crazy Hair Themed Free Dress (last day)

Coming Up

15 April: First day of Term 2

A Reflection from Mr Arraiol (Head of Wellbeing and Community)

Dear Parents and Carers

Recently in my Formation class we viewed the video that can be accessed below from Dr Andrew Huberman. I wanted to share my thoughts on this video with you as we navigate the complexities of parenting in the digital age and in particular screen time and its potential impact on our teenagers' mental health.

According to the neuroscientist, Dr Huberman in the video provided, engaging in activities that trigger substantial dopamine release, such as gaming, social media scrolling, or binge-watching videos, can lead to a progressive narrowing of the things that bring someone pleasure. This is due to one of the main roles of Dopamine in functioning as the ‘happy hormone’ and being released during activities we find pleasurable. Dr. Huberman states that engaging in social media, gaming or short form video constantly lowers our baseline Dopamine, which results in a lower sensation of pleasure for the same activity. Initially, these activities may be incredibly exciting and rewarding, but over time the lower dopamine levels can lead to individuals losing interest in other aspects of life, such as school, relationships, and physical fitness. In some cases, the depletion of Dopamine can alter mood states resulting in low mood, a lack of motivation and even depression in severe instances.

Dr. Huberman ends with an acknowledgement of a 30-day screen time challenge that his nephew completed and how this improved his mental health and mood. When I challenged my Year 11 students to reduce their screen time for a week it was interesting to hear their reflections. A common theme among the reflections of those who attempted the activity was that they had an abundance of free time to be productive, socialise with family and be physically active. So why not set a family challenge over the holidays to reduce your screen time? This could be a perfect opportunity to model and motivate better habits that one day may be the differentiator between your child and the general public who can’t resist their phones/gaming.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C4B26xt9QQ

NOTICES : Mr Arraiol (Head of Wellbeing and Community)

Subway and Free Dress for the end of Term

We are hosting a Subways order day for the last day of Term 1 on the 28 March. Any students that wish to have some delicious subways delivered to the College at 11:00 (in time for first break) can use the flyer attached to complete their online orders. Please note that all orders should be completed by Monday 24 March 2024 and that there is an ice-block party for the class that has the most subways orders. 

Parents of Stage 4 or 5 students (Years 7 - 10) will need to use the following class allocations to complete their orders:

• For Years 7 & 8: please select class 4 and the relevant letter that corresponds to your child's form class e.g. 4A
• For Years 9 & 10: please select class 5 and the relevant number that corresponds to your child's form class e.g. 5-1

The free dress at the end of the term will follow the theme of crazy hair and students are encouraged to have various crazy and innovative hairstyles for this day. Those participating in the free dress event (crazy hair or not) will be required to donate a gold coin.

All proceeds from these initiatives will be used to support our Children of Compassion.

Parents are reminded that students are required to adhere to the attached free-dress policy to avoid needing to change or possibly be sent home.

College Free Dress Guidelines 2024

Bush Dance

On Friday 22 March the College is hosting it's annual Bush dance. Proceeds of this event will be going towards our Year 9 service trip to Chinchilla and more specifically Drought Angels. Parents and students from both campuses are welcome to join us from 6.30pm until 8.30pm on the ANZAC Lawn. We are very fortunate to have the very experienced and enthusiastic band for the evening Beefa's Bush Band performing and hosting the event for us again.

Please note that there will be food and drinks on sale and a photo booth to take some memorable pictures of friends and family on the night. Please use the link in this communication to purchase your tickets beforehand, alternatively tickets will be available for purchase on the night.

Please book your tickets online: https://www.trybooking.com/COLHF

Leadership Development Day

On the 28 March 2024 the Year 10 - 12 students will be participating in a leadership development day with Character Builders (our external service providers). This is an initiative the College has undertaken to help equip our senior school students for their future roles as leaders in and outside of the College. Last year was the first of these and we are very excited to see how our students may grow their personal leadership skills and connect with their peers across the Senior school. 

General Notices

Bus Transportation

Intercampus and College Service Buses to Carbrook

The College transitioned to a new bus management system called Rollcall at the start of 2024. Please click on the button for more updated information.

Carpark Safety

During drop off and pick up windows the carpark is a busy area. To ensure the safety of everyone in the carpark, please maintain the speed limit and follow directional arrows in the carpark. Please use the pedestrian crossings when walking in the carpark.  

Easter @ Real Life Christian Church

Real Life Christian Church warmly invites you and your family and friends to join with us as we celebrate Easter!

We will gather at 9:30-10:30am on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday for worship followed by morning tea in our courtyard.

Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday

Donuts (empty tombs!) on Easter Sunday

Calvary Coffee Cup Design Competition

We are excited to launch our Calvary Coffee Cup design competition!!

All students can get creative and submit a hand drawn design of their choice! Check out the video by our students for the details!

Students can collect the template from the office or café at each campus. Parents, could you please assist in making sure the students artwork is protected and doesn’t get damaged when submitting.

There will be three $50 Gift Card winners across our campuses. Two Junior Schools winners, and one Middle Senior Winner.

Artwork MUST be completed and submitted (with name and student number) to the office by Friday, end of Week 1, Term 2. Please ensure you have read the rules of participation.

GOOD LUCK and we can't wait to see our students at work!

Events at Calvary

Our current College events can be found on our website: https://www.calvarycc.qld.edu.au/events/

All of our Parent Information can be found on our Website: https://www.calvarycc.qld.edu.au/parent-information/