From the Head of Senior School

A message from our Student Leaders

No matter how Term 1 went, I am sure many of us had one shared battle — against procrastination. It does not mean we are actually lazy, and to explore this I am very happy to have worked with our Academic Captain, Allysha, as procrastination targets both wellbeing and academics.

Procrastination is an (ineffective) way to deal with challenging emotions about tasks — boredom, feeling overwhelmed, fear, self-doubt, resentment . While it is good to have a break, that break can’t last forever, or else the tasks at hand will, too.

To beat it, we first need to be aware that we are procrastinating. Besides feeling these emotions, other signs are lack of routine, workload building up, and completing other less crucial tasks instead (e.g. cleaning out laptop files, when really you have biology homework due tomorrow).

Obviously, procrastination works against us. Our workload only grows more, we get even more stressed, and our wellbeing is harmed. So, what can we do? The best advice Allysha and I came up with is to break your tasks down. Having uncertain goals is like morning winter fog — if you can’t identify where you need to get to, and what steps you need to take to get there, it is going to be really hard to navigate your way through. If you have biology homework, exactly what tasks must you get done? Create a checklist and work through it (ticking off each task even gives you a dopamine hit!).

Some other quick advice is keeping to routine, using apps that support study (Forest, LifeAt), and rewarding yourself for completing tasks in a way that helps your goal (e.g. in reducing screen time a reward would not be scrolling for an hour on your phone).

The best thing you can do is try, and a new term is a great time to start anew!

Hannah M – Wellbeing Captain
Allysha W – Academic Captain

SIS Swimming Success

We are incredibly proud of our SIS Swimming team who recently competed against other SIS schools, winning four out of five age group shields as well as the overall Division B championship!

The students showed great spirit and comradery throughout the carnival as they cheered one another on, and they returned to school with smiles from ear to ear!

Formal Festivities

The highly anticipated Year 12 Formal took place on Saturday evening at Settlers Run Golf and Country Club. This provided an opportunity for students and staff to come together to acknowledge the significance of the final year of secondary schooling, as our teenagers are on the threshold of adulthood. The night was one of elegance and glamour, delicious food, lively music, and making memories to last a lifetime!

Anzac Day Service

I was honoured to be able to attend the Dandenong/Cranbourne RSL Anzac service alongside School Captains Mya and Jay, as well as the Junior School student leaders. We gathered at the war memorial in Cranbourne to pay tribute to the courage and the heroism of the Anzacs, laying a wreath with a deep sense of gratitude and remembrance.

Top Arts and Folio Viewing 2024 at the NGV

Recently the Years 11 and 12 students had the opportunity to visit the 2024 Top Arts exhibition to view art pieces from successful artists and previous high achieving VCE students. The spectacular artworks acted as great inspiration for us and helped develop our own personal art ideas further. Each student was able to research a specific art piece they felt connected to which involved understanding the artist’s thought processes and overall meaning. Every art piece told a story and there was something special about being able to see these pieces in real life and look deeply into the hard work and dedication that went into each one.

Unlike our past art excursion to Top Arts, we got the opportunity to see the folios of some of the best-scoring creative arts students in 2023. This was especially insightful, as we are currently working on the very folios that will be submitted to this organisation. The folios displayed the different methods of planning and brainstorming that each student took; each unique depiction presented a distinct perspective on what a folio can be composed of, with some including folders, second books, planners, loose-leaf files and so on. Truthfully, some of them were overwhelmingly impressive and detailed, however, they gave us an understanding of the grading system for such a subjective subject, setting a standard for what we hope to achieve.

Kate Morgan

Head of Senior School