Personal development – After a term of re-grouping and the return of face-to-face learning we are seeing many of our young people really blossom in their relationships and self-awareness. Others are finding this shift back to School more challenging. It’s a great time to check in with your child/ren and hear how they are doing. Please reach out if you have any concerns at all, we will be happy to work them through with you, accessing the expertise our School has available.

Organisation – This week I have enjoyed teaching Year 7 English as a cover as well as my usual Year 11 Biblical Studies Class. The many student and staff absences due to COVID has provided me with an opportunity to be in classrooms and observe the organisational skills of our Students. I have noticed that many of the Year 7 students I have encountered have not yet set up a filing system on their laptops and I suspect that this may be the case for some older year groups also. This is an organisational nightmare waiting to happen and I encourage all parents to sit with their child at any year level and ask them to explain how they save and find their work. A short session together in the April term break may be a significant game changer for your child/ren over the course of the year. 

Leveraging opportunities – As we return to “nearly normal” many of our Co-Curricular and Extra-Curricular opportunities are coming back online. For students who had experienced these opportunities prior to 2020/21 it is a relatively easy transition back to a familiar and positive experience. If your son or daughter is in Years 5 to 9, it may feel more challenging for them to step into these new activities, this is especially so if they have joined our community during the last two years. I cannot underestimate the magnifying impact of becoming widely involved in our School life for every student and encourage families to discuss with their children how they might explore and leverage this aspect of a TIGS education for growth, connection and enjoyment.

Personal Academic excellence – Every student at TIGS should be able to speak about where they have grown or improved in Term I. An excellent response for parents to use in their conversation is:

 “How do you know you have grown? What is different?” followed by

“ How does that make you feel?” and then 

“What is your next area to target growth?” and finally

“How can I help you with that?” 

This conversation represents the conditions for growth in action and I encourage all families to have these discussions during the term break. I also hope for rest, relaxation and time together after a busy term of readjusting to work and school. And I look forward to welcoming you all back on Campus for Term II.