This term I had the opportunity to go to a Conference and hear Dr Jonathan Eckert speak. He is an American educator who worked as the Teaching Ambassador Fellow at the U.S. Department of Education in both the Bush and Obama administrations. He is currently the Head of Baylor University’s Center for School Leadership and is the author of a number of books, including one called “Just Teaching”, which had many concepts we plan to implement at GPCC.

Dr Eckert also visited Green Point and was part of a masterclass session run for us and other Christian Schools on the Central Coast. He has provided much more meaningful information than I could present here, so I will just focus on one.

In looking at mountains of educational research about what we can do at schools to help students learn more, Dr Eckert provided a list of the 4 most important things we could do to help our students succeed in their learning. One of the most significant things we can do as a school to help out students to achieve more may come as a surprise to you and it is to ban mobile phones. He did not present this as moderately important, but as one of the 4 most important things a school could do.

Phones are a distraction from learning. A study done at Baylor University showed that learning was significantly impeded merely by having a phone on a student’s desk as they studied, and this was even true if was in their bag. If the phone was in another room, it improved a student’s ability to both remember information and to apply it, as seen below:

A study into smartphone use by Yehuda Wicks and Aviv M Weinstein showed that phones are more than just a distraction. A study by Yehuda Wacks and Aviv M Weinstein makes a link between excessive phone usage and mental health issues, delayed cognitive changes and even changes in the brain. The research is showing that a school which cares about learning and physical and mental health will remove phones. There is good reason why we take phones from students and hold them in the office until the end of the day.

I invite you to consider how you monitor phone use by your children. I have heard wonderful stories from parents who place phones in the kitchen while homework is being completed and while their children are in bed.  Students are becoming more aware of the mental health connections with using social media and the fact that phones are making us less connected, not more.

Year 10 English 

Year 10 students that were not at the Ski camp spent time this past week visually representing a quote from Shakespeare's play, Macbeth. 

Thanks to Mrs Menzies for providing stationary from the Art Department. 

Year 7 Cyber Safety Talk

On Friday 25 August three Community Police Officers delivered a presentation to the whole of Year 7. The focus was to educate the students about the risks and dangers of using social media and how to use it appropriately. The Police explained a variety of Cyberbullying scenarios and how in certain circumstances students could be in serious trouble with the law. This included receiving and sending inappropriate images and text messages. It was made very clear to the students as to what is considered acceptable and not acceptable. Students were also informed how and where to seek help and support from (for example a trusted adult and the eSafety Commissioner). The ultimate message was: If in doubt, don’t take it, don’t open it, don’t share it and don’t post it.