Last night we were indulged with the display of the HSC projects. The various works represented many, many hours of attention, consideration, research, processing and fine tuning. Once again, the quality of the work was outstanding. All the girls can be justifiably proud of their final products. My thanks go to their teachers and their families as they supported the girls through the journey. We enjoyed the service of the Year 11 Hospitality class throughout the night. Thank you to all who contributed to such an enjoyable evening.

This Friday we will again kick our heels up at the Father Daughter Dance. It is always a very enjoyable evening, with dads and daughters out of their comfort zone as they negotiate the various barn dance steps. An adolescent girl doesn't often have time with her father in a social setting, so times like this are rare and very valuable. I hope to see many of you there tonight.

The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne released results of a poll they undertook which surveyed parents in relation to the household use of screen-based devices. Their findings indicated that almost all teenagers and two-thirds of primary school aged children now own their own tablet or smartphone. Teenagers spend most of their time on screen-based devices at home and they spend almost 44 hours, on average, a week on the device. Parents were found to spend almost 40 hours a week on their device. Three in four teenagers have their own social media account. Almost half of all the children regularly use screen-based devices at bedtime, with one in four reporting sleep problems.

I don't think these results are surprising to you, even if they continue to alarm us as parents and educators. The recommendations continue to say that there should be no screen time one hour before bed and that the best scenario is that devices are kept out of the bedroom. Devices are here to stay and whilst they can be great assets to our life, they can soon control and dominate our lives. It is always difficult to be the parent, however, this is one area where parents would do their children a great service if they could hold firm on the use of screen time and location of  the devices at night. When your children have grown up into healthy adults, they will thank you for your strong stand.

Next Sunday is Father's Day. Wishing all fathers, fathers to be and father figures, a lovely day.

I will finish with a prayer to our Father.

Blessings

Sue Lennox - Principal 

Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

SAVE THE DATE - EMERALD DINNER DANCE - 17 MARCH 2018