Filter Content
- Principal's Report
- Year 11 and 12 Report
- Year 10 Report
- Middle School Report
- Kalamunda Performing Arts
- Luminary Art Exhibition
- Write a Book in a Day
- Science
- STEM Robotics Showcase
- Year 11 Children, Family and Community
- Year 11 and 12 Media Excursions
- Year 11 Mock Interviews
- Year 9 - Career Taster Program
- Mental Health and Well-Being
- VacSwim
- 2022 School Holiday Program
- City of Kalamunda - EMPLOYMENT 101
- Kalamunda Lesmurdie Little Athletics Club
It is hard to believe that we are almost at the end of term. We have certainly fit a lot into the second half of this term and I hope that everyone has a successful last few weeks followed by a relaxing holiday.
National Day of Mourning
As you would all be aware there has been a public holiday announced as a national day of mourning for the late Queen Elizabeth II on 22 September marked as a National Day of Mourning.
It has been a sad and sobering time as we reflect on her career and service to the public over her 70-year reign. It is a poignant thought that throughout our schools and for the majority of people, Queen Elizabeth is the only Monarch we have known. May she rest in peace.
COVID update
You would be aware that there has been a recent change to the quarantine period from 7 days to 5 days from 9 Sept. Close contacts with no symptoms can continue to attend school and do not have to isolate for the 5 days if they undertake a daily RAT test and wear a mask outside the home. The school has plenty of RATs should families require these. Please call the school if you need these.
Transperth service changes
The school has received information about the opening of the Airport line on 10 October. This will coincide with changes to the Transperth bus network in Perth’s eastern suburbs. These changes may impact on how your children travel to school and you are encouraged to visit the Transperth website ahead of Term 4 to ensure you are familiar with any impact of these changes. Attached is a summary of the changes that Transperth have identified may affect our school. If there are any concerns about these changes, I encourage you to contact Transperth, either through the website or the call centre 13 62 13.
Course preparations for 2023
The Year 11 grid has been completed for 2023 and students have been placed into classes. Following a review of Semester 2 grades and the Year 11 Transition program at the end of Term 4 there may be further adjustments to courses.
Course selections are currently underway for next year’s Year 9 and 10s. These are due by 19 September.
Changes to NAPLAN and OLNA testing dates
From 2023 NAPLAN testing will be conducted in Term 1 rather than Term 2 and the testing period will be from 15 March to 27 March.
Parents of Year 9 students will have recently received an email from the Executive Director of the Schools Curriculum and Standards Authority. This letter is concerning changes in the scheduling for the Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA). With the changes to the NAPLAN schedule beginning in 2023, there is a need to still provide sufficient opportunity for students to meet this standard by the end of Year 12. As such, we will be offering an opportunity to sit OLNA for our current Year 9s in Term 4 this year. The testing window for OLNA will be in Weeks 3-4 Term 4 and details will be provided to parents next term.
Camps and concerts
It has been wonderful for our staff and students to be able to hold our various camps and concerts again. Recently we had our Music and KPA camps, KalaRock Night, Dance show, and in Week 10 our GAT students will be on camp. I want to thank all our staff and parents who support the students in these activities – it has certainly been difficult for these events in the first half of the year with covid. You can read about these events later in this issue.
Final celebrations for our Year 12s
Soon we will be farewelling our Year 12s on 23 Sept with the final breakfast, assembly and Year 12 ball. Parents are welcome to attend the assembly which will begin at 9am in the school gym.
The final event will be the Year 12 Valedictory at the Curtin Stadium on Friday 18 November.
House Track and Field Carnival
Thank you to our Health and PE staff for all their organisation of this athletics carnival. It was beautiful weather and we saw great participation from the students who attended the day. In addition to the track and field events, were the novelty games and activities which are always fun. Thank you also to our P&C for hosting the BBQ and all those parents who came as spectators.
ART awards - Luminary
Congratulations to all our students who were selected for this exhibition and to the staff for their teaching and support. We want to particularly thank our sponsors for this exhibition for donating prizes White Room Framing, Fair and Co and Art Basics.
Congratulations to the prize winners:
- Year 11 - Shiri Atizili 'Three of Cups' White Room Prize
- Year 7 GAT - Silas Kempt 'Banksia Woodlands' White Room Prize
- Year 9 GAT - Charlotte Hulcup, 'Taylor' Purple Ticket Prize
People’s choice was won by Lara Savage (Year 9) for her artwork Light and Shadow.
Musical Oliver
What an amazing production of Oliver we experienced this year – congratulations to all our staff and students on such polished performances. I was really blown away by the quality of the chorus work, the soloists and choreography which was so effective. It was completely evident that all of the students were thoroughly enjoying being a part of the cast. Such success would not be possible without the vision, determination, sheer hard work and leadership of Anna Head as Producer and Michelle Vivian as Director. Thanks also go to Grace Oorschot (acting coach) and Rosie Fitoussi (vocal coach) and Claire Eden (art assistance).
I encourage you to read this review by Jarrod Buttery.
Robotics club
Congratulations to our robotics club students who recently competed in the WARP (WA Robotics Playoffs). This is the WA-only competition of the FIRST Robotics Competition. (FIRST – stands for - For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). At the end of the event they were placed third overall – which is a huge achievement – considering some of the teams were university age students and our group were Years 8 to10. To top it off they won the Spirit of the Event Award.
Bibbulmun Network – Robotics Showcase
Friday 19 August our school again hosted the Robotics Showcase for the Bibbulmun Network of schools. This year’s theme was Myths and Legends and students from local primary and secondary schools worked together in teams to tackle a range of challenges. Congratulations to all the students involved and a special thank you to Bendigo Bank for sponsoring the event and to Nathan Bushby from Walliston PS as coordinator and to Amber Bullock and Ian McMullen for helping run the event. Thank you also to Aundraea Stevens and our Year 12 Drama students who provided characters in theme for the day.
Write a Book in a Day
Congratulations to our 4 teams who participated in this year’s event. This involved planning, writing, illustrating and e-publishing a book in just 12 hours. There was a record number of students participating this year and the quality of work produced was very high. Thank you to all our staff involved in supporting the students to achieve this goal, Orietta Stokes, Claire Eden, Nicolee McNally, Sarah Adams, Karen Stuart and Grace Oorschot.
Teen Triple P Seminar – for parents
Kalamunda SHS is hosting a Teen Triple P Seminar (Raising Responsible Teenagers) session on Thursday 20 October from 6 to 8 pm in the school staffroom. Bookings can be made online.
Career education
Thank you to Allison Gillett and our Career and Enterprise teachers Jacob Pettit and Reece Young for recently coordinating and organising mock interviews for the students. This is a wonderful way to gain experience to help in future job applications. Thank you also to our Career Practitioner, Amanda Moreno Diaz for organising the recent Industry panel session for our Year 11 and 12s during the meeting period on Friday morning. The information and advice on different careers, what employers are looking for and hints and tips on applications was very valuable for all those who attended.
Staff changes this term
This term we have had a few new staff join our school We welcomed back to the Humanities Department Lea Richards and Melinda Davies from leave and welcomed Steve Stead (Humanities), Enda McFerran (Health and PE), Rachel Walker (Year 7 team – English/Humanities), Hayley White (Science), Teagan Smith (Home Ec), Petrina Harley (Humanities) and Nicole Rumsey (Home Ec).
Building update
Our building is continuing along well with the pillars nearly completed for the Visual Arts block and the Teaching block is groundwork is nearing completion ready for the footings.
Helen Deacon
Principal
With Term 3 well underway it is a fortuitous time for our Year 11 and 12 students to reflect on.
- What they have achieved thus far?
- What still can to be accomplished?
- How do they progress from here, to get where they want to be?
The 2nd round of OLNA testing is nearly completed and although an important component of the WACE, it is only 1 part and a clear understanding of all other components is most beneficial to for students and their families.
With only a couple of weeks to go for the Year 12s there is little time to delay! A difference can still be made but it needs to be here and now. Putting in your utmost effort and achieving the results you are capable of will provide you with not only great satisfaction, but also further opportunities to pursue your career goals. A word of caution though remember a good life balance is critical, being at your best will serve you best in achieving those good results.
Our Year 11 Student Leaders are looking forward to next year by investigating what their Leavers Jacket might look like. We are also working with our Year 11 students to go through the selection process for our 2023 Student Leaders, always an exciting time.
Amongst the busy moments we are arranging the Year 12 Breakfast, Final Assembly and of course the Ball. A massive amount of work is being put in to have a wonderful conclusion for our Class of 2022. One big last effort is required by the Year 12 to get those final pieces of work completed and walk away knowing you have achieved the best you absolutely could.
Well done, proud of each one of you.
Sharon AndrewsProgram Coordinator - Pathways
During week 5 of this term our Year 10 students met with the Senior School Subject Selection Confirmation Team to select their Year 11 subjects. If your child has not yet done this or if you have any concerns, please contact me.
Throughout the second half of this term, students who have not previously passed their OLNA or achieved Band 8 in their Year 9 NAPLAN are undertaking their second round of OLNA. Students who do not pass this round, will have four more opportunities throughout Year 11 and 12. It is important that students take these opportunities seriously as those who do not meet the minimum standard required for OLNA will not receive a Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) upon completion of Year 12.
As a final celebration of Year 10, students who have Good Standing will be invited to our dinner dance which will take place during Week 9 of Term 4. There is an expectation that students maintain their Good Standing, so it is vitally important that students always do their best, maintain correct uniform, and ensure that all absences are explained. Should your child be away from school for any reason, please inform the school via our attendance officer, mentor teacher, or myself so that an accurate attendance record is maintained.
I wish you all a safe and relaxing break and look forward to welcoming our students back for a smooth start to Term 4. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you to all parents and carers for your continued support.
Amber BullockI know that by the time this review comes out Father’s Day will have been and gone but just thought I would start with a 'Dad' joke.
Apparently NASA have opened up a restaurant on the moon. The food is amazing but there is no atmosphere…………………………..
Anyway, there are a couple of things I would like to highlight as we move toward the end of Term 3. The first is that very soon our Year 8 and 9 students will be receiving information about subject selection for next year. The subject selections can be done online and information is being sent home in week 8. The deadline for selections is Monday September 19 at 8am so please keep checking with your child to get all the information you need. If you need some assistance, then please contact the front office and they will be able to assist you.
The second thing is attendance. We understand that students and their families have appointments that arise and students need to leave school for. If you could put a note in their student diary, they can simply show this to their teacher, then come to Student Services and sign out. The other thing you can do is send a text message to 0407 384 039 (you might want to put this into your contacts for future reference) and state who your child is, what time they are signing out and the reason, then Student Services can then sign them out of school at the right time. This also means students aren’t accessing their phones at school, because as we know, the Department of Education rule is 'mobile phones should be off and away all day'.
The last thing to keep an eye out for is at the end of next term our amazing Year Coordinators organise some wonderful end of year events for our Middle School Students who have maintained their Good Standing. If you aren’t sure what that means then please go to our website and look at the Middle School Good Standing Policy document for further information. It would be great to have as many students eligible to attend these great events.
Finally, I just want to wish our Year 7 Coordinator Courtney Hanson all the very best. She is starting in a different role at another school so we want to thank her for the amazing work she has done for our Year 7 cohort. It has been really appreciated and we will miss you.
It’s been a very busy few months for the KPA program. Rehearsals for our annual musical have been underway since the middle of Term 2, and the students have worked extremely hard to prepare. Michelle Vivian, assisted by Rosie Fitoussi and Grace Oorschot, have been running early morning singing rehearsals to ensure that the vocal quality of the show continues to improve, and the in-class rehearsals have been collaborative, fun and rewarding.
On the 24 and 25 August the KPA students involved in the musical travelled to the Swan Valley for an overnight camp to put all the elements of the show together. It was a great experience seeing the show as a whole come together, and thanks must be given to Dusty Ward and John Neville for their assistance. It was also heart warming to see the students get to know each other better across the year groups.
Everything culminated in a fantastic weekend of sold out shows on the 2 and 3 September. Oliver! Jr came to life at the Kalamunda Performing Arts Centre over 3 shows, and audiences raved about the quality of the production. Thanks goes to all families involved for their support of the students, as well as the school community as a whole for their interest and support of the students and the KPA program. Most of all, thanks must go to the students for the dedication and passion for performance.
Anna Head
KPA Coordinator
Students at Kalamunda SHS celebrated the work of many young budding artists at this year’s Luminary art exhibition held at Zigzag art gallery from the 12 to 29 August. Luminary, which means a person who inspires or influences others, was chosen for this wonderful exhibition to represent the creativity and skill of Kalamunda art students from Years 7 to 12.
There were 2 awards presented on the opening night from our generous local creative sponsors White Room Framing and Fair and Co. Silas Kempt Year 7 GAT Art student was the proud recipient of the Lower School White Room Prize for his gorgeous ceramic artwork 'Banksia Woodlands'. Shiri Atizili in Year 11 Fashion Design won the Senior White Room Prize for her lino print entitled 'Three of Cups'. Silas and Charlotte have been awarded complimentary framing at White Room Framing!
Kalamunda is such a creative and supportive community and Luminary is a great example of what can be achieved when the whole community works together to support our students. Thank you to our hard working teachers in The Arts, The Kalamunda Council for their kind donation of the Zig Zag gallery space; to our generous sponsors from White Room Framing and Fair and Co and of course our wonderful students and supportive families who attended this event. We look forward to our next Luminary exhibition in 2024!
Dusty Ward
Head of Art Learning Area
To celebrate Book Week, 4 teams represented Kalamunda Senior High School in the annual Write a Book in a Day competition. The fundraiser is run by the Kid’s Cancer Project, and this is the 7th year Kalamunda has entered. The teams of 10 arrived at school at 7.45am on Tuesday 23 August and spent the day creating their stories in the library. The 40 participants had 12 hours to write and illustrate their stories following parameters set by the competition. This was a record number of students involved and is excited to see this event grow every year. The quality of the books is outstanding and are on display in the library. The Year 10 team Redacted, who won the 2021 WA and National Award for Best Illustrations for the middle school (Year 7 to 9) category were competing again. They published their novel 'Alien Feeling'. The other three teams were The Best Ones who published 'Crash Landed,' The Random Kiddos published 'The Travelling Circus' and Kalbrook completed their book 'Clowns, Rabbits and Catastrophes'. The event is an exciting collaboration between the English and Arts Departments and was led by Orietta Stokes and Claire Eden. The day was a terrific success and thank you to those other staff members who assisted including Sarah Adams, Nicolee McNally, Tracy Sutton, The Library team, Karen Stuart, Grace Oorschot and the cleaning staff. It was an exciting finish, but all students left with a copy of their book. They should be so proud of their effort and the excellent standard of their texts.
NAIDOC Week
Acknowledging the contribution of traditional landowners in Science generally happens when the class content coincides with relevant applications, contexts, and examples illustrative of this.
In both Year 9 Ecology and Year 11 Biological Science during NAIDOC week we happened to be interested in fire management practices as part of our work on Ecosystems, which naturally led to consideration of traditional fire stick burning and other practices compared to methods common to Forestry and Conservation and Management Departments.
Science Week 2022
A reminder that the Science department puts on a Big Science Show as part of Kalamunda Day, in recognition of National science Week. Students will not want to miss the demonstrations and detonations in our Science Labs, plus the challenges laid down by staff for those quick enough to register on the day.
Science Teacher
Bibbulmun Network Robotics Showcase
On the Friday of National Science Week Kalamunda Senior High School hosted the Bibbulmum Network Robotics Showcase. Set around the theme of Myths and Legends, students from local Primary and High Schools worked together in small teams to conquer different coding challenges. It was a fantastic opportunity for students to practice and develop their skills of problem solving and team work all while building their STEM skills. A huge thank you to all Kalamunda SHS staff for their assistance throughout the day with a special shout out to Aundraea Stevens and her drama students for their amazing characters and to the HOPE department for the use of their gym. I’d also like to acknowledge Bendigo Bank who sponsor this event and lastly a massive thanks to the robotics students who helped or participated on the day!
Our enthusiastic Year 12 Drama students were invited to participate in the STEM robotics showcase, by putting the Arts into STEM or STE(a)M as we like to call it! This year's Robotics theme was Myths and Legends, I was delighted that students chose characters from Greek, Viking and Medieval mythology. The students were assessed on how well they maintained their character throughout the day. They improvised in role, while they interacted with the students participating in the Showcase – I was very proud of their work. They brought lots of smiles to the students and at lunch Hephaestus and King Arthur had a challenge as many kids sought to steal their crown or swords ?
Western Australian Robotics Playoffs
Over the weekend of 27 and 28 August, students from our robotics club participated in the Western Australian Robotics Playoffs (WARP) at Curtin University. This competition involved high school teams from across the state, playing in alliances of three robots. During each game, the robots earnt points by shooting balls and climbing. As a team, Kalamunda SHS students spent 6 weeks designing, building and programming our robot. It was a very successful weekend that saw our alliance tie for third overall and our team win the Spirit of the Event award. I am so very proud of these students for their enthusiasm, collaboration, resilience and passion. Well done My Chemical Robot!!
Amber Bullock
Science Teacher
STE(a)M Robotics Showcase
Our enthusiastic year 12 Drama students were invited to participate in the STEM robotics showcase, by putting the Arts into STEM or STE(a)M as we like to call it! This years Robotics theme was Myths and Legends, I was delighted that students chose characters from Greek, Viking and Medieval mythology. The students were assessed on how well they maintained their character throughout the day. They improvised in role, while they interacted with the students participating in the Showcase – I was very proud of their work. They brought lots of smiles to the students and at lunch Hephaestus and King Arthur had a challenge as many kids sought to steal their crown or swords ?
I’d like to thank the huge efforts of Amber Bullock, Ian McMullen, Nathan Bushby, staff, parents, helpers and students from all of the Bibbulmun network schools who made this such an exciting and engaging day for everyone involved.
From Left to Right:
Renee Howie |
Crystal the Winter Fairy |
Lindsey Suijdendorp |
Freya Viking Goddess of Love and War |
Emma Snell |
Nyx Goddess of the Night |
Jack Binns |
King Arthur and Excalibur |
Matthew Lane |
Hephaestus God of Fire, Smith and Forges |
Aundraea Stevens |
Lady Guinevere |
Lilly Hogg |
Medusa of the Gorgons |
Libby Guy |
Pan God of the Wild and son of Hermes |
James Vitlich |
Zagreus God of Rebirth and son of Hades |
Imogen Bates |
Perspehone Queen of the Underworld and Spring |
Matthew Lane, James Vitlich, Jack Binns, Lindsey Suijdendorp, Imogen Bates, Renee Howie, Lilly Hogg, Libby Guy and Emma Snell
And the final robot battle of the day for Grade 3 & 4 students!
Aundraêa Stevens
Drama Stevens
Year 11 Children, Family and Community
The Year 11 Children, Family and Community class recently completed a task where they had to identify people of need within our community and create a care package for them. They decided to focus on homeless people. Their packages included items such as homemade beanies, scarfs, blankets, jumpers and donated sanitary and hygiene items. We recently invited Liam from the Salvation Army, to our class to present him with the care packages. Liam spoke to the students about how quickly someone’s financial situation can change. He was blown away with students’ thoughtfulness and generosity. Liam shared how the packages would benefit people sleeping rough and were taken to the homeless crisis centre in Northbridge, The Beacon. The Salvation Army were very thankful for the students’ efforts and kindness in helping others.
Teagen Smith
Children, Family and Community Teacher
Year 11 and 12 Media Excursions
This term both the Year 11 and Year 12 General Media Production & Analysis classes experienced a day in the life of a student studying at university. The Year 11s visited Murdoch University and the Year 12s SAE Creative Institute. Both groups enjoyed media related workshops ranging from rotoscoping, design ideation, narrative creation and live TV production. Students even got to use the Egaming hub at Murdoch for a well-deserved break to play some competitive games with each other. Academics and current students from both institutions provided information about their careers and pathways into the creative industries. These experiences are so vital in showcasing the wonderful opportunities awaiting our students in further study and career pathways in the creative industries.
Craig Roberts
Media Arts Teacher
Year 11 Mock Interviews
On Tuesday 30 August, our Year 11 Career and Enterprise students were put through their paces in a mock interview scenario, combining skills learnt both in class and the recent Jobs & Skills presentations.
Students were required to select jobs they could apply for currently and prepare responses to interview questions in class. After much practice, including discussions about greeting interviewers, asking appropriate questions, and concluding the interview professionally, our Year 11s were interviewed by Sam Cranswick, City of Kalamunda Youth & Community Development Officer, Amanda Moreno-Diaz, our Career Practioner and Alison Gillett, one of our Career and Enterprise teachers.
Overall, the feedback from the interviews was excellent! Our Year 11 students were well prepared and provided thoughtful responses to their questions. Now, they can take these valuable skills out into the community and find success in upcoming interviews.
Alison Gillett
Career and Enterprise Teacher
Year 9 - Career Taster Program
Perth SkillsWest Expo Thursday 25 August
As part of the Year 9s Career Taster program (CTP), we took some students to the Perth SkillsWest Expo at the Perth Convection centre. The CTP enables Western Australia’s Year 9 students to explore the stages of early career discovery and study pathways, helping them to make informed decisions about their subject selections in Years 10, 11 and 12.
This was a unique opportunity for our Year 9 students to explore what careers they might want to pursue and the requirements to get into their chosen pathways.
Looking at the pictures, the Year 9s had a lot of fun and learnt a lot on the day.
Read some of the feedback of their learning during the expo:
Student responses on their expo experiences,
- I now know of more types of careers I could pursue and I have a better insight of what schooling is needed for them.
- I wanted to be an engineer so the course I should be doing is engineering. The subjects that I should be selecting are physics, chemistry and math. To gain entry into the course I need get a TAFE diploma or a Bachelor of science. It is very easy to get a job after studying and will take 4 years to complete the apprenticeship/traineeship.
- I learnt that careers in building can be things like building sets for movies, I also now know what job I want as an adult.
- Info on where to go for apprenticeships and other careers.
- I didn't figure out a specific career goal, but it is certainly narrowed down.
See some pictures of our students exploring careers.
Art, Design & Tourism - 30 August 2022 - Northbridge Campus TAFE
Eight lucky students had the opportunity to explore a career taster day at North Metropolitan TAFE. The sessions had a focus on art and design. Our students took part in a visual art session and a jewellery one. They got to design and make their own ring! Loads of maths and dexterity to make their unique pieces.
Some of the feedback that our students had to say about taking part in this event:
- It helped me understand my options for future careers with fields that I am interested in.
- I got to try things I wouldn’t necessarily choose.
More opportunities to take part on further career tasters will be announced shortly, so ensure that you are checking the Connect page and the Daily Notices.
If you would like to further investigate a career pathway, so you can make an appointment with Mrs. Moreno Diaz at the VET office or email Amanda.morenodiaz@education.wa.edu.au.
Year 11 and 12 Work Readiness Seminars
We have finalised our seminars with an Industry panel on Friday 2 September. We have members of the City of Kalamunda, Kalamunda Chamber of Commerce, Directions WA and Roshana Care Group. Our guests explained what are the skills and mindsets that they look when recruiting. It was a successful event where our students had the opportunity to ask questions to employers and make them ready for life beyond school.
Amanda Morenzo-Diaz
Career Practitioner
Whole School Wellbeing Program
Mindfulness is a great way to foster positive feelings and also allow space for creativity. Below are some photos from Maria Pennington’s Year 7 Italian class enjoying the benefits of meditation – spoken in Italian!! Very soothing…
I had an interesting conversation with several of my classes last week about boredom; my misconception was that teens rarely get bored due to having access to lots of stimulation online; whether that be watching TikTok, social media platforms, YouTube clips, gaming and more. To my complete surprise most students said that these things get boring too…so my next question to them was, what do you do when you’re bored?
For myself, I often find myself turning to my phone and have recently been making a conscious choice to ‘switch off’, instead creating space for mindfulness or quiet contemplation. The below article raises some interesting ideas about boredom and it’s links to personal wellbeing.
Instead of Pulling Out Your Phone, Let Your Mind Wander
When we're waiting, we often have the urge to distract ourselves—but a new study finds we’d enjoy doing nothing but think.
If you commute on a bus or train, you’ve probably noticed that most people spend the ride looking at their mobile phones. No doubt, they assume doing nothing but sit there would be boring, so they prefer distracting themselves. This squares with past research showing people will do almost anything to avoid boredom—even administer electric shocks to themselves.
But results from new research suggest we should rethink that choice. We are probably underestimating how enjoyable and interesting it is to do nothing but pay attention to wherever our thoughts take us…..researchers found that the participants in their experiments were not good at predicting how much they’d enjoy doing nothing but think. Even in a dark room with no stimulation, they ended up being more engaged and interested than they’d anticipated. 'People don’t appreciate the real value of waiting/thinking,' says researcher Kou Murayama of the Motivation Science Lab at the University of Tübingen in Germany and coauthor of the study. 'Once they engage in it, though, they appreciate it.'
Why would this be? Spontaneous thinking often involves mind-wandering, daydreaming, thinking about the future, or recollecting memories, all of which can have upsides. For example, daydreaming and mind-wandering have been found to improve our mood, creativity, goal-setting, and job performance (especially during a repetitive task). And thinking about the past in a nostalgic (rather than ruminative) way can make us happier and more resilient to stress.
Overall, says Murayama, the results suggest we rethink whipping out our cell phones every time we are waiting or bored. Instead, we might benefit from having a moment to think freely about whatever catches our fancy—and enjoy ourselves just as much.
'If you find yourself checking mobile phones when there is nothing to do, try to take a moment to entertain yourself with thinking,' advises Murayama. 'You may have new refreshing experiences that you did not expect.'
By JILL SUTTIE | 23 August 2022
Greater Good in Education magazine
So next time you find yourself stuck in a queue, on a bus or just looking to pass time for five minutes while you wait for someone to arrive…consider leaving the phone in your pocket and take a moment to look around and let your mind wander. You might enjoy it more than you think, happy day-dreaming!
Aundraêa Stevens
Convenor of the MHWB Committee
VacSwim is a great school holiday activity that teaches valuable safety skills to help keep your child safe in the water.
There are programs for everyone, from beginners to advanced swimmers. Students 14 years and over (or who will be turning 14 years in the same calendar year of the course) can enrol in Stage 16 to enable them to achieve their Bronze Medallion.
Places are limited, so get in early. Enrol today at education.wa.edu.au/vacswim
This school holidays the City of Kalamunda Libraries will be hosting two free Young Adult Author events.
Juliet Marillier is an Award winning fantasy author. Juliet is running a 2 hour writing workshop for teens interested in writing fantasy stories, at Lesmurdie Library on Thursday 29 September 10-12pm. For ages 13 years +. Book online at www.trybooking.com/CBHWF
Rebecca Laffar-Smith is a local author who writes for children and teens, and has spoken at TEDx talks about teen mental health. For Mental Health Month, Rebecca Laffar-Smith, shares her lived experience of mental illness. She talks about how it inspires and informs her novels, including her latest book 'Spirit talker'. Pizza is available at this event at Kalamunda Library on Thursday 6th October 1-2pm. For ages 14 years +. Book online at www.trybooking.com/CBKWB