With Semester 1 well and truly over, the work toward the end of this year and the start of next year begins. With this in mind it is a great time to have a chat with students about what they can do to move forward. I think with the recent Commonwealth games it is a great time to look at that idea of 'personal best'.

Personal best is something that your student should be aiming for as well. That doesn’t mean necessarily achieving an 'A' but what it means is that the Attitude, Behaviour and Effort (ABE) ratings for each course in their report have real meaning. These ratings give you an indication of how well that student is applying themselves in class. Are they working to the best of their ability and being a helpful and active participant in the class and also completing work when they are asked? If the ABE ratings are all in the Consistently and Often category then students are giving themselves every opportunity to achieve their personal best.

As I said, this may not equate to an 'A' but it means that they should (and so should you) be very proud of their semester’s work. When it comes to setting goals in Middle School, I think that the ABEs are just as, if not more, important than grades. Please discuss these with your student as moving the ABEs into Consistently and Often go a long way to achieving that Personal Best.

Middle School students, it’s all about Personal Best.

Teenagers and Sleep

I have also just recently come across an article on Teenagers and Sleep. The article is available at https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/teenagers-and-sleep and covers a wide range of questions about adolescents and sleep. A couple of key points from the article that 'talk' directly to teenagers are:

Top sleep tips for teenagers

The typical teenage brain wants to go to bed late and sleep late the following morning, which is usually hard to manage. You may be able to adjust your body clock but it takes time. Suggestions include:

• Choose a relaxing bedtime routine; for example, have a bath and a hot milky drink before bed, or use meditation or mindfulness activities. Gentle yoga may also help.
• Avoid screens such as computers, TV or smart phones, loud music, homework or any other activity that gets your mind racing for at least an hour before bedtime.
• Avoid stimulants in the evening like coffee, tea, soft drinks and energy drinks.
• Keep your bedroom dark at night. Your brain’s sleep–wake cycle is largely set by light received through the eyes. Try to avoid watching television or using smart phones right before bed. In the morning, expose your eyes to lots of light to help wake up your brain.
• Do the same bedtime routine every night for at least four weeks to make your brain associate this routine with going to sleep.
• Start your bedtime routine a little earlier than usual (for example, 10 minutes) after four weeks. Do this for one week.
• Add an extra 10 minutes every week until you have reached your desired bedtime.
• Get active during the day so you are more physically tired at night.
• Set up a comfortable sleep environment.
• Set up a regular wake-up time.
• Avoid staying up late on the weekends. Late nights will undo your hard work.
• Remember that even 30 minutes of extra sleep each night on a regular basis makes a big difference. However, it may take about six weeks of getting extra sleep before you feel the benefits.