Seeing the Senior School Production of Annie this week has again confirmed how worthwhile it is for girls to be involved in cocurricular pursuits. The benefits that come from working as part of a team, learning new skills and being part of something rewarding are undeniable. Lowther Hall girls are, on the whole, very busy girls. I am immensely proud of their enthusiasm to give things a go, support new initiatives, try a range of activities and follow through on their commitments. It is our experience that girls who are involved in a range of cocurricular programs are highly successful at school, happy and well connected.

There must, however, be a balance. Girls who are too busy, or who are not supported to have a regular time each night for the completion of homework and study, quickly become stressed. Too many activities for too many hours can outweigh the benefits of involvement and can instead give way to anxiety, sleep deprivation and lead girls to feel overwhelmed and panicky. 

As parents, I encourage you to ensure that each girl has time every evening to complete her homework and study tasks for school. Obviously the nature of these tasks will depend on the age of the child, however, every student at every year level needs at least a small amount of time EVERY DAY to ensure she is following through on set work – whether this be home reading in Blinkbonnie House, weekly homework, music practice and reading in Raymond House, or subject specific work in Senior School. I remind Senior School parents that Year 7 girls should be spending 1 hour each night on homework/study and that at each subsequent year level this expectation rises by 30 minutes. 

Thank you to all the families who support the girls to be involved in our wonderful cocurricular program!