Sleep well, learn well
As part of the Wellbeing Lecture Series, the Senior School, in conjunction with the Mothers Committee, hosted an information evening for parents with Dr Chris Seton, ‘Sleep Well, Learn Well’, on Monday 26 August.
Dr Chris Seton is a paediatric and adolescent sleep physician who works as a staff specialist in the Sleep Investigation Unit and Respiratory Support Service at Westmead Children’s Hospital. He is the founding director of the Paediatric Sleep Laboratory, Sydney Adventist Hospital, and consults in paediatric sleep disorders at Hornsby and St Vincent’s Clinic, Darlinghurst. Chris’s special interests include adolescent sleep deprivation, paediatric narcolepsy and the relationship between sleep and learning in children.
With much focus in society on nutrition and exercise, Chris was able to add a third essential ingredient to overall wellbeing: a good night’s sleep. He stressed that our students should be getting nine hours of sleep per night, but more than half of all teenagers nationwide are falling below this goal. Chris highlighted that sleep is linked to four key areas:
- Learning and academic performance: sleep helps concentration and motivation
- Emotional and mental health: children who are sleep deprived are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, negative body image and low self-esteem
- Behaviour and decision making: sleep deprivation can affect decision making and can increase the risk of accidents
- Body systems: sleep deprivation can affect physical growth, brain development, the immune system and can play a role in weight gain.
Please see the attached article from Chris, where he offers practical tips to assist your son.
James Brown
Deputy Head of School
Score It! film score composition
Congratulations to Year 12 student Miguel Cescotto, who attended the awards ceremony of Score It!, a film score composing competition. Miguel was selected as one of the four finalists in the Senior category, from entries across Queensland. Miguel reports:
Mr Kriesch, Head of Music Faculty, invited our class to test our skills in a film composition competition held by the Queensland Music Festival. Like many people, when I go see a new movie, I don’t really think about the music too much. It just effortlessly complements the visuals shown on the screen, expressing emotions that cinematography cannot do alone. I soon found out that this was the hardest, but most rewarding, part of the whole process.
The short film for this year’s Senior category was called Longawn. It was a film set in a dystopian Australian outback, where there is only one man left. The emotions in this scene were purposefully left untold by the narrator, so each individual music scorer could reflect whatever emotion they wanted.
I ended up placing third in this category and was invited to attend some workshops at the Griffith Conservatorium, with Hollywood Orchestrator and Churchie Old Boy Cameron Patrick, who taught us some of the more intricate details of the music business. I would like to thank everyone who was involved in the competition—it was a great opportunity. I give best wishes to any composer wishing to participate in next year’s competition.
Year 10 Visual Art excursion
Recently the Year 10 Visual Art students were taken on an excursion to world-renowned artist and Archibald Prize finalist Michael Zavros’ studio. We were given an insight into his process, asked questions and took a tour of his studio. This was a new experience, as most, if not all, of the class had not seen an independent artist’s studio prior to this visit. The tour was incredibly engaging and interesting, as Zavros talked about the process and meaning behind some of his most popular and provocative artworks. Three of the boys were given the opportunity to participate in one of Zavros’ newest artworks, a multi-layered urn that was commissioned quite recently. The trip was a great opportunity to gain insight into the complete process and was a constructive and rewarding experience. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Michael for this wonderful experience.
Patrick Finnimore and Connor McGovern-Cubby
Year 10
World Scholar’s Cup Global Round
From 15 to 19 August, three Year 8 Churchie boys travelled to Sydney to contest the Global Round of the World Scholar’s Cup. They joined more than 2000 students from over 20 countries to contest this highly competitive academic competition. Jibreel Baytieh, Leo Callaghan and Kevin Wang were the Junior Champions of the Brisbane round hosted by Churchie in April. In preparation, they studied a wide-ranging curriculum of material on the theme of a ‘world on the margins’. The experience of competing against students from all over the world was a highly enjoyable one.
Churchie Humanities Challenge
Boys in Years 9 and 10 were recently joined, over two weeks, by students from Somerville House and St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School to contest the inaugural Churchie Humanities Challenge. Teams were asked to investigate the theme of ‘borders’ across a number of subject disciplines: history, geography, philosophy, economics and international relationships. They prepared by considering a range of readings. In competition the teams were asked to write essay responses, complete a collaborative case study and participate in a round table discussion. Congratulations to the team of Jamie Richardson, Tom Morgan and Raymond Zhuang who finished third in the challenge.
Year 9 QDU Winners
The 9.1 QDU team, comprised of Benny Streeton, Lachlan Caporn, Manny Samios, Harry Rae and Kevin Wang, were crowned winners of the Queensland Debating Union competition. The boys made it through six knockout rounds to win unanimously against Brisbane Grammar School with a fantastic performance. Churchie was recognised as the second best school in the QDU competition across all age divisions.
Grant Smith
Head of Gifted Education (Aquila)
Year 12 IB presentations, compositions and portfolios
Year 12 IB students have been involved with intense preparation for external and internal assessment over the past term. In particular, the last couple of weeks have seen a change of direction as students have prepared for presentations and folio work.
On Monday 2 September, all students were involved with the Language individual orals. Students undertaking Spanish, Mandarin and Chinese were given a culturally relevant photograph and had to participate in a 10-minute conversation with their teacher in their respective language. These recordings will be moderated externally.
On the same day, the Visual Arts students spent their time with Ms Leighton working on their process portfolio and exhibition, which will be submitted to the IB for external marking in the coming weeks.
Finally, music students have been working on their compositions and were fortunate to be able to have an individual tutorial with music specialist Nicole Murphy. Last Tuesday 27 August, the Music students also completed their solo performances in the chapel in front of family and friends. These recordings will be submitted to the IB in coming weeks.
It has been wonderful to see the wide variety of music, visual art and language talent on display. Thank you to the dedicated team of teachers who have worked tirelessly to assist the students with their preparation.
Mrs Catherine Prosser
Dean of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Service News
Duke of Edinburgh International Awards
Congratulations to the following students who have achieved a Duke of Edinburgh International Award:
- Bronze: Ted Deeb, Tom Morgan, Raymond Zhuang, Morgan Baker, Jack Kruger, Joe Kruger, Jonah Whitfield, Matthew Seaborn, Matthew Richards, Archie Gouldson, Zac Becker, Benjamin Campbell, Darcy Foreman, Jahan Hassall, Luka Price, Austin Macfarlane, Matthew Williams, Angus Williams, Matthew Wibaux, Lachlan Boatwright, Ned Gaffney
- Silver: Benjamin Russell, Benjamin Stephens
- Gold: Sam Thomas.
Special congratulations to Sam Thomas (Year 12) and Old Boy Michael Penklis (2018), who have been selected to attend a ceremony on Friday 13 September, where they will be presented with their Gold award by HRH Prince Edward at Sydney City Hall.
John Collins
Director of Service
