What Do Reflection Days Offer The Girls?

Reflection Days are an important part of Santa Maria College’s calendar. For students in Years 7 and 8 this week, they have taken a day away from the classroom to bond, discover, learn and have fun together as a cohort. Girls are encouraged to participate in activities that stretch them and for some, take them out of their comfort zone.

Dean of Year 8, Jane Murray wrote in an email to Year 8 parents yesterday, “The girls have been visibly engaged and really invested in the opportunity to think about their year so far and what they want for themselves going forward. One activity was to open a letter written to themselves at the Year 7 Reflection Day and to add to this. As I write this, they are deep in discussion about the importance of following positive people and over-riding the negative bias we often carry with ourselves.”

Below are some reflections from the girls.

Alexia Pynes, Year 7

What I learnt from Reflection Day is where your attention goes your energy flows. To always be yourself because you are unique. I enjoyed playing charades and writing a letter to my future self because it got me thinking about what I want to be known as and who I look up to. I enjoyed singing the songs with everyone and doing partner work.

Ava Law, Year 7 

I learnt from Reflection Day to be myself and not worry about what other people think of me. One thing I enjoyed about the day was when we wrote the letters to ourselves in Year 8. I thought that was very exciting and I can’t wait to see the letter later on. Lastly, I did enjoy when we did charades because everyone was laughing and having a great time. I also loved singing and dancing.

Brooke Hitchcock, Year 7

One thing I have learnt is to be confident in my own skin. I enjoyed talking to other people that I don’t know well and learning something about them. I also enjoyed the singing competition because the louder your friends got the louder and more confident you became.

Nina Rifici, Year 7

I have learnt that I have to be confident in myself to be able to take risks and do things that I wouldn’t have done before. Something I enjoyed was playing charades with my team. We were all energetic and all yelling at our team members. Also, I enjoyed singing the songs because we were all participating and coming together to win for our team.

Sophie Muir, Year 8

One key message I took away from Reflection Day was to never let negative thoughts take over. To always be positive and always try to see the bright side of life. I think this is a very important message and should be talked about more often. The best thing about Reflection Day was the ability to move around and sit with others who you don’t know as well. We were encouraged to have different partners for each activity and be with people who weren’t in our main friendship groups. I’m so glad we had this opportunity as I made so many new friends and restored connections with people I had drifted from.

 

Giulia Di Biase, Year 8

One key thing I took away from Reflection Day is to surround yourself with people who make you feel good about yourself, people who motivate you, inspire you, are good listeners, and who help you in the best and worst of times. What I liked best about Reflection Day was the singing we did. We were split into two groups and battled each other, which was really fun because everyone was enthusiastic and joined in. Later in the day we sat next to our friends and sang songs together that made the afternoon nice and chill.

Eva Petkovic, Year 8

Reflection Day taught me to try to break out of my comfort zone and try something new. The specific example of folding your fingers and then when you do it in the opposite way it feels weird. I think that is a perfect way to describe to us the way we live is a mindset and is only defined by how we choose to live and who we choose to live around.  My favourite part of Reflection Day was the part where we got to thank our friends for being amazing and for inspiring us to do better. It was quite emotional, and I really appreciated the chance to thank all the people that have helped me through the good times and the bad and for inspiring me to live out my life to my fullest potential and reflect on myself and where I am at in that process.

 

 

 

 

What A Term! So Many Opportunities – Jennifer Oaten

As I look back on the past nine weeks, I am so grateful for who we are as a community and what we have achieved. Through the dedication of our staff and the enthusiasm of our students, we have established new connections, immersed ourselves in opportunities and worked through challenges.

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