Year 9 Retreat

Our Year 9 students engaged with their Retreat Day on Thursday with one session being around our habits and Carmel culture. They unpacked the current cultures at Carmel and explored how they have grown in their time since starting at secondary school, and how they would like to continue this growth towards Year 12 in 2028. A particular question was about the graduate attributes that students, as leaders, will develop in this time. I encourage you to speak with your Year 9 child about which cultures and attributes they plan to foster and which they will try to leave behind.

As part of the day we also spoke about how our brain develops habits and operates on ‘auto-pilot’ for a significant amount of time. This video from the Mr. Brain YouTube channel, makes it clear that identifying the cues and desired changes is important, followed by simple and conscious repetition. The ‘best’ students aren’t necessarily smarter, they have developed habits and practices which help them to learn. All students are welcome to ask for support any time they want help to improve a habit.

Mr Frank Turtle

Acting Assistant Principal – Learning and Teaching (Years 7-9)