Mind Stuff

Hi there from Nikky and Celia your favourite school psychologists! We will be writing a column in the school newspaper regularly about things to do with you all about your minds! We are both specialists in Educational and Developmental Psychology. This means we know things about how your brain develops, how to help you get the most out of school and how to help deal with things that might impede your learning.  Worry and sadness can affect how you learn, as well as if you’re having difficulty with friends, in relationships or even with your teachers. You also might have seen us doing assessments and testing to understand how your brain works best and if you need to learn skills to help or improve your learning. We are pleased to see anyone even if you just want to pop in for a chat or if something is troubling you.

Nikky is usually around Tuesday and Friday and Celia on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. We also have an intern working with us who changes every second term. For term 1 and 2 we have been lucky to have Amanda working with us, but for term 3 and 4 the intern’s name is Nikki, which will be really confusing for us all!

Very often friendship, relationships, life’s highlights or troubles are played out on social media. Schapelle Corby arrived back in Australia last weekend, posting her first Instagram on Saturday morning, she had 92,000 followers by Sunday afternoon! She has been in jail in Bali probably longer than many of you have been alive! She was convicted of drug smuggling by Indonesian courts. So why the interest? Are the amount of friends, likes or followers a sign of your popularity or the esteem that people hold for you or for something more like Ms Corby’s followers and is for notoriety? When your life is so easily accessible and every moment of your life is available to be viewed or commented on, are you able to manage and cope with the judgement that  comes from having your life open to comment, ridicule or criticism? Personally, we have had very positive experiences from social media; blogs and professional learning forums, encouragement and support, laugh aloud comments and quick wit! Some of us are not so lucky and can be tortured by unwanted or negative attention.

We know a round of exams are coming up for the year 9’s to 12’s. Exams are just one way for teachers to judge how much you are learning and progressing. But the anxiety of being judged at school seems to far outweigh the worry that we experience of being judged by our peers on social media. Food for thought?

Please email us on mindstuff@ags.vic.edu.au to catch up with Nikky, Celia, Amanda or Nikki.