Message from Head of Primary
Most of our students are very much looking forward to the upcoming holidays where they will have a chance to relax and spend quality time with their family. As always, I would like to remind our community about the need to limit screen time over the break. I recently heard the term ‘time vampires’ when talking about digital devices. I am sure everyone can relate to intentionally looking up something purposeful, only to still be on the device ten minutes later and looking at something completely different. In the home, the ten minutes can become thirty minutes, then an hour very easily and while I'm sure families do not purposely intended for children to spend many hours on a screen in one go, inevitably this can still occur. Digital devices are time vampires.
Almost all digital devices have a screen time limit built in, often in the settings, and this is an easy way to find the Goldilocks zone of device use. Not too short and not too long. Taking five minutes out to set up this function will have a positive impact on the children in the holidays. Of interest to me was an article from prominent educator, Daniel Willington, who after looking at the research around digital devices and children’s attention span, believes that the more screen time a child receives, the more likely they are to perceive non digital activities as boring. It may seem like common senses to many, but after a few hours on a digital device, the play in the backyard does not seem as exciting! Limiting the screen time will help this considerably.
Fortunately the warmer weather is now upon us so being outside is easier than ever. I wish all of our families an enjoyable holiday.
Kind regards
Mark Douglas
Head of Primary School
