Balance in Life, Work and Play is our college motto. What does that mean exactly?
To have balance means that elements in your life have an equal proportion. It is an attainable goal that we all strive towards having in our lives. We want our IFS families to have this balance in their everyday life, balance in the work they do and balance in the play they do. Does your family have balance? What changes does your family need to make in order to have balance?
Striving towards achieving balance in life, work and play is a challenge for me. I need to make conscious decisions, allocate time to certain things and ensure that I have a rhythm to my day. Once this rhythm is out of sync, it takes me time to regain that rhythm and it has an ongoing effect with my family. There is never enough time, and I feel like I am on a mouse wheel that is spinning out of my control. When this happens, I need to stop myself and prioritise what is important. I need to make time for life, work and play. I am a much calmer when there is balance and my family is definitely much happier. As adults, we tend to forget that we are constantly modelling adult life to our children. We need to model this sense of balance. This really hit home for me this week when my 6 year old informed me that I spend far too much time on the computer and getting home late and that it was now time to play a game of hide and seek. A wake up call? For sure!
We are first and foremost a college, however the relationship between the academic program and the football development program is symbiotic. Our Teaching Staff is working extremely hard on academic programs that provide balance to our children’s workday. We have a No Homework Policy because we believe our students can achieve and fulfil the academic requirements in the day. Students are encouraged to set goals, manage their time and make choices regarding their academic work. We want our students to have a sense of responsibility both at college and at home. We encourage them to be the best they can be in everything they do.
Our teachers have raised the importance of our students not being too tired in order to participate in the academic program. Students are in class for 4 hours a day and need to be switched on and ready to work. A commitment was made during the interview, that our students would be able to cope with both the amount of training offered and a rigorous academic program. Families are encouraged to have an honest conversation of what needs to be prioritised in order to work towards achieving balance in work and play both in and out of college.
Our students are adjusting to a Football Development Program that consists of 10 hours of training per week. Add to this, extra training our students are participating in outside of college, the ongoing affect is that our children are tired. We understand and support our families who make the choice to participate in extra training/rep programs etc after college. However, it is important to ask the question, is this sustainable for our family? As parents, we all understand the silly accidents/choices that happen when our children are tired, not to mention their change in mood! It is vitally important that our children are getting enough sleep and are fuelling their bodies with the good nutrition needed in order to keep going. Pre-adolescents and adolescents are notorious for having erratic sleep patterns; this is a reflection on what is happening to them developmentally. Adolescents still need guidance and to be encouraged to keep regular sleep patterns – especially when they are training at the levels they are. Sleep research suggests adolescents get 9-10 hours of sleep a night. How much sleep is your child getting? Is there balance in your child’s play and life?
Central Coast Sports College does things differently, and for most of our families, there is an adjustment or shift in the way of thinking of what a college is and does. Our classrooms are not traditional, our teacher’s focus is on building relationships and guiding our students through a challenging and inspiring academic program, students are encouraged to take responsibility for their learning and the Football Development Program is extensive and intense. Families of IFS made a decision to send their child to our college for a reason, and for a majority of our families, the reason was to achieve a balance in work, life and play. Is your family working towards achieving this?
Communication is the key to any successful relationship. If there are concerns regarding balance in your child’s life, we would like to have that conversation with you and help devise strategies that support your child and your family.
Principal – Central Coast Sports College
Joey says
Great insight Laura. Thanks for the reminder to keep conscious of the balance. My 8 year old reminds me often as well 🙂