Term 2, Week 9

On behalf of the Pastoral Team at St Laurence’s College, we would like to wish all our students and families a safe and happy Winter break. It has certainly been a bustling Semester and the chance for everyone to pause, recharge, and break from routine is much needed. 

Year 11 Catholic Studies

Our Year 11 students have been participating in leadership workshops with various Heads of House and staff at the College. These workshops start the Senior Leadership Journey which culminate with the selection of student leaders (School Captains, Prefects and House Captains) for 2026. Our focus has been on servant leadership, with various workshops that are imbedded within the Catholic Studies curriculum. I would like to thank all members of the pastoral team for their work in establishing this valuable Year 11 formation opportunity.

OurFutures Institute: ‘Big 6’ Health Behaviours

OurFutures Institute are releasing a 6-part blog series on the ‘Big 6’ health behaviours for youth mental health, which will cover screen time, dietary intake, physical activity, sleep, alcohol and vape/tobacco use.

Here is some information on the Big 6 broadly, and here is a link to the resources by OurFutures.

How’s Life for Children in the Digital Age?

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) have released a new research report on life for children in the ‘digital age’.

The report recognises the increasing digitalisation of daily lives and examines both the opportunities and risks associated with children's increasing engagement with it.

The report provides these statistics about ‘hyperconnectivity’:

• Around 27% of 15-year-olds across the OECD report playing video games for at least three hours on a weekday; 8% of boys (compared with 3% of girls) spend at least seven hours on a typical weekday playing video games, with this proportion reaching 12% on weekend days. Adolescents from low socio-economic families are more than twice as likely as their most affluent peers to play for seven hours or more on a typical day. 
• On a typical weekday, 66% of 15-year-old girls and 61% of boys spend three hours or more on social media. This high level of use is prevalent among 15-year-olds from all socio-economic backgrounds, but it is more common among those from lower socio-economic status (61%) compared to those from higher socio-economic status (54%). 
• Across the OECD, roughly 35% of teenagers aged 11 to 15 report being almost constantly in online contact with friends and/or relatives throughout the day. The likelihood of constant online interaction rises with age, from 29% among 11-year-olds to 38% among 15-year-olds. Girls (38%) are more likely to maintain constant contact than boys (31%), and adolescents from one-parent families (37%) are slightly more inclined to do so compared to those from two-parent families (33%).
• In 2021-22, around 10% of adolescents aged 11, 13 and 15 across the OECD report experiencing problematic use of social media, 8 up from less than 7% in 2017-18. Girls (12%) are again more often exposed to this type of problem than boys (8%), and children with a migrant background (14%) are more exposed than native born (10%). Additionally, adolescents from one-parent families (12%) report problematic social media use more frequently than those from two-parent families (9%). 
• Approximately 16% of 11-years-old and 20% of 15 years-old adolescents using social media across the OECD reported that they regularly neglected other activities (e.g. hobbies, sport) because they wanted to use social media. 
• Approximately 17% of 15-year-old teenagers report feeling anxious or nervous at least half the time when they are without their digital devices. In nearly every country across the OECD, girls (22%) are significantly more likely than boys (13%) to experience this anxiety.

The report recommends a four-pillar policy to enhance child wellbeing, focusing on:

• Pillar 1: the legal and policy governance framework
• Pillar 2: teachers, schools and education systems
• Pillar 3: parents, carers and guardians
• Pillar 4: incorporate children's views.

The report can be read in full here.

Term 2 Co-Curricular

The pastoral team extends its gratitude to all participants for their involvement in College activities this term. It has indeed been eventful, and we are confident that all students are looking forward to a well-deserved break.