Current Edition | Term 3, Week 10

Ready for What Comes Next

What does it mean for a young person to be good at mathematics?

Is it remembering the right formula? Getting the correct answer on a test? Or is it recognising when mathematics might help solve a problem they have never encountered before?

That distinction sits at the heart of PISA, the Programme for International Student Assessment. Rather than simply testing whether 15-year-olds can recall what they have learned, PISA asks them to apply their knowledge in Reading, Mathematics and Science to unfamiliar and real-world situations. Recent Australian media coverage on PISA results is suggesting that there are grave concerns about the nation’s performance against this international benchmark. 

Pleasingly, we are proud of our students’ performance. In 2025, a random sample of 23 St Laurence’s College students participated in PISA. Such a small sample should not be treated as a ranking or definitive measure of College performance. It does, however, provide an interesting window into how some of our young men approach learning.

The academic results were encouraging:

• In Reading, 79% of participating students achieved at the middle or high proficiency levels. 
• In Mathematics, the figure was 80%, with 19% classified as low performers compared with 29% nationally. 
• In Science, 85% achieved at the middle or high levels.

Behind those percentages are capabilities that matter well beyond an assessment.

Students were being asked to interpret information, make connections between texts, reason mathematically, solve unfamiliar problems, evaluate evidence and apply scientific thinking to contemporary situations. These are not simply skills for passing an examination. They are increasingly the skills young people need to navigate a world in which information is abundant, technology is changing rapidly and the answer to a problem may not be immediately obvious.

Perhaps even more interesting, however, was what the accompanying student survey told us.

Students reported curiosity about how things work and an enjoyment of learning new things. They described persisting when learning became difficult and seeking help from teachers and peers when they needed it. They generally felt safe, supported by their teachers and, importantly, that they belonged at school.

Such feedback is important because academic achievement does not develop separately from curiosity, perseverance, relationships and belonging. A student needs knowledge, but he also needs the confidence to attempt something unfamiliar, the resilience to remain with a difficult problem and the judgement to recognise when he needs assistance. This is why our aspirations for learning at Lauries extend beyond what a student knows today.

Of course, 23 students cannot tell the story of an entire College. Their responses do, however, offer a useful glimpse of something we hope to see in every Lauries student: a young person building strong foundations of knowledge while learning how to think, question, persist, seek support and apply what he knows.