We are well and truly underway with life at St Laurence's College. In particular, I congratulate our newest students in Year 5 and Year 7 for the start to the year. It is a daunting step to begin at a large College, or for students of Year 6 from last year, to move to Middle School. I must acknowledge the leadership of our Senior Students in welcoming and supporting our new students.

Our Year 7 students have completed their induction program, culminating with Camp and retreats this week. Heads of House ventured to Camp Laurence with the boys and our Year 7 students have been excellent. I thank Ms Bell, Mr Burridge and Mr Corfield for co-ordinating the Camp and retreat activities.

On Thursday the eight-member Colleges and Ambrose Treacy staff and students celebrated the start to the AIC sporting calendar with an Ecumenical Service, held at the Marist College Chapel. At this service, each College presented their story or motto to the congregation. It was a most collegial celebration of our Association. As we move into the 25th year of AIC, we remember all that the competition brings to the growth of young people. AIC began when eight Colleges left the T.A.S. competition in 1999 and formed the Associated Independent Colleges. I thank all Colleges for the competition provided to our students over the years. The strength of this Association is vital for a strong St Laurence's College.

Last year, Mr Eddie Wallace informed me of his intention to resign from his position as Head of Sport, effective December 2023. Eddie has served this community well since he began in 2007. His contribution to our College and our students has been extraordinary. He is a great man.  Eddie will take leave in August this year. We will soon advertise for a new Head of Sport. I look forward to working with Eddie until August and I wish him well into the future.

This week we conducted Information evenings for parents of students in Years 8, 9 and 10.  I thank Ms Bell and Mr Knight for co-ordinating the events. It is most important that all families are informed about College processes, student opportunities and specific requirements in each year level. For our students to succeed they need to remain engaged and focussed.

Shortly, we will begin interviews for students in Year 5 who are seeking enrolment for Year 7, 2025. Interview times will be available during the week and on Saturday, 25 February 2023. Year 5 applicants for 2025 will be interviewed in Term 3. Currently, our enrolment is approximately 1980 students across the College and demand is very high for positions at the school.

Next Wednesday, we will affirm the efforts of the Seniors of 2022 with our annual Academic Assembly. At this assembly we honour our highest achievers including 65 students who received an ATAR over 90. I look forward to welcoming these young men back to their school.

On Friday morning, Fr Wrex Woolnough celebrated Mass with our Year 12 students. This mass had a focus on leadership and leading with integrity. I was delighted with the attendance of our Seniors and the manner in which they participated. Leadership at this College is about service and integrity. Well done to all involved.

This year we have renewed our learning partnership with Iona College and Padua College. These partnerships aim to improve staff capacity in providing great learning outcomes for our students. The Learning Exchanges (LEX) allow for great collaboration across like schools. I welcome Mr Michael Kearney, as our new LEX Co-ordinator. Michael is a former Director at Brisbane Catholic Education and comes to us with a wealth of experience.

I wish all boys well for the weekend, as we begin Round 1 of AIC Sport against Iona College.

MR CHRIS LEADBETTER

Principal

Year 7 Retreat: GROW

This week our Year 7 students took part in their retreat program. This retreat was titled GROW and encompassed the same theme that we use at the camp.

Grasping Opportunities

Respect and Resilience

One Percenters

Wonder

The retreat bases itself on the Parable of the Sower where Jesus talks about a sower planting seeds, the parable mentions that some of the efforts failed because of rocky ground or not deep enough soil but when the Sower planted the seed in Fertile ground there was growth. We look at our Laurues Journey in the same way that to fully grow we must make sure we are all doing our part to make Lauries the fertile soil from which we can all grow. This means we must look at how we treat each other and embrace the opportunities given to us. Mr John Hanley, from the MND&Me foundation, provided a very powerful talk about overcoming life’s challenges and embracing our opportunities. John was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease in 2016 and was honest with us about how long he has in his life and knowing that he wanted to use the time he had left to embrace life and where he could, help others. John’s talk reminds us that our life is a gift and like the sower we need to make sure we provide fertile soil that helps others and ourselves live the best life they can by being able to embrace opportunities. The Year 7’s asked very mature and poignant questions to John and you could tell this story had made an impact. Our staff took students through a rotation of other activities including learning about our Edmund Rice Touchstones, the foundations of our College, relationships with each other and they lived the Parable of the Sower with a trip to the Urban Farm to plant their own seeds. We hope the students enjoyed the day and that it combined with the camp provided soil to begin their Lauries Journey.

Friday Masses

Our Friday masses have recommenced and it was great to see our Year 12’s come in strong numbers this morning. Hearing the Lauries students in full voice in our masses is a great way to end the week.

MR PAUL CORFIELD

Dean of Identity and Community

Career Counselling

For any students wanting to discuss career information, post-schooling pathways, job skills etc. please see Mr Moscos in the Careers Office.

Phone: (07) 3010 1158 

Email: pmoscos@slc.qld.edu.au 

Grandshake Virtual Work Experience

Grandshake is a company that offers Virtual work experience opportunities for students in Years 10 – 12, partnering with companies such as Inland Rail, Cardno, AI Group, Consult Australia and ARTC to offer experiences such as:

• Systems and Signals Operator
• Communication and Sustainability Cadet
• Junior Environment Planner
• Civil Construction Cadet
• Junior Digital Engineer
• Drone Pilot
• Electrical Technician

Grandshake has partnered with industry to design real-world projects that students can work on virtually, connect with industry partners and earn micro-credentials (in the form of digital badges, which can be added to LinkedIn Profiles). The programs require approximately ten hours of commitment and are free for students to enrol in. For further information, check out the Grandshake website (or use the QR code below) or please contact the Careers Office.  

Bond University Business and Maths Extension Programs

Bond University’s Business School is offering its Year 12 Extension Program. The program is offered as a two-day workshop, allowing students to use skills in Business and Mathematics to work with others to solve real-world issues. Participants will work collaboratively with others to solve problems, with the top-performing students having the potential to be awarded one of six part-fee scholarships for Bond University. 

The program is free to participate in, but interested students must be nominated by a school staff member. The program is offered on the following dates:

• Mathematics Stream – 13 – 14 April 2023
• Business Stream – 26 – 27 April and 5 – 6 May

Please contact the Careers Office if you have any questions. 

Tuckwell Scholarship

The Australian National University’s Tuckwell Scholarship applications open 1 March. This scholarship is offered to 25 students around the country and is worth $24,700 per annum to successful applicants.

Academically high-achieving students who are open to the idea of studying interstate next year are encouraged to read through the terms of the scholarship and consider applying – NOTE: if a student applies and is successful, but changes their mind later, they are not obliged to go, so students who are unsure can still apply and consider their final decision around where they will study throughout the year.

SLConX

Preparations for this year’s SLConX Careers Networking Events are underway, with the topics for this year being:

• 14 March – Careers in Defence & Emergency Services
• 30 May – Careers in Trades
• 13 July – Careers in Allied Health

A registration form to attend the first session will be sent out next week (both in the newsletter and via email), so please keep an eye out for that.

If there are any Old Boys who are parents that read this newsletter and work in the above fields and would like to participate in any of the upcoming events, please get in contact with the Careers Office (careers@slc.qld.edu.au).  

MR PAUL MOSCOS

Careers Counsellor

Academic Award Winners

Next Wednesday, we will be congratulating our Academic Award winners for their work in Semester 2, 2022. The list of Academic Award winners can be found [HERE] and will be displayed around the College. Award winners will be presented with their certificates during the upcoming Academic Assembly on Wednesday 8 February. Merit winners will be presented with their certificates on House assemblies later in the term. We congratulate these students.

By way of criteria - to receive a Black award, students must achieve a GPA of at least 12 in the Primary and Middle School. In the Senior School, this changes to a GPA>70%. This means that Black Award winners are averaging a B+ across their subjects. There were 266 students in Semester 2 2022 who were awarded an Academic Black award.

To receive an Academic Gold Excellence Award, students must achieve a GPA of 13 or more (Primary/Middle) or >80% in the Senior School, which equates to an average grade of at least an A- across the subjects the student has studied. As determined from the academic efforts in Semester 2 2022, 160 students achieved a Gold Excellence Award. Furthermore, we congratulate students whose GPA has improved by more than 1.5 points which is the equivalent of improving by half an achievement level across all subjects. There were an outstanding 56 students who were awarded growth awards, an improvement from 19 students this time last year. We will be congratulating all award winners at the Academic Assembly next Wednesday.

ChatGPT

Recently, you may have heard media reports and discussions related to the use of ChatGPT. Some educational institutions and jurisdictions are outraged and have banned the platform across schools. Others have a different approach and are of the thought to learn to work with it rather than ban its use. I am of the latter opinion!

ChatGPT mimics the way human beings create texts and respond to other questions. It has been trained by humans to respond in a more human-like way. ChatGPT has access to enormous quantities of information, so it can return responses to a huge range of different queries. The downside to ChatGPT, at this point, is that it can’t analyse and evaluate creatively; in most cases, it struggles with critical thinking. There are also emerging apps and tools that check if text and assessment submitted by students have been developed using text derived from AI.

This is a phenomenal tool, that I believe schools should work with and embrace, rather than a ban. My philosophy is that AI is not going away, and the more we learn to use AI tools for the betterment of our students, the better the outcomes for our boys. Teachers and students working together, using ChatGPT within College guidelines, has enormous potential and builds trust between teachers and students.

In response to the growing concern of ChatGPT, a small team of College Senior Leaders have met and developed a plan for its use. We aim to discuss the implications with staff, students and the community. College guidelines will be released towards the end of this Term.

Therefore, the message is, we will find ways to use it and work with it for the benefit of our students, rather than banning its use.

We are also awaiting further advice from the QCAA.

Conclusion

I thank all students and families for the positive start to the Term. I wish all students participating in co-curricular activities the very best of luck.

Live Jesus in your heart. . . Forever!

DR LIAM HERBERT

Dean of Teaching and Learning

Term 1 sporting Competition Begins

This afternoon the Term 1 sporting competition officially begins with our First XVIII travelling to Iona to play. Tomorrow the majority of our College teams will continue competition against Iona with some other oppositions across the three sports. Our swimming team continues their preparation with a warm-up meet hosted by St Peters.

Extreme Heat

The weather conditions today (Friday) and forecasted for Saturday are quite oppressive. The individual schools and the Association will continue to monitor continuously to ensure the safety of players, spectators and officials. For even the indoor sport of volleyball, where heat inside courts can be extreme when combined with the humidity, it is important that all players and spectators take some necessary precautions.

• Hydration – Please ensure boys are well hydrated and drinking a lot of water. This includes the night before and before they arrive at venues on Saturday. Please ensure boys have multiple water bottles that can be refilled if needed and that students continue to hydrate after their games have concluded.
• Sun Protection- For all outdoor sports ensure boys have a hat and sunscreen. For AFL, hats can be worn during each of the breaks and when boys are on the reserves bench. When boys are not actively participating in a game – they should be in the shade.

Coaches and officials have been informed of the conditions and will be allowing extra or extended breaks during the different matches.

Representative Sport Pathway – District/Regional/State 

The College is a member of the Mt Gravatt (10 - 12 Years) and Composite (13 - 19 Years) Districts for School Representative Sport. Both of these districts are a part of the Metropolitan East Region. For the majority of sports that have a Queensland School Sport “Pathway”, students have to be selected in a district team before continuing onto regional trials and then subsequently state trials. There are some instances, particularly in the Secondary School pathway where nominations go directly to the regional level and there is no district trial.

Generally, most sports will have a pathway at 10 - 12 Years, 13 - 15 Years and 16 - 18/19 Years. There are some notable exceptions to this. While the pathways allow for a span of age groups, it is important for all to understand that in effect each of the designated age group trials is actually a 12 Years, 15 Years and 18/19 Years trial. In most cases there are also restrictions on the number of students the College can nominate to district trials. St Laurence’s College is a very large school. It would be rare that a 10 Year old in Year 5 would be nominated to attend a 12 Years trial. Likewise, a 13 year old in Year 7 would not be likely to be selected to attend a 15 Years. For many sports we are able to use our AIC seasons to assist with the selection of students to attend. For others, we do ask students to give a profile of their sports involvement.

In the last week, a large number of district trial notifications have been placed on the College App. If students would like to nominate to attend these trials, they should speak to Mr Wallace in the Sports Office.

Good luck for all teams this weekend!

MR EDDIE WALLACE 

Head of Sport

Instrumental lessons and ensemble rehearsals are now well underway as students prepare for the first of our Concerts before the end of Term 1.

Lauries Music Support Group Meeting Tuesday 7 February 6pm Music Department: Room MU1 (Top floor VAPA building).

A great way to support your son at Lauries is by joining the parent’s music support group. Meetings are once a month on the second Tuesday of each month (term time). Meetings are informal, generally less than an hour long and a great way to hear the details and help with the planning of upcoming music events! If you are unable to make the meetings but available to help at concerts/events, join the group so you can be on our email list and be kept up to date. Please contact the Music Department if you have any questions.

Term 1 Concert Dates

18 and 19 February | Singing Surfin’ Safari | Tallebudgera

Little Brotherhood will travel to Tallebudgera this year for their annual Singing Surfin’ Safari. 

This overnight trip will provide an opportunity for team building within the ensemble and for students to give back to the community as they participate in a local Parish Mass with Marymount College from the Gold Coast. 

Wednesday 8 March | Intermediate Ensembles Concert | 6pm ERPAC

Performances by the College’s Intermediate Ensembles. 

Ensembles Performing: Concert Band 2, Big Band 2, String Orchestra 2, Guitar Orchestra 2, Little Brotherhood

Thursday 9 March | Senior Ensembles Concert | 6pm ERPAC. 

Performances by the College’s Senior Ensembles.

Ensembles Performing: Concert Band 1, Big Band 2, String Orchestra 1, Guitar Orchestra 1, Brotherhood, Big Brotherhood, Symphony Orchestra 

Monday 13 March | Old Boys and Community Choir Concert | St Ignatius Church Toowong 

An invitation to parents, family members, friends, current and former staff, Old Boys to join this year’s Lauries Old Boys and Community Music Season for 2023. There will be an Old Boys Choir, Guitar Orchestra and String Ensemble. Rehearsals commenced last week at 6.00pm in the Chapel and will run for another five weeks concluding with the Old Boys and Community Music concert on March at St Ignatius Church Toowong. 

Strike up the Band!

MR ROSS CAPERN

Head of Instrumental Music

Any regular A-team or Rep players from 6a – 10a and 1stXV Rugby teams are invited to attend the C2K sessions. Further information regarding the sessions can be found HERE.

SESSION Dates and Times SUNDAYS: FEB 12 and 19, MAR 12 & 19 at BALLYMORE 8AM - 10.30AM

College enrolments for Year 7 in 2025 are now open! 

Click HERE to begin your enrolment process!

Please be aware that the College Annuals have arrived and will be distributed on Monday.

At the time of enrolment, parents/guardians are given the opportunity to elect not to have their child identified (photographed and/or named) in College related publications and on digital platforms. Should you wish for your child to not be identified for safety/privacy reasons, please email communications@slc.qld.edu.au. A member of College staff will be in contact with you to discuss further. 

Does your son love Theatre Sports? Drama games? Acting and public performance?

More importantly do you want your son to improve his presenting skills in all their classes? Expand their debating skills?

Would you like your son to learn how to breathe properly to reduce stress, anxiety and speak with confidence.

We also offer Trinity Guildhall and AMEB exam which improve ATAR scores, recognised practical exams that add to your university application?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, Speech and Drama is for your son! Contact the Music Department for enrolment information and forms – music@slc.qld.edu.au

Email lillianduggan@slc.qld.edu.au for more information.

Please see attached information from Yeronga AFL Club here.

Please find attached HERE an advertisement from our homestay provider AHN requesting Lauries families to consider becoming homestay families.  

Please see the below attachments from Souths Rugby Club!

Please see the below attachments from Sunnybank Rugby!

The Lauries Community Committee (LCC) have changed their first meeting date to Monday 20 February.

As you may be aware, the College will be proudly hosting the 2023 Confraternity Rugby League Carnival from Sunday 25 to Friday 30 June.

The Carnival presents a unique opportunity for the Lauries community to secure state-wide exposure for their businesses. We are excited to announce that Silver and Bronze Sponsorship Opportunities are still available.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact the College Director of Communication, Development and Events, Helen Turner on (07) 3010 1178 or development@slc.qld.edu.au. 

Further information regarding the carnival can be found HERE.