From Mr Coppin

Social Media and the Disappearing Hours 

“Life is short enough without letting it slip by unnoticed.”

A parent recently shared with me an fascinating article entitled Social Media Shortens Your Life. Here’s How to Get Time Back by Gurwinder Bhogal.

The piece explores a phenomenon most of us have experienced: you open an app to quickly check notifications, and suddenly 30 minutes have passed without you realising. Psychologists call this the “30-minute ick factor.” The article explains that social media platforms are intentionally designed—much like casinos—to keep us in a state of autopilot, impairing both our awareness of the present and our ability to remember the past. This means time feels shorter while you are online, and equally short in retrospect.

The author draws parallels between social media feeds and casino floor layouts. Casinos use meandering pathways, no right-angle turns, and constant sensory distractions to prevent players from making deliberate choices about leaving. Similarly, infinite scroll, autoplay, and a flood of unrelated content keep users drifting from post to post. Human beings track time through stories—experiences that have a beginning, middle, and end. Social media, with its disjointed stream of unrelated posts, robs us of that narrative structure, leaving little that is memorable.

Beyond lost hours, there are other consequences. Frequent interruptions from notifications split our attention between the online and real worlds, causing stress and diminishing focus. Sleep disruption, poorer mental health, and even signs of faster biological ageing have been linked to excessive screen time. The effect is cumulative: as we spend more time in the “maze” of digital content, we also train ourselves to scroll through real life more shallowly, missing the depth and meaning of our days.

The article offers practical ways to reclaim time and attention: introduce deliberate “right-angle turns” in your day that break the autopilot cycle, seek out new and memorable experiences, prioritise activities with a clear narrative (like reading or shared adventures), and practise mindfulness by using your phone with a clear purpose. 

So, How Do We Reclaim Time?

1. Quit or reduce use — even short breaks improve perceived time and mental health.
2. Seek right-angle turns — break autopilot with sharp changes in activity or environment.
3. Prioritize narratives — choose activities that create coherent, memorable stories (reading, adventures, deep conversations).
4. Embrace novelty — new experiences stick in memory and slow subjective time (the “oddball effect”).
5. Practice mindfulness — intentionally engage with the present, reducing habitual phone checks.
6. Keep memento mori reminders — reflect on mortality to heighten appreciation for each moment.

Ultimately, the message is simple but powerful: life is short enough without letting it slip by unnoticed. The more we fill our days with intentional, story-rich moments, the longer and richer our lives will feel.

Junior School Semester 2 Parent Teacher Zoom Interviews - Monday 15 - Thursday 18 September 2025

Parent-Teacher interviews with Class and Specialist teachers will be held during Week 9 of Term 3 (Monday 15 September - Thursday 18 September). Specialist teachers available for interviews are:

Year 2- Art, PE, Science 

Year 3- Drama, Music, Science

Year 4- Drama, PE, Science

Year 5- Art, French, Mandarin, Music

Year 6- Art, French, Music, PE

Interview times with your daughter’s teachers will be offered both before and after school hours. We will continue to utilise Zoom for our interviews as feedback indicates this works best for our busy parents and carers. The booking portal will be open from 4pm on Thursday 21 August and will close at 4pm on Thursday 4 September. 

The link will be published in next week’s newsletter.

2025 Term 4 Years 4 - 6 Sports Choice

You can find the letter containing all the 2025 Term 4 Years 4-6 Sports information here. 

Please read the document carefully as it contains the options for Term 4, the directions for trials and training, and the link to the Google registration form to be completed at the bottom of the letter. Please complete it by no later than 4pm Tuesday 26 August

The options for Term 4 2025 are:

• IPSHA Tennis Competition
• IPSHA Basketball Competition 
• Learn to Sail
• Year 6 Touch Football (Monday at Rowland Park, Daceyville)
• Year 5 Touch Football (Tuesday at Heffron Park, Maroubra)

Junior School House Netball and Touch

We will be holding the Junior School House Netball and Touch matches at lunch time on the oval in week 4. The two houses with the highest point score in each sport will progress to the final, which will be held on Friday 12 September, Junior School Open Day. Teams are made up of Year 6 students who play Touch or Netball for Kambala first.  If required, Year 5 students who play netball/touch for Kambala, will be used until the teams are full. 

All girls are asked to bring their sports uniform and runners/touch shoes along on the days they are playing matches. Please come up to the oval at the start of lunch each day.

The dates of the matches are:

Tuesday 12 August - Netball

Wednesday 13 August - Touch

Thursday 14 August - Touch

Friday 19 August - Netball (back up day)

Wednesday 21/22 August - Touch (back up day)

The teams for both House Netball and House Touch can be found here 

Winter Reminder

As we move through the winter months, we tend to see an increase in illnesses such as Influenza and RSV. To help protect the health of our students and staff, we kindly ask that children only attend school if they are well. If your child is experiencing symptoms such as fever, coughing, sore throat, or general unwellness, please keep them at home until they have fully recovered. Your support helps us maintain a healthy and safe learning environment for everyone.

St Peter's Anglican Church, Watsons Bay - New Service