School of Leadership

A Note from the School of Leadership Head of School

On my first day of school, according to my mother, I came home and announced that my kindergarten teacher was the most beautiful woman in the world. My Kindergarten teacher had managed to loom so large in my world after such a short day! I guess I know that story because it had a real impact on my Mum, seeing another adult enter my world and take a place that she previously held herself.

Where we sit in the School of Leadership, our children are going through changes that they can't begin to put words around. It is a period of massive growth, happening in front of everyone, in a social context, and that's really hard! Whatever our own experience of adolescence was, our kids also have the ubiquitous presence of the internet to contend with. Comparison no longer finishes when they leave school.

At the same time, something necessary is happening. Our children are beginning the work of defining themselves as distinct from us. Who are my people? What do I believe? What do I care about? Other voices inevitably become louder and new people and influences enter their orbit. For our children this expanding world can be exciting and confusing. For parents, it can sting.

Perhaps that is one of the strange contradictions of parenting. From the moment our children are born, much of our work is directed towards making ourselves less necessary. Our role doesn't disappear, but it does change. We are trying to remain a secure part of their world while they construct more of it themselves. Independence is not the absence of parents. It is a gradual change in the way we are needed.

I remember the first time my son came home from work and shared some advice he had been given by a colleague. I realised it was somewhat fatherly advice. It stopped me in my tracks as I noted that I was no longer the chief of his village. With a little distance, though, there is something reassuring about knowing our children will encounter good people beyond us who will care about them, challenge them and occasionally tell them exactly the thing we have been saying for years.

Perhaps our task is not to remain the most important voice in every conversation, but to help our children develop the judgement to recognise which voices are worth listening to.

As parents, we might ask ourselves: Where could I give my child a little more agency? Where do they still need me to hold a boundary? When they see something differently from me, can I remain curious enough to understand the person they are becoming?

Mr Scott Carroll - Head of School, School of Leadership

A Note from The SOL Assistant Principal

Book Week

On Wednesday the 26th of August we celebrated our K-6 Book Week Parade. It was very exciting to see our students and staff dressed up as all sorts of characters, from Witches and Spidermen, Michael Jackson and the many Wally’s; it was such a special day to celebrate reading and storytelling. Thank you to all parents and family who came to support the Parade and for purchasing books from the Book Fair.

We had much excitement about Blind Date with a Book which happened in the Hub! The students in years 5-12 enthusiastically unwrapped their books based on the plot teasers on the tags. Many students entered the colouring competition and the Where’s Wongy Competition. The results will be announced shortly.

We were very lucky to have several visitors during Book Week, including:

We also had a number of students in Years 5 to 10 participate in Write a Book in a Day, which saw them work in teams of ten to create and write a picture book for sick children, which will then be donated to Children’s Hospitals. A worthwhile cause indeed.

Thank you to the entire St Luke’s community for supporting Book Week 2026.

Navigating Friendship Issues

Friendships are an incredibly important part of the early teen years. They can bring a strong sense of belonging and connection, but they can also be a source of worry, disappointment, and sometimes even conflict. Changing friendship groups, misunderstandings, feeling left out, and disagreements are all normal parts of socialising that young people need to learn to navigate.

As parents and educators, our instinct can be to step in and solve the problem. However, wherever it is safe and appropriate, friendship challenges provide young people with valuable opportunities to develop resilience, empathy, communication, and conflict-resolution skills. One of the most useful questions we can ask our young people is not simply, “What happened?” but “What do you think you could do next?”

Should your child be experiencing challenging social situations, please reach out to their classroom teacher (Years 5 - 6) or their Wellbeing Coordinator (Years 7 - 8). We are here to help. Sometimes that help can just be listening and having your child know their struggle.

Keeping Our School Safe: A Reminder About Weapons and Prohibited Items

The safety of every student and staff member is our highest priority. We would like to remind families that students must not bring weapons, or items that could reasonably be considered or used as weapons, onto College grounds.

Importantly, this expectation applies even when a student intends to use the item for a legitimate learning activity or practical subject. Students should never bring items such as knives, blades or other potentially dangerous implements to school because they believe they will need them for a project.

If specialised equipment is required for learning, teachers will ensure this resource is available at school.

We ask parents and carers to reinforce the following with their children:

Do not bring knives, blades, weapons or potentially dangerous items to school.
A legitimate reason, such as intending to use an item to make or complete something in class, does not make it appropriate to bring it onto College grounds.
If unsure whether an item is permitted, ask the teacher before bringing it to school.

A student may have completely innocent intentions; however, once a potentially dangerous item is brought into a school environment, it creates an unnecessary safety risk and must be treated seriously. CSPD’s Policy on Weapons Procedures can be found here for your reference. Thank you for working with us.

Social Media and Our Under-16s

Social media continues to play a significant role in the lives and relationships of young people. As parents and educators, we also see the challenges it can create, such as friendship conflict that continues well beyond the school day, group chats, exclusion, inappropriate content and the pressure to always be connected.

Since 10 December 2025, Australia’s social media age restrictions have required age-restricted platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from creating or keeping accounts. These currently include platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, X and Twitch, among others.

Importantly, the responsibility for complying with the legislation sits with the social media platforms, rather than with children or their parents. There are no penalties for young people or families if an under-16 accesses an age-restricted platform.

For our families, however, the changes provide a valuable opportunity to have conversations about healthy online habits, digital responsibility and what meaningful connection looks like away from social media.

We encourage parents and carers to:

talk openly with children about the social media age restrictions and why they have been introduced;
resist helping children circumvent age restrictions or create accounts using inaccurate ages;
continue monitoring the online spaces their children use, including messaging and gaming platforms that may not be covered by the restrictions;
encourage face-to-face friendships, sport, hobbies and activities that provide connection away from a screen; and
remind children that anything upsetting, threatening or inappropriate that occurs online should be shared with a trusted adult.

Our Uniform, Our Community: Behaviour Beyond the School Gates

Wearing the St Luke’s uniform is about more than what students wear during the school day. It identifies our young people as members of our College community and carries with it an expectation that they continue to demonstrate respect, responsibility and consideration for others when they leave the College grounds.

We ask families to remind students that our expectations regarding appropriate behaviour do not necessarily end at the school gate. This is particularly important when students are travelling to and from school, wearing College uniform, gathering in public places (such as Elara shops or the park) or interacting with members of the community while clearly identifiable as St Luke’s students.

This includes expectations that students:

speak and behave respectfully towards members of the public;
behave appropriately on buses, trains and other forms of public transport;
respect local businesses, community spaces and the property of others;
avoid intimidating, aggressive, unsafe or antisocial behaviour; and
remember that their actions can reflect not only on themselves, but also on their peers and the wider College community.

From time to time, members of the public contact schools regarding the behaviour of students they have observed in uniform. Where offsite behaviour has a clear connection to the College, serious incidents may be followed up by the College and addressed with the students and families involved, and consequences applied.

Mrs Josephine Camilleri - Assistant Principal, School of Leadership

Stage 3 Stories…

Growing, leading and learning in Stage 3

It is hard to believe that we are already more than halfway through the term! With just over a term to go until our Year 6 students take their next big step into Year 7 and our Year 5 students step into their important role as the Year 6 students and role models within our K-6 space, this is such a valuable time for our Stage 3 students to reflect on how they are growing as learners, friends and young people.

There has been so much happening across Stage 3! We have enjoyed our wonderful Book Week guest speakers and learned about “getting the monkeys off our backs” and being upstanders during Bullying No Way Week. We have also been incredibly proud of our Year 6 students Sienna Lamb and Chaze Monzon who represented St Luke's at the VOY Cluster Final at St John XXIII Catholic College. Both students represented our school beautifully and should be incredibly proud of the courage and preparation they demonstrated. I know you will join me in congratulating these students for their efforts. A very special congratulations to Sienna, who was announced as the winner of the Cluster Final! Sienna will now progress to the Western Division Semi-Final on Tuesday 15 September, where she will compete against students from across the Western Division who have also won their respective cluster finals. What an incredible achievement!

As we enter this next part of the year, we are also encouraging our students to think about the kind of young people and leaders they want to be. This means continuing to develop independence, being ready to learn, listening to and following instructions, communicating respectfully and taking responsibility for our choices. Like all aspects of growing up, these are skills that develop through practice, reflection and the support of the adults around them. Being prepared for learning is an important part of growing independence. We encourage families to take a moment to check that students have the equipment they need each day. Students should have:

Blue, black and red pens
Lead pencil for Mathematics
Coloured pencils
Sharpener
Clear/transparent ruler
Scissors
Glue stick
Whiteboard marker
Highlighters
Post-it notes
Inexpensive, lightweight headphones that can be stored easily in their pencil case or tub
Fully charged, working device for use

Please ensure all stationery items are clearly labelled with your child's name. As items are used or misplaced throughout the remainder of the year, we ask that they are replaced so that students can continue to arrive each day feeling prepared and ready to learn.

As always, we value your partnership. When home and school work together, we can provide our young people with the consistent support and encouragement they need to grow. Thank you for continuing to work alongside us as we help our Stage 3 students continue to be the kind, capable, resilient and responsible young people we know they are. Well done, Stage 3! There is still so much to look forward to!

Stage 3 Instructional Leader

Mrs Lauren O’Halloran - Stage 3 Instructional Leader

You’re invited - Freeman Celebration of Learning

Please join us on Wednesday 16th September for Freeman’s Celebration of Learning in the Marketplace. We ask that parents please arrive and sign in at the front office. Please wait in the foyer to be directed by some of our wonderful students for a prompt start! We look forward to seeing you there.

Book Week Author Visit- Mark Greenwood

This week, in honour of Book Week 2026, St Luke’s had the pleasure of welcoming acclaimed author Mark Greenwood! We were on the edge of our seats as he shared how he weaves history with fiction to create his fantastic novels. It was fascinating to see how it transformed his passions and quirky hobbies into published books, leaving behind a valuable lesson – the more you read, the more ideas you’ll have to write about.

A standout of the visit was hearing about The Diamond of Death, the gripping true story of the rarest blue diamond in the world, which vanished from India and passed through the hands of monarchs, leaving a trail of death and despair in its wake. The cursed diamond even made its way to St Luke’s! Though we students didn’t dare to touch it! We also learned the tragic story of Australia’s most beloved horse, Phar Lap, a true hero whose mysterious death was brought to life in Mark’s book The Wonder Horse.

Thank you, Mark Greenwood, for such an inspiring visit! We can't wait to keep celebrating all the quirky, curious and captivating stories written by amazing authors like you this Book Week! We have lots of students who are keen to read some of Mark’s fabulous stories. If you would like to purchase a copy of one of his books, please find the information below.

Stage 4 Stories…

Focus on Year 7 and 8

Dear Year 7 and 8 families,

It has been another busy and rewarding few weeks for our Year 7 and 8 students. As we reach mid way of Term 3, it is wonderful to see our students continuing to grow in confidence, independence and maturity as they navigate the middle of the school year.

Celebrating Our Year 7 and 8 Students

This term, our focus continues to be on supporting students to work hard and be kind. We encourage our students to take responsibility for their learning, make positive choices and contribute to our school community. It has been fantastic to see many students demonstrating our Year 7 expectations through:

Quiet Leadership – making positive choices and setting a strong example for others.
Teamwork – working cooperatively and supporting their peers.
Manners – showing respect and kindness to staff and students.
Working Hard in Class – being prepared, focused and committed to their learning.

Learning and Organisation

As we move through Term 3, we encourage all students to maintain strong organisational habits. Year 7 and 8 students should be regularly checking Compass for upcoming assessment tasks, homework and important notices. Students are encouraged to:

Bring the correct equipment to every lesson.
Keep track of assessment due dates.
Complete homework and classwork to the best of their ability.
Ask teachers for help when they are unsure.
Use their diary/planner and Compass to stay organised.
Develop routines that will support their learning throughout high school.

These habits are particularly important as students continue to develop greater independence.

Wellbeing and Friendships

Friendships remain an important part of the Year 7 experience. Friendships can change at any time, but at this stage of the first year of high school, students may experience changes in friendship groups, disagreements or challenges navigating social situations. We encourage students to speak up early when something is worrying them rather than allowing concerns to build. Parents and carers can also support their child by regularly checking in with them about:

How they are feeling at school.
Who they are spending time with.
Whether they feel included and supported.
Any friendship concerns they may be experiencing.
Whether there is anything they would like help with.

Our priority is ensuring that every student feels safe, connected and supported at school.

Digital Citizenship

As our students become increasingly independent online, it is important that families continue to have regular conversations about responsible technology use, social media and online safety.

The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 introduced a minimum age of 16 for accounts on social media platforms covered by the legislation. Under the legislation, platforms are responsible for taking reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 from having accounts.

We encourage families to talk with students about the importance of making safe and respectful choices online. Please remind your child to:

Think before posting, commenting or sharing.
Respect other people's privacy and never share photos or videos of others without their permission.
Avoid participating in online conversations that are unkind, harmful or inappropriate.
Report inappropriate or concerning content rather than engaging with it.
Speak with a parent, carer or trusted adult if something online makes them feel uncomfortable, worried or unsafe.
Remember that what is shared online can be difficult to remove and may have lasting consequences.

These conversations are an important part of helping our young people develop into respectful, responsible and safe digital citizens. We encourage parents and carers to regularly check in with their children about their online experiences and to familiarise themselves with the current social media age requirements.

Looking Ahead

We have a number of exciting learning and wellbeing opportunities coming up throughout the remainder of the term. We encourage students to make the most of these experiences and continue to engage positively with school life.

As always, thank you to our Stage 4 parents and carers for your ongoing support. The partnership between home and school is incredibly important in helping our students thrive.

Mrs Ashley Pepper and Ms Grace Villarosa

Year 7 and 8 Wellbeing Coordinators