School of Leadership
News from the School of Leadership
Dear Parents and Carers,
After some very atypical events within our community over the last week, I thought it important, and timely, to take this opportunity to address a value that is non-negotiable in our school community: respect. Respect is not just a polite gesture; it is the foundation of a successful, healthy learning environment. Without it, we cannot build the kind of school where every student can thrive. In the School of Leadership at St Luke’s, we routinely speak to, and with, students about respect for themselves, each other and the environment. Unfortunately, there have been breaches of this expectation in recent times that need immediate attention.
Respect for YourselfThis means taking responsibility for your actions, holding yourself accountable, and showing up every day ready to give your best effort. Self-respect is reflected in the choices you make—how you conduct yourself in class, how you approach your studies, and how you manage your own well-being, how you wear your uniform, who you spend your time with. Students have the power to shape their future, and that starts with respecting themselves enough to make the right decisions.
Respect for Each OtherOur school community will only be as strong as the respect we show one another. Disrespect in any form—whether through bullying, name-calling, or exclusion—will not be tolerated. Every student here deserves to feel safe, known, seen and valued. We are all different, but that is what makes us stronger as a community. It is essential that we respect these differences, lift each other up, and treat our peers with the dignity they deserve.
Respect for the EnvironmentWe must not forget our shared responsibility to the environment—both our school grounds and the world beyond. Disrespecting our surroundings by littering, damaging property, or neglecting to care for communal spaces is unacceptable. We all benefit from a clean, well-kept environment, and it is everyone’s responsibility to contribute to that. Respecting the environment is about more than keeping our school clean; it is about developing habits that will protect our planet for future generations.
Respect is not optional. It is the bare minimum expectation we have of all our students. When you show respect for yourself, others, and the world around you, you are not only making our school a better place—you are setting yourself up for success in life.
Mrs Kate Kelly - Head of School, School of Leadership and Mrs Josephine Camilleri - Assistant Principal
Stage 3 Stories…
SOL Basketball Tournament
Mrs Camilleri has been hosting the SOL Basketball Tournament at lunch times. The competition takes a huge amount of organisation but gives students the opportunity to play in a friendly organised environment and even gives some older students the opportunity to referee games.
Felix from Year 5 had this to say: “The School of Leadership Basketball tournament has been really interesting because we have had some fun battles and great fun with our friends, scoring goals and helping each other as we make friends.”
Jacob added the following: “We have been meeting other people. Even when people are on other teams we treat it as a fun game. Our team is made up of all Acutis people but I really enjoy playing against other people. I never used to play basketball but now I’m really into it. Thank you Mrs Camilleri for hosting the comp. I never would have liked basketball this much if it wasn’t for you!”
Inkspiration Writers Group
In Week 7, our Inkspiration Writers Group hosted renowned children’s author Lisa Niccol, for a Creative Writing Workshop.
Lisa inspired our young writers explaining that a writer’s greatest tool is not his/her intelligence but rather his/her creativity. The creativity was certainly flowing from our Stage 3 students. Our budding authors crafted tales of a Sloth Hospital, where the doctors and nurses moved at a glacial pace, and regaled a tale of a Leopard with a taste for the finer things in life.
We are looking forward to reading the finished stories from our fabulous writers and will be sure to share them with you.
English
In Year 5 this term, we have been focusing on the genre of Fantasy. To begin this unit, students were introduced to the Fantasy genre through a virtual escape room where they moved through the world of “Mytharalis” by answering questions and solving riddles in order to continue onto the next challenge. Once they successfully completed the escape room, they were presented with the driving question for the unit; “How does the Fantasy Genre help us understand real-world issues?”
Part of learning about the Fantasy genre involves understanding the codes, conventions, themes and typical structure, known as "The Hero’s Journey." This narrative framework essentially describes a protagonist who leaves the ordinary world to embark on an adventure in a new world, where they face and overcome a crisis, and return transformed. To help students understand the structure, they participated in a simulation of the hero’s journey within our school.
This allowed students to experience the typical stages of the journey which they could reflect on as they developed their own world including a map and rules, characters, setting and plot for their own fantasy stories.
Sophie: This term I loved learning about Fantasy. Fantasy is a very interesting genre as there is so much magic. I love that we have been able to create our own world and story.
Ivanka: I enjoyed being able to write my own story and getting to make a new world. I also loved the entry event of the virtual escape room as we were able to use our prior knowledge to understand what our driving question was in a really fun way.
Choir
On Tuesday, September 10th, the choir performed at the inaugural St Luke’s Creative Arts Night. The students delivered two pieces: "Flower Canon" and "When I Grow Up" from Matilda the Musical. Both performances highlighted their impressive talent, particularly their ability to sing in two and three part harmony.
We were incredibly proud of their stage presence, especially as we navigated some technical issues. It was evident how much the students enjoyed expressing their love for music through their performance.
Looking ahead, the choir will lead the singing at the Year 12 Graduation liturgy on Wednesday, September 25th. More details will be provided soon. Please note, there will be no choir rehearsal on Thursday, September 26th, and rehearsals will resume on the first Thursday of Term 4. Thank you to all parents of the students in choir for your continued support and flexibility.
R3
Excursion to NSW State Library
On Thursday, students who were involved in the R3 program last term attended the NSW State Library to continue to develop their love for reading and celebrate the excellent growth they have achieved. Students were taken on a guided tour through the different exhibits at the library, and then had the opportunity to spend some time in the children’s library reading together.
After lunch in the Royal Botanic Gardens, students were taken to Kinokuniya Bookstore where they were able to choose a book to purchase and read to continue the love of reading they have developed over the last two terms!
A great day was had by all and we are so proud of the progress these students have made.
Fun with word clines!
In R3, students have been working hard to widen their vocabulary and reading preferences through engaging with the language in quality texts. Students have been focusing particularly on descriptive language and comparing synonyms, and how each word can convey different meanings within a text. Students worked together to develop synonyms for different words we came across in the texts we read, which they then arranged on a “word cline” or scale of language items that go from weak to strong. Students are then encouraged to utilise these words in their writing and discussions as we read and respond to different texts.
Students really enjoyed this activity and we have since continued to develop other word clines using colour swatches to show the increasing strength of each word.
Year 5 Malala - Celebration of Learning
Congratulations to Year 5 Malala who had their Celebration of Learning last Wednesday during which they shared their learning from Term 3. Students demonstrated excellent organisational skills in collaborating together to represent learning from all Key Learning Areas. Mrs Camilleri noted that the students in Malala are such a wonderful support to one another in class but also during other events such as lunch time soccer and basketball tournaments where they turn out in droves to support one another. Despite some initial nerves, students presented themselves beautifully in our Performance Hall, demonstrating excellent public speaking skills which kept the audience captivated.
It was wonderful to have so many family and friends to help celebrate their achievements. Special thanks to Miss Gatt and Miss McMillan for all their hard work in preparing the students for this celebration.
Mr Scott Carroll - Stage 3 Leader
From Year 7…
As we approach the final term of Year 7, it’s important to pause and reflect on how far we've come this year. To all our Year 7 students, remember that this is a time to continue being true to who you are. Your individuality is what makes you special, and your unique qualities are what shape our community.
Being a leader isn’t just about taking charge—it’s about standing up for what’s right, supporting your peers, and setting an example through kindness and respect. You've shown so much growth already, and this final term is your chance to keep building on that. Whether it's through your actions in the Leadership Challenge, your involvement in school activities, or simply how you treat others, you are all leaders in your own way.
Parents, we encourage you to continue supporting your children in this journey. Remind them to stay grounded in their values and to carry forward the lessons they’ve learned this year. The last term of Year 7 is a time for reflection, growth, and stepping confidently into the future. Let’s finish the year strong, true to ourselves, and ready to lead with purpose.
Miss Rowena Chand- Year 7 Wellbeing Coordinator
From Year 8…
Year 8 has shown tremendous growth and leadership throughout Term 3.
As we wrap up Term 3, I would like to commend our Year 8 students for their continued growth as inquiry learners, leaders, and supportive peers. Throughout the term, they have shown curiosity and initiative in their learning, while also stepping up as role models within the school community. Students have volunteered their time in a number of in school and extracurricular activities, and for this they should be celebrated.
Their willingness to care for and support one another is a testament to the strong bonds they have formed. As we head into the final term of Year 8, I encourage them to maintain this positive momentum, embracing new challenges with the same enthusiasm and compassion they’ve demonstrated so far, as they continue to face new challenges on their journey to the SOE. I wish all of our Year 8 students and families a wonderful Term 3 holiday break, and look forward to an even better Term 4.
Mr Zaccaria - Year 8 Wellbeing Coordinator
Technologies
Year 8 Technologies
In this unit, students are challenged to design their own creative solution for a simple clock. They are encouraged to utilise a range of skills they have developed over the last two years of Technologies, and to utilise the available machines, materials and tools that they have access to. Year 8 students have exceeded our expectations and have created some fantastic and unique clock designs. Here are a few samples of their work.
English
Music
Students in Year 7 and 8 are currently exploring the art of creating captivating percussion beats in their music classes. As part of this learning journey, they will have the exciting opportunity to participate in an African drumming workshop next term. This hands-on experience will allow students to deepen their understanding of rhythm and develop their skills in creating dynamic percussion patterns, building on what they have learned in class. We look forward to seeing the students engage with this vibrant and enriching musical tradition!
7 Life Design
Students have spent time this term learning about ‘Motivation’ by identifying and exploring a range of 5 core values. They made connections between their past, present and future; creating an event timeline which reflects on how past life events have helped shape their values, and the way in which these can drive their future goals and aspirations. Year 7 then defined positive habits that will support them to achieve their personal goals, and made a commitment pledge. They are demonstrating their understanding creatively, presenting their own unique Motivation Map.
8 Life Design
Term 3 has seen students leading themselves and others with an initiative to improve the St Luke’s Community. In preparation for their Final Pitches, groups practised in front of peers, received feedback in the form of 2 Stars & 2 Wishes, then implemented that feedback to improve their 3 minute Pitch. Groups have also developed a cover letter, written proposal and slides to go with their pitches.
Some of the best Leadership Initiatives & Pitches will be presented to College leaders in week 10 with the intention that some of these initiatives are activated!
Maths
As part of Literacy and Numeracy week, SOL students had the opportunity to participate in the St Luke’s Rubik's Cube Competition.
Our overall competition winner with the fastest average time of an amazing 28 seconds was Parv Shah from Year 8.
There were some amazing cubers out there and the average times for our top competitors for stage 3 and 4 are as follows:
Stage 4:
First place: Parv Shah (Year 8) at 28 seconds
Runner up: Taylor Noche (Year 8) at 43 seconds
Stage 3
First place: Megan Meneses (Year 5) at 49 seconds
Runner up: Cyan Santos (Year 6) at 55 seconds.
Congratulations to all our competitors!
HSIE
On Tuesday 19th September Year 8 students attended the Medieval Incursion. This incursion supported the in class work that students are doing this semester looking at Medieval Europe, the Black Death and Medieval Japan. Students were able to see History come off the page and understand the mentality of the people of the time. See below our students enjoying looking at the artefacts.
SOL Reminders
Years 7-12 Study Centre - Tuesdays @ 2.45pm - 3.45pm in the Brain Fuel Cafe
Buzzing Breakfast Club - Thursdays @ 8am in the Brain Fuel Cafe
