Wellbeing

House Spirit Champions of 2025

🏆 House Spirit Champions 2025 – Congratulations Einstein House!

After a year filled with enthusiasm, teamwork, and healthy competition across a variety of activities — including House Spirit challenges, sporting events, art competitions, and more — we are thrilled to announce that Einstein House has been crowned our 2025 House Spirit Champions!

Congratulations to all members of Einstein House for your incredible energy, participation, and commitment throughout the year. Your teamwork and school pride have truly shone through in every event.

Well done, Einstein! 💛✨

🎓 Farewell and Congratulations to Our Outgoing School Leadership Team

We extend our warmest congratulations and heartfelt thanks to our outgoing School Leadership Team for their outstanding service to the College over the past year. Their energy, creativity, and dedication have made a lasting impact on our school community.

This remarkable group of leaders introduced several new and exciting initiatives that strengthened our sense of belonging and school spirit. They launched the House Spirit Points system, coordinated a range of innovative House events, and proudly became the first student team to lead our College Athletics Carnival. Each achievement reflected their commitment to creating a vibrant, inclusive, and connected school culture.

Beyond their many initiatives, our leaders consistently demonstrated teamwork, initiative, and pride in representing the College. They inspired their peers to participate, collaborate, and celebrate what makes our community special.

On behalf of the entire College community, we sincerely thank them for their contribution, leadership, and example. Their legacy will continue to inspire future student leaders for years to come.

With an outgoing student leadership team comes a new team and we warmly welcome our new leadership team.

We are excited with what these new leaders will bring to the College. These new leaders will be formally inducted into the student leadership during the St Luke’s feast day mass on the 21st November. Invitations will be sent to their families over the next couple of weeks.

RE: Supporting Conversations About Digital Wellbeing with Your Child

Over the past few weeks, our Year 7 and 8 students have participated in sessions designed to help them understand the issues and harmful habits associated with accessing age-inappropriate online content, including pornography. As you may know, this topic is part of our broader focus on fostering healthy digital habits and well-informed decision-making.

While our sessions have aimed to address many of the students' questions thoughtfully and age-appropriately, it's equally important that these conversations continue at home. We recognise that discussing such topics can feel challenging, so to support you, we recommend an article titled "It’s Awkward, and It’s OK: You CAN Talk to Your Kids About Pornography". This resource provides useful tips on starting these conversations and guides you on what to say to reinforce positive digital wellbeing. The resource can be accessed here.

You can also access an abundance of related resources at our School TV website: https://stlukesmarsdenpark.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/pornography

If you have any questions or would like additional support, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at cbettiol2@parra.catholic.edu.au.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support in this important area.

Warm regards,

Mrs Kate Kelly Mrs Josephine Camilleri Mr Chris Bettiol

Head of School - SOL Assistant Principal - SOL Leader of WGD

Cyber safety and digital wellbeing for primary schools

Stage 3 Students Explore the Online World Through Cyber Safety Incursion

Our Stage 3 students recently took part in an exciting and educational Cyber Safety Incursion as part of our school’s ongoing digital wellbeing Scope and Sequence program.

Each term, students engage in a brand-new learning experience that explores a key topic related to cyber safety and digital citizenship. This incursion is carefully designed to be developmentally appropriate, current, relatable, and aligned with the curriculum, ensuring that students gain the knowledge and skills they need to navigate the online world safely and responsibly.

The program allowing students to build on their understanding through a variety of engaging formats — including animations, interactive storytelling, and augmented reality. These immersive elements help bring to life the adventures of young online explorers as they encounter challenges and make important decisions in the digital space.

The experience was both educational and inspiring, encouraging students to think critically about their digital footprint and how their choices online can impact themselves and others.

Stage 1 Students Begin Their Online Adventures with Ollie and Ruby

Our Year 1 and 2 students recently joined Ollie and Ruby on their exciting online adventures during this term’s Cyber Safety Incursion. While Ollie and Ruby love their screen time, they quickly discover that there’s a lot to learn about staying safe online — just like our Stage 1 students!

The incursion focused on helping students explore what the internet is, how listening to their body can help them recognise early warning signs when something doesn’t feel right online, and how trusted adults can support them in making safe choices.

Using engaging animations and storytelling, the session brought to life real-world online scenarios that encouraged students to think critically about their own screen use and the importance of speaking up when they feel unsure or uncomfortable.

This interactive experience not only taught essential digital safety skills but also empowered our youngest learners to become confident, kind, and responsible members of the online world.

Peer Companions Lead the Way in Exploring Leadership

Our Year 8 Peer Companion Leaders recently guided our Year 5 students through a powerful and engaging session focused on understanding leadership qualities and identifying personal strengths.

The session encouraged students to reflect on what it truly means to be a leader — highlighting that leadership isn’t about having a badge or a title, but about influence, responsibility, and kindness. Through interactive discussions and activities, students explored the idea that everyone has the capacity to lead by setting a positive example and supporting others.

Year 8 leaders modelled teamwork, communication, and empathy as they facilitated group tasks designed to help younger students recognise their own strengths and how they can contribute to their classroom and house communities. The atmosphere was filled with encouragement and collaboration as Year 5 students shared what qualities they admire in leaders and how they can demonstrate those traits in their daily lives.

This experience not only built confidence in our younger students but also helped our Peer Companions further develop their own leadership and mentoring skills. It was a wonderful example of students leading students — promoting a culture of respect, growth, and belonging across our school community.

Youth Ambassador Program

Applications for the 2026 Youth Ambassador are now open and will close Wednesday 18 February 2026.

We are looking for young people aged between 15 and 18 to represent the City in 2026. If successful, you will serve as Ambassadors for a period of 12 months representing the city at Citizenship Ceremonies and Civic Receptions, as well as representing the Youth as part of the Sister Cities and Youth Advisory Committees.

So, if you are a young person who enjoys public speaking, meeting new people, helping your community and would like to represent the youth of Blacktown City then this is the program for you!

The program is a fun way to learn new skills and gain invaluable experience outside the schooling environment.

After all applications have been reviewed, applicants will be notified if they were successful in making it to the next round, which is the interview selection process.

After the interviews approx. 6-8 students will be selected to present a speech on a given topic at a formal dinner with Councillors and other guests.

You can apply via the following link: https://www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au/Community/Our-people/Children-and-young-people/Youth-Ambassador-Program

SPECIAL REPORT: Parenting Styles

There's no such thing as perfect parenting. But by understanding different parenting styles, we can better support our children in healthier and more effective ways.

Most of us parent as a blend of our own upbringing, lived experiences and external influences such as books, podcasts or parenting websites. And while parenting is always a challenge, it can become even more complex through divorce, separation, blended families, trauma or bereavement. Not to mention life's many other hurdles.

The concept of "parenting styles" was first introduced in the 1960s by Diana Baumrind, a clinical and developmental psychologist. She identified four main categories of parenting. Each style shapes a child's development in different ways and comes with both strengths and challenges.

Although well-intentioned, each parenting approach can have drawbacks in a child's development. Every child is unique, and their needs change as they grow. An authoritative style may suit younger children, but teenagers often require a greater balance of guidance and independence. The goal is to create a secure environment where children feel respected, heard, and supported.

By learning more about the different styles and how they influence children, you can make informed choices about the approach that best suits your family. And remember, styles are not fixed. They can evolve over time as your child grows and their needs change.

We invite you to watch this Special Report and complete the quiz to discover your own parenting style. You might also like to compare your results with your partner's and reflect together on the different approaches you each bring to parenting.

Here is the link to your Special Report https://stlukesmarsdenpark.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-parenting-styles

🌟 Year 4 Leadership Opportunities

This year, with the continued growth of our College community, we introduced an exciting change to our student leadership structure. For the first time, students in Year 4 and Year 8 have been invited to become part of our Student Representative Council (SRC) and take on portfolio leadership positions.

These leadership portfolios include:Creative Arts and Cultural, Wellbeing, Sports and Physical Activity, Mission and Faith Development, and Stewardship and Connectivity and Inclusion.

Each portfolio provides students with the opportunity to contribute their unique strengths, ideas, and passions to enhance the life of our College.

This week, our Year 4 students participated in a persuasive writing task, where they were challenged to convince their audience why they should be selected as a Portfolio Leader. The activity not only supported the development of strong literacy skills but also encouraged students to reflect on their personal qualities, leadership potential, and desire to make a positive difference in our school community.

We look forward to seeing our emerging Year 4 leaders continue to grow in confidence, responsibility, and service as they begin their leadership journey.

Navigating the social media changes

From 10 December 2025, certain social media platforms won’t be allowed to let Australian children under 16 create or keep an account, giving them more time to develop important skills and maturity.

Quick facts about the age restrictions, and how they may impact schools:

The age restrictions are likely to apply to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube as well as other platforms. See the latest list.
Under-16s will still be able to see publicly available social media content that doesn’t require logging into an account.
Schools may need to explore alternative methods for communicating with parents and students.
There are exclusions for a number of platforms, including educational tools such as learning management systems. For example, Google Classroom and YouTube Kids will not be age restricted, and You Tube videos that can be seen without logging in can still be shared by teachers.
For further guidance, including whether educators will be able to use their own accounts to share age-appropriate education materials, please refer to school or sector policies and procedures.

Today, eSafety launched new pages on the social media age restrictions hub, designed to support parents and carers, educators and young people, as we prepare for the restrictions to come into effect.

The eSafety hub is your go-to resource for preparing your school community, from understanding how the age restrictions affect schools to accessing tools that help you communicate these changes to students and parents,

Answers to frequently asked questions

eSafety consulted widely with educators, parents and carers and young people, and has developed up-to-date guidance, advice, and answers to frequently asked questions, including:

How will the age restrictions impact schools that use social media
How should schools respond if a student under 16 is found to have access to an age-restricted account?
What if something goes wrong while an under-16 is on an age-restricted platform?

Find answers to these questions and more, at the hub.