School of Leadership

News from the School of Leadership   

2023… A year in review

The 2023 school year was certainly an eventful one. In fact, it’s hard to believe that so much actually fit into just under 40 weeks of learning!

The year began with a flourish as our newest cohorts of Years 5 and 7 students officially commenced their journey in the School of Leadership. The Summer sports season for Years 7 and 8 kicked off not long afterwards, before all year levels enjoyed their own unique experiences and greatly benefitted from the opportunities provided to interact with their peers, form new friendships and further develop important life skills. 

A multitude of excursions and incursions were littered throughout the year for students to benefit from and further develop their own knowledge and understanding of key concepts taught in class. Our Year Stage 3 students visited Canberra and the Elara Hub, engaged in Italian language immersion and specialist Science lessons in the brand new Science labs. Year 5 thrived throughout the year long Peer Companions program with Year 8, whilst Year 7 enjoyed an intensive swimming program, visit to the wetlands and the Sydney Zoo. Year 7 also experienced their first Leadership Day at the College, and Year 8 flourished during their milestone presentations and participated in a medieval history incursion. There were several STEM opportunities for students across Years 5-10 and the much-loved Write a Book in a Day experience for our creative writers. 

The School of Leadership is nothing if not a student-centred environment and all parents/carers were given various opportunities to experience this first hand throughout the year. Whether it was through different Discovery Evenings, information sessions, student-led conferences, Parent Learning Walks, phone calls, or emails, it is hoped that all parents/carers felt a strong sense of connection to their child’s educational journey in the School of Leadership. 

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Developing ongoing community partnerships was a focal point in 2023 and it was immensely gratifying to be able to provide our students with several opportunities to collaborate with industry experts through the Become Me program and Life Design. Students were able to represent the College in public speaking and debating, faith and formation experiences, eSports competitions, representative sports and as School of Leadership ambassadors for tours for visitors to the College. We made meaningful connections with universities and continued our engagement for student coaching with MyDesign.

While I could continue to make mention of many other highlights that the School of Leadership students also experienced throughout the year, ultimately, the students and their teachers worked tirelessly in 2023, often going above and beyond expectations and it is certainly a great privilege to be a small part of such a talented and dedicated community in the School of Leadership at St Luke’s Catholic College. 

As we approach this very special time of the year and prepare for a well deserved break, I extend my warmest thanks and gratitude to the dedicated and skilled teachers of Years 5 -8, my Assistant Principal, Josephine Camilleri, our students and lastly, our parent community who trust in us to contribute to the lives of your most prized elements- your children. 

Wishing you all a happy and holy Christmas full of blessings and hope for a wonderful 2024. 

Here’s to 2024!

As the School of Leadership continues to thrive at capacity, we are poised and ready to meet our strategic goals:

• Every student is known, seen and valued
   
• Every student will be helped to achieve his own academic potential

• Every student will have multiple and varied opportunities to lead themselves and others

In 2024, the School of Leadership will welcome approximately 640 students across Years 5-8. Across these two stages of schooling (Stages 3 and 4), students have unique needs. Students at this age are generally more worried about their peers’ perception of them and develop a strong yearning to ‘fit in. ’Moreover, with the natural course of puberty, middle school students can be self-conscious about their changing appearance, crave increased independence but have not yet fully developed their executive functioning (impulse control, academic planning to name two).

Features of the the School of Leadership:

• Bespoke transition programs upon entry to Year 5 - Step Up into Leadership, and Year 7 - Connect 7 which supports students as they adjust and engage in all aspects of College life.

• Bespoke wellbeing and connection programs across all four years including Kindy Buddies, Peer Companions, Yr 7 girls’ Shine program, Yr 8 boys’ Excel program, Growing Great Men, School of Leadership Ambassador program

• Technology-rich classrooms with skilled and committed staff delivering inspiring, challenging and accessible learning for curious and creative contributors for a changing world
   
• Dedicated Makerspace/STEM room for students in Years 5 and 6 to undertake the practical aspects of the Stage 3 Science and Technology course
   
• A professional team dedicated to the tracking of all students’ academic and wellbeing progress with the provision for intervention and extension support where needs are identified
   
• Intervention literacy and numeracy programs for students who are identified as needing more support

• Italian immersion lessons in Year 5

• The Become Me program in Year 6

• Life Design across Years 7 and 8
   
• Touring and Camping Experiences in each stage

Year 6 - Tour of Canberra (2025) 

Year 8 - Great Aussie Bush Camp (2024)

• We will also continue to seek multiple occasions to come together as a K-12 faith and learning community.  

I take this opportunity to introduce the 2024 School of Leadership Leadership Tea

Reminder - 

Half Day Fridays will not be continued in Years 5 and 6 in 2024. All School of Leadership students will attend for the full week. 

Year 5 Step Up Into Leadership

2024 will see the commencement of the Step Up into Leadership program which is designed to ensure a seamless transition from the School of Foundations to Year 5. This will culminate in a parent/carer Discovery evening on Wednesday February 28, 2024. 

Year 7 Welcome Week and Leadership Day    

The Year 7 parent/carer Discovery will be held on Wednesday, February 21, 2024. This will provide an opportunity for parents and carers new to College or Secondary schooling to meet your child’s teachers and see their learning spaces. 

Save the Date!

Mrs Kate Kelly - Head of School, School of Leadership

A Note from The SOL Assistant Principal 

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the parent and student community of St.Luke’s for a wonderful 2023, in particular, the members of the School of Leadership. 2023 has seen the introduction of a number of wellbeing initiatives and programs to support our students and enable them to grow as learners, as individuals and as leaders in our educational community. I have really enjoyed developing and co-leading many of these with our Head of School, Kate Kelly. Our students are always at the core of what we do daily. We have worked really hard to capture our students and their achievements, to provide countless opportunities for them to shine whether that be in their classrooms academically, socially by leading themselves and others, on the sporting field or in other extra curricular activities. We pride ourselves on knowing our students, valuing and seeing them as individuals.

2023 has seen the establishment of several programs that work to support our students positively such as the Growing Great Men program where select male students were chosen to participate in the development of garden beds in the college, while connecting with each other, our counselors and Leader of Wellbeing, Growth and Development. We continued our Shine program in working with our young women in Year 7 to develop positive body images and focus on building connections with each other. I organised several competitions to enable our students to engage with each other in a positive manner. This saw the installation of the annual SOL Soccer Competition, SOL Basketball Competition, the Rubik’s Cube Competition, SOL Spelling Bee and World Poetry Day Competition. I cannot wait to tackle 2024 and include Handball and touch football to this suite of opportunities afforded to our students. All of these initiatives run on the volunteering of teacher time, something that our students directly benefit from. Our Connect 7 and High 5 Transition programs helped to establish a smooth transition into SOL for our 2024 Year 5 students and for our current Year 6 students to get a taster of life in Year 7. We introduced a Kindy Buddies program which our Year 6 students (2024) will continue into next year. We look forward to embedding further wellbeing programs into our suite including a Year 7 boys excel program.

Thank you for your ongoing trust and support. I wish each and every one of our students, parents and their families a blessed and very merry Christmas. May the hope of Christ’s birth bring comfort to all families. I will be having the first five weeks of 2024 off due to some leave. Mrs Zorzo will be acting in my role during this time and will be more than capable of supporting the parents and students in SOL. I will still be contactable via email should you need me. Thank you again for an exceptional 2023. Bring on 2024!

Mrs Josephine Camilleri - Assistant Principal, School of Leadership

Stage 3 Stories… 

English

During Writing, students have continued to develop their language skills by writing a variety of poems.

Geography 

As a part of our focus in Geography this term, students have been learning about the importance of evaluating the impact of developments.  They have explored the different ways developments, such as Badgery’s Creek Airport, as well as within our own community, impact individuals and groups within our community.  

An important part of this process is being able to consider issues from different perspectives.  Students were asked to consider who the stakeholders could be, how their viewpoints may differ and why.  Students were then asked to map the connections between the different communities they had identified and to evaluate the impacts.  

Students were involved in many collaborative discussions and activities as they applied their learning about ethics.  A significant aspect of this was being able to evaluate what is just compared to what seems right.

The photos below show students working through these different stages.

Community visit/Geography

Stage 3 has been looking at the impact of humans on natural environments, more specifically, Elara park and hub. This links with their final assessment task ‘How will the loss of Elara Park affect local communities and the environment?’ 

On Thursday the 30th November, St Luke’s had visitors from ‘Inspire’  who informed stage 3 on how Elara residents will be impacted by the removal of the park and hub. These include impacts on community well-being and mental health, environmental impact, loss of green space, climate and traffic. Students were able to understand the process of making a campaign and what Inspire hopes to achieve through the campaigns. They discussed what students and families can do to help and support the campaign to keep green spaces in Marsden Park.

We are so fortunate and lucky to have great connections with our local community members.

Religious Education

This term, students in Stage 3 have been answering the driving question, “How do sacraments address challenges to human dignity in our contemporary society?”. In Week 7, they were guided to commence work on the ‘Reconciliation’ section of the final Sacrament Resource Pack. This week, they will focus on the ‘Communion’ section. In Week 10, they will be putting together the final keyring gift with a 3D printed school cross and write an anonymous letter for the recipient of the resource pack.

Samples_Stage 3_Sacraments Resource Pack

Creative Arts

Students in Stage 3 have been learning about Art Installations in Visual Arts. In this introductory task, students were asked to design a house to suit the theme ‘Movies’, and worked to use any aspects of art they could to create an engaging design. This served as a proposal to be selected for groups that they would work in for the final assessment, showing their stuff to self-promote their art abilities. We are excited to see how they transform their classrooms in Term 4 for their selected ideas and themes!

Science

Over the past few weeks, our Stage 3 students had a blast exploring the fascinating world of circuits in our new science labs. Guided by a specialist science teacher, they delved into understanding how circuits function and identified materials as conductors or insulators. 

Writing Enrichment 

Throughout Term 4 selected Stage 3 students have been participating in a Writing Enrichment Program. This program was designed and tailored to meet the growing potential within this cohort based on recent Allwell data. It was an exciting learning opportunity for these students that aimed to build their confidence and empower them to use language in creative and critical ways. 

Students explored the driving question: What happens when the truth is lost? 

To do this, they examined the picture book Azaria: A True History by Maree Coote. They then had to determine fact from fiction to create their own “truth” to communicate about a legendary character such as BigFoot or the Loch Ness Monster. Hendrix Layson (Year 6)

Stella Lim (Year 6)

In another week, students explored the driving question: To what extent do emotions impact storytelling and story creation? To do this, students selected a landscape and were tasked with writing an opening paragraph that focused on setting through the lens of an emotion. 

Sehaj Kaur (Year 6 - Freeman)

Eliana Pasco (Year 6 - Acutis) 

From Year 7…

Religious Education

Year 7:

Year 7 students are in the process of delving deeper into the concepts of Incarnation and Discipleship. They completed their poems as one of their artefacts.

Navy - Saini

Teal - Chimdi

White - Nickas D

In the next two weeks, students will be given the opportunity to create a Christmas Pack with the following items.

• A prayer related to the scripture passage, ‘The Word became Flesh’ on a Digital Christmas Card. 
• A Nativity Scene and a justification based on their chosen contemporary challenge. 

Year 8:

This term, Year 8 students have been exploring the concept of Peace from a Social and Catholic perspective. They completed a Peace Poster with their own Peace quote as one of their artefacts.

Peace Posters - Samples

In the next two weeks, students will be given the opportunity to create a Peace Prayer Pack with the following inclusions:

• Short Story on the theme peace
• Peace Prayer
• Peace Game or any other creative product for Peace.

Technologies

In the Year 7 Jewellery Project's culmination, students completed unique pendants, showcasing their creativity. Now, they're focused on crafting packaging – some making boxes, others stitching pouches. This approach highlights diverse talents and emphasises the application of their previous learnings such as CAD designing. The project reflects dedication, ingenuity, and the joy of transforming raw materials into admirable jewellery pendants.

Esports

Stepping into the digital gaming arena for the very first time, Vaughn Bagus (also known as VBagels), embarked on an exhilarating Esports journey this term, competing in the Australian Esports Leagues’ Spring Series competition, participating in the Super Smash Bros. tournament. 

Vaughn has been working tirelessly throughout the year training with veteran players from the School of Entrepreneurs and  fearlessly embracing the challenge, developing and refining his skills in the platform fighter game in preparation for this term.  Though faced with formidable adversaries, Vaughn showcased not just skill, but the spirit of a burgeoning Esports contender. His efforts in the competition paid off for the amount of work he has put in this year and we would like to congratulate Vaughn for his efforts. 

From Year 8…

Technologies

Year 8 are well underway coding their “Computer in my Pocket” project. At this stage they are applying the skills and knowledge they have developed over the last term. We are seeing some very creative ideas come to life, including fitness trackers, home security systems and multiplayer games. We are looking forward to the final week where students will present their end product to the class in a demonstration format that will showcase what they have been able to achieve.

Life Design

Students are currently working towards their Capstone Presentations on Purpose and learning journey thus far in Life Design. There have been multiple opportunities for individuals to receive 1:1 coaching from our external Life Coaches, Richard and Kirstene. Their input and coaching has provided clarity for students as they draft their purpose statements and develop a presentation that showcases the students authentic self in a meaningful way.

All students will present to an external panel of professionals 11th & 12th Dec, with an opportunity to share the skills, knowledge and aspirations with industry experts. A schedule will be released to students soon.

Art

Students have been exploring the concept combining elements to create hybrid creatures and develop their artmaking skills in 2-dimensional forms and digital media. Below are the preliminary sketches of their Pokemon hybrid creatures before the students begin developing their digital versions on Adobe Photoshop!

Wellbeing in the School of Leadership 

Peer Companions

On the very special occasion of St. Luke's Feast Day, our Year 8 leaders took the reins during Peer Companions to lead our Year 5 students through a profound passage from St. Luke's Gospel—the timeless and impactful parable of the Good Samaritan. This interactive session not only delved into the narrative but also encouraged our students to explore the values and morals embedded within this parable, culminating in the creation of expressive posters symbolising these essential principles.

Guided by the enthusiastic and dedicated Year 8 leaders, the journey through the Good Samaritan story was more than a lesson; it was an exploration of empathy, kindness, and the essence of being a true neighbour. The leaders skillfully facilitated discussions, prompting the Year 5 students to reflect on the moral lessons woven into the narrative and how these principles could be applied in their daily lives.

Following this insightful discussion, the creative spirit of our students came to the forefront as they engaged in a hands-on activity. Each Year 5 student was tasked with crafting a poster that visually represented the values and morals derived from the Good Samaritan story. The result was a collection of vibrant and meaningful artwork, each poster telling a unique story of compassion, generosity, and the importance of helping others in need.

May the spirit of the Good Samaritan continue to inspire acts of kindness and compassion within our St. Luke's community and beyond.

New Family Induction

As the academic year draws to a close, we eagerly anticipate the arrival of new families who will be enrolling their children at our school in the coming year. While much attention is often given to the induction of Kindergarten and Year 7 students, we want to extend a special welcome to families with children entering other year levels. Transitioning to a new school is a significant milestone for any student, regardless of their age or grade level. Recognising the unique needs of students joining outside the traditional entry points, we place great emphasis on the importance of a thorough induction process. 

On Wednesday, 29th November, we welcomed new families to our school. Mrs Bauer introduced our families to our community and we took our new families on tours of the school and they also heard from our students about life at the College. 

Understanding the layout of the school, locating essential facilities, and becoming familiar with daily routines can be overwhelming for new students. Their children will also be a part of the “New Kids on the Block” program which is our induction program and this program is designed to alleviate any potential concerns by providing guided tours, introducing key staff members, and offering insights into the various academic and extracurricular opportunities available. By the time the academic year begins, our “new kids” will feel confident and well-acquainted with their new educational home.

At our school, we understand that each student is unique, and their educational journey is a personal one. Our induction process is tailored to cater to the individual needs of each student, taking into account their academic background, interests, and aspirations. This personalised approach ensures that every student feels seen, heard, and supported from the moment they step through our doors.

To the new families joining our school community, we extend a warm welcome. Your decision to entrust your child's education to us is a responsibility we take seriously, and we are committed to providing a nurturing environment for their growth and development. Welcome to our school family!

Year 6 and Kindy Buddies

In a heartwarming display of camaraderie and mentorship, our Year 5 students recently took on the role of enthusiastic buddies during the Kindergarten Orientation Day. Recognising the significance of this interaction, our Year 5 students underwent a dedicated workshop aimed at equipping them with the necessary skills to mentor their younger counterparts effectively. The workshop, led by three of our newly appointed house leaders – Shannon, Jordyn, and Lincoln – focused on fostering communication skills, empathy, and patience. These attributes were deemed essential to create a supportive environment for the Kindergarten buddies.

The benefits of mentorship extend beyond the immediate event. For the Kindergarten students, the presence of their Year 6 buddies (current Year 5’s)  serves as a friendly face in a new environment, easing the transition into formal education. On the other hand, for the Year 6 students, the experience offers an opportunity to hone their leadership skills, encouraging a sense of responsibility and empathy that will undoubtedly serve them well in their academic and personal pursuits.

A special note of gratitude goes to Shannon, Jordyn, and Lincoln, our newly appointed house leaders, for their instrumental role in guiding the Year 5 students through the mentorship workshop. Their leadership and dedication ensured that the Year 5 students were well-prepared to extend a warm welcome to their Kindergarten buddies. We look forward to witnessing the continued growth of these relationships and the positive influence they will have on the wider school community. 

New Peer Companions Training

In a heartening initiative aimed at fostering a supportive school community, Year 7 students recently participated in a specialised training day designed to equip them with the skills and knowledge needed to become peer companions. This innovative program seeks to empower these young leaders to support their fellow students in Year 5 through ongoing support sessions scheduled three times per term.

The training day was a unique opportunity for the selected Year 7 students to engage in activities that focused on developing essential skills for effective peer support. The sessions covered a wide range of topics, including active listening, empathy, conflict resolution, and understanding the needs of younger students.

The goal of the training day was not only to impart valuable skills but also to nurture a sense of responsibility and compassion among the Year 7 participants. Through interactive workshops, role-playing exercises, and group discussions, the students gained insights into the challenges faced by their younger peers and explored ways to provide meaningful assistance.

Following the training day, the Year 7 students began their roles as peer companions, engaging in ongoing support sessions with Year 5 students. These sessions, occurring three times per term, provide a structured platform for the older students to offer assistance, mentorship, and a friendly presence to their younger counterparts.

The Year 7 peer companion program, born out of a commitment to fostering a supportive school community, exemplifies the power of student leadership and empathy. Through the training day and ongoing support sessions, these young leaders are not only developing valuable skills but also making a positive impact on the lives of their fellow students. This initiative stands as a testament to the importance of creating opportunities for students to engage in meaningful ways, fostering a culture of compassion and support within the school community.

Mr Chris Bettiol

Leader of Wellbeing, Growth and Development (K-12)