School of Leadership

News from the School of Leadership

St Luke’s Day 2023

Always one of the biggest events on the College calendar, St Luke’s Day 2023 was no exception! In recognising St Luke - the patron saint of artists - we were able to provide varied and meaningful opportunities for our K-12 community to showcase their creative and performance gifts through an art exhibition and a talent show. It is safe to say that we have a wealth of talent in our midst.

The Feast Day liturgy saw our 1600 strong student population, coupled with 150 staff congregate in the Market Place in celebration of our faith and learning community. It was remarkable to see students from the Catholic Early Learning Centre, Arrunga, School of Foundations, School of Leadership and School of Entrepreneurs enter the sacred space with such reverence and respect for the occasion. School of Leadership students then collected their showbags and ice blocks at lunch before returning for the Years 5-12 Talent Showcase expertly organised by Mrs Camilleri with support from Mr Erceg and Mr Alavarado.

Days of this calibre and magnitude are impossible without the talent, skill, expertise and generosity of teachers and I thank them abundantly for their contribution:

Mrs Camilleri

Mrs Mayer

Mrs Nguyen

Mrs Roach

Mrs Atkins

Ms Ruiz

Mr Carroll

Ms Wick

Mr Alvarado

Mr Erceg

Mrs Burns

Mr Gabb

Mr Zrim

Mrs Clark

Mrs Watts

School of Leadership Transition Program

We are very excited to be offering for the first time bespoke School of Leadership transition programs upon entry to Year 5 - Step Up into Leadership, and Year 7 - Connect 7 which support students as they adjust and engage in all aspects of College life. Our current Year 6 students have enjoyed 2 weeks of taster lessons on Friday afternoons and are increasingly excited about the possibilities of learning in Year 7.

Please note the following key dates remaining in this program:

Connect 7 remaining date: Friday, 24th November

Year 7 Orientation Day: Friday, 1st December

Teachers are busily preparing for our 2024 Year 5s to experience a day in the life of a School of Leadership student. We see this as a critical part of supporting Year 4 to transition to Year 5 and this session will be the first of several activities designed to enable students to successfully Step Up into Leadership. Next year, our Peer Companions program enters its third year. This is a program designed in house to support Year 5 students to adjust to SOL. It extends across the whole year and sees Yr 8 students act as mentors to small groups of Year 5 students.

Yr 6 Thanksgiving Liturgy and Parent Morning Tea

Please register your attendance HERE by Monday, November 27.

We eagerly look forward to our Thanksgiving Liturgy and morning tea as we congratulate our Year 6s for completing the Primary years of schooling.

Mrs Kate Kelly - Head of School, School of Leadership

A Note from The SOL Assistant Principal

St.Luke’s Rubik’s Cube Competition

Over Weeks 3 and 4 we hosted our very first St.Luke’s Rubik’s cube competition where students completed four different solves of a standard 3 x 3 Rubik’s cube, and the average speed of their fastest three solves calculated. This culminated in the top ten fastest cubers across Stages 2 to 6 competing in a Rubik’s Cube Sprint. Congratulations to

The fastest cube solve was from Parv Shah in Stage 4 with an average speed of 23.725 seconds. He also took out the Rubik’s Cube Sprint with a solve of 30.28 seconds. Even Mr Dela Paz got in on the fun - and he sure is a talented fast cuber with a solve time of 48.26 seconds!

SOL Basketball Competition

The SOL Basketball Tournament has continued into Week 6. Our talented Basketballers have qualified for their place in the semi finals Tuesday Week 6 at lunch. Followed by the winners competing in the Grand Final on Wednesday.

Semi Final 1

Ice Spice Elite (Pool 1 Winners) VS.

Blasion Nation (Pool 2 Winners)

Semi Final 2

Lil Whippers (Pool 3 Winners) VS.

Shooting Stars (Pool 4 Winners)

Well done to all students who participated in this competition. It was also wonderful to see so many students coming to support their peers. The winners and runners-up will be recognised and acknowledged in an upcoming SOL assembly.

Connect 7 Excitement

Our Year 6 students have been super excited to attend the Connect 7 transition program over three Friday afternoon sessions. This program aims to facilitate a smoother transition for Year 6 students into Year 7 and provide our students with an Increased familiarity with secondary teaching staff and learning spaces. The students really settled into the new learning spaces and specialist rooms with excitement and enthusiasm. They even got a little bit lost trying to find their timetabled rooms - which is part of the fun and excitement of moving into Year 7. Students got to experience Technologies (TAS), English, Maths, Science, Geography, PDHPE, CAPA: Visual Arts, and History. One student remarked to me after the session experience seemed to go super fast, “Miss, it felt fast because we were having so much fun!”. How lucky we are to work within the K-12 learning space!

Peer Companions 2024

Our Peer Companion leaders for 2024 have been selected. We had an overwhelming number of students express interest in becoming a Peer Companion. Peer Companions is an ongoing wellbeing program designed to support Year 5 students transition into the School of Leadership. It is a peer to peer based program that occurs three times a term where a Year 8 student serves as a buddy or companion for a small group of students. Supporting these students involves a range of getting to know you activities, answering questions, showing friendship and building positive relationships with the students in each group. Information has been sent to students and families who were selected regarding some upcoming training.

Mrs Josephine Camilleri - Assistant Principal, School of Leadership

Stage 3 Stories…

Mathematics

Stage 3 has been learning about Mass in Term 4 for the first few weeks! They have put their knowledge to the test by comparing and converting different measurements between each other, investigating how and why we use each measurement. They have also been getting quite academically tired towards the end of the year, so we have made sure to utilise ‘Just Dance’ for them. They really are using their knowledge of angles in maths, movement in science and drama in Creative arts to bump and dance using these amazing moves.

Stage 3 Literacy - R3

Our Stage 3 R3 group recently explored the State Library of NSW on an adventure tour! The students were able to view a 400 year old book, the smallest book ever written and even got to explore the Mitchell Reading Room which reminded them of Hogwarts. After exploring the Kinokuniya Bookstore they were very keen to enjoy their new books on the journey home. Many thanks to Miss Lauren Passmore for her work with the students and for organising this adventure as a culmination of their R3 experience.

From Year 7…

Technologies

Students have been very excited to use the brand new facilities in the Workshop space of the new building. Year 7 have continued their Jewellery project by designing a shape and theme based on a client’s interests. At this stage they are sawing and piercing the jewellery to customise the shape. Next step is to finish and assemble, and hopefully impress their client with customised jewellery they can take home and wear.

Life Design

Year 7 students have been busy preparing their SIM showcase pieces. The creativity, engagement and quality of work has been astounding. These range from photo collages to music montages, code spaces to iPhone cases, origami & original artworks.

The SIM Showcase is a compulsory afternoon school event:

When: Tuesday 14th November 2023

Where: HUB & Cafe

Start Time: 2:30pm set up for 3pm open to parents

Finish Time: 4pm (after pack up)

A Carnevale ogni scherzo vale! In Carnival every joke matters!

In Italian, Year 7 students are creating their Carnevale masks, choosing their favourite Carnevale characters from la Divina Commedia such as Pantalone, il Dottor Balanzone, Arlecchino, Colombina, Pulcinella and many more! They are also planning and preparing their script and role play for their final performance of the year! Students have been very creative and motivated to complete the task and I am very excited to hear them speak and express themselves in Italian in their performances!

From Year 8…

PDHPE

During Week 5, Year 8 PDHPE students hosted the Inaugural St Luke’s Health Expo. In small groups, they played the role of a health promotion officer where they had to host a stall to educate others and advocate for a health issue impacting young people. Health issues included alcohol, energy drinks, vaping and tobacco smoking. Year 7 students were invited to attend the Health Expo as members of the audience. Year 8 students were given class time to complete their inquiry process in researching, designing and creating resources to contribute to their stalls. As a guide, students had to prepare -

Statistics
Health services
Something visual
Something interactive
Something for visitors to take home

Thank you to the Year 8 students for raising awareness of negative health actions and encouraging positive behaviours!

Life Design

In Year 8 Life Design, students were engaged in an interactive activity called ‘Bookshelf of Me’. The task asked students to choose student directed tasks tailored towards their particular strengths, interests, and motivations. During Week 3 and 4, students from the Teal class presented their work. Here are a few samples:

Allegra Portelli designed this ‘Blue Death’ dragon to represent her strengths, interests, and motivations through a mythical creature.

Zac Falzon presenting his digital architecture design.

Gurmehak showcasing his Vada Pao Recipe designs and Ayaan presenting his Sporty SIM.

Layla impressing us with her SIMulated sketch where colours represent her strengths.

Tanya Lagazon flexed her creative muscles in the development of her SIMulated Garden where the different flowers revealed aspects of her SIM.

These were all presented gallery walk style so peers and teachers could provide valuable feedback. This activity is in preparation for the year 8 Capstone Presentations in week 10, where all students will present their unique learning journey in Life Design to a panel of external guests from a variety of industries. This will allow students to practice their presentation skills, receive feedback from professionals who are in need of people who can solve unique problems and bring a certain flair to their company.

CAPA:

Technologies:

Students have been learning how to program a Microbit, which is a small computer that has embedded technology to allow it to detect data around it, and also provide information. Students have chosen an area of interest to design a solution with the Mirobit to solve a real world problem. They are currently “in the learning pit” meticulously coding and troubleshooting the device so that it can start to address the key functionality that they have chosen.