School of Entrepreneurs
What’s happening in the School of Entrepreneurs?
Year 11 Biology had their depth study excursion to Penrith Lakes Environmental Centre to answer the Inquiry Question “How healthy is the lakes ecosystem?”. They practised their “working scientifically” skills in the field by measuring a variety of abiotic factors using specialist equipment; and investigating biotic factors by measuring the abundance and distribution of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Our Biology class were excellent representatives of St Luke’s and it was a fantastic sunny day to focus on biodiversity and our local environment.
Year 9 have been exploring the electromagnetic spectrum in Science. In our study of light we were able to further investigate how the eye functions by participating in an eyeball dissection. It might have been a little messy, but this hands-on experience enabled students to relate how the lens focuses light towards the retina and optic nerve.
Year 9 -
Kinchela Boys Home - Excursion, Thursday May 26
On May 26 a small group of Year 9 students went to Cathwest to meet with members of the stolen generation who were survivors of the Kinchela Boys Home. We were able to meet 2 survivors, I remember that they were 11 and 24, this is what they were known as when at Kinchela.
The Kinchela boys home was “the gates of hell”, according to the survivors we met at Cathwest on May 26. It was where Indigenous boys were taken from their parents to be put in the care of the government - this was an attempt to make them become white and assimilate. The Aboriginals that were taken to the boys home were stripped of their names and given a number while also they were physically stripped naked and had powder thrown on them so they looked like a white person. These Indigenous boys were held in these homes for about 6 or 8 years thinking their parents were dead and didn’t want them because that's what the guards reminded them about everyday.
The Indigenous men that we spoke to told us about the many punishments they had to experience at the home. The line which was after someone had tried to escape. The line was made to make the stolen generation hate their brothers (everyone there). They did this by sending the person who tried to escape down a line where they got punched by the others. If they didn’t punch the person in the line hard they had to walk the line themselves.
Another punishment was The ring. The ring was a punishment for nothing. It was just fun for the guards to watch and laugh as a short Indigenous child (maybe 13 or 14 years old) was forced to fight a grown white man (an ex- soldier who had just come back from war). The Indigenous child had a medicine ball thrown into their stomach before the fight. As the Indigenous child was trying to get his breath back the soldier would jump on top of the poor and defenseless child.
A different punishment was The tree. The tree was another punishment for nothing in particular. It involved a child being taken out of his bed mid sleep and tied up to a big tree out in the cold, naked, with a steel chain that was around the child’s neck. The child wasn’t given food or clothes for about 3 days. Luckily the others kids stole boiled eggs and snuck it to the child tied to the tree.
The last punishment we were told about was not really a punishment but was still one of the worst things they did. It's called swimming lessons. With this an Indigenous boy was thrown into a deep lake with no experience of swimming. Number 24 told us about how he got thrown in he would have died if it wasn’t for his cousin that jumped in and saved him which cost him his own life.
Overall, I was really glad I was able to hear of these experiences. However, hearing about the stolen generation makes me feel very angry and sad to the point where I water up. The whole time listening to the survivors I wanted to hug them and tell them I was sorry for what they had to experience in their young lives, and that I wouldnt wish any of these experiences on anybody. I felt like it was somehow my fault and after talking to my Mum about it, she wasn’t even born. It is sad that the stolen generation exists, and this showed me the need for real reconciliation is needed here in Australia.
Jacob Gerkhen and Jack Preston - Year 9
Luna Park
On Monday 30 May, Year 11 Business Studies went on an excursion to Luna Park and listened to the Beyond the Thrills Presentation which covered aspects of running Luna Park Sydney. The presentation contained up-to-date information about running Luna Park Sydney as a small-to-medium enterprise and touched on the Preliminary topics of Nature of business and Business Planning as well as to the HSC Business Studies Topics of Operations, Marketing and Finance. Following the presentation students were able to enjoy the sights and attractions that Luna Park has to offer. Students had a great day out, combining learning with some fun!
Duke of Ed camp
After months of anticipation and preparation, the inaugural Year 9 Duke of Ed participants have successfully completed their practice camp! The journey began at Mt Kuring-gai and followed the famous Great North Walk to Crosslands Reserve. The following day, the group hiked to Berowra. Throughout the expedition, the students worked together to problem solve, encourage, and persevere. They represented themselves and St Luke’s with pride and spirit. I am impressed with their positive attitudes and the standard they have set for themselves and future groups. The students have written about their experiences and some brief excerpts has been shared for your enjoyment below -
“This was an experience of a lifetime. Even though everyone was exhausted, it was worth it. We hiked for 5 hours the first day. The first day was mostly downhill walking and many river crossings. After reaching the campsite at roughly 12:30 we had our lunch and played many games throughout the day which was a great memory. The freezing cold weather did not stop us from enjoying ourselves to our full extent even during the dark night, where we were entertained throughout the evening by playing many night games. We also lit many campfires which gave us a lot of warmth throughout the cold day.” - Noopur, Charvi, Ahana and Alizey
“As a group, we worked together to not only build a campfire, but to support each other as well. Throughout these 36 hours, these actions displayed St Luke’s Witness (W3), Manage (M3) and Relate (R1 and R3) pillars. Organising our hiking bags, collaborating with / supporting our team members and preparing for the night's sleep all showcased our relations to each pillar. Settling into the campsite challenged us to step outside of our comfort zone with the unstable tents and rapid weather changes. These sets of difficulties were close to preventing us from appreciating our experience. However, all the memories that were made made it all worth it. “ - Lara D, Ariel and Cohen
“Every half an hour to 45 mins the whole class had a break and a few groups took breaks in between as the walk was very tiring. Some parts of the walk were hard and included climbing, jumping and leaping across rocks. I was definitely not prepared for some parts of the track as I wore white shoes and we had to cross through some very muddy areas. After about 2 and a half hours everyone was extremely tired but there was the last half an hour stretch around the river until we reached the campsite (Crosslands Reserve). As soon as we got there we sat down and ate lunch and took a rest then we headed over to where we were setting up the tents. We needed to find a flat ground spot to set our tent up. We worked together to set up the tent and put our sleeping bags inside.” - Mikayla
A special thank you to Ms Vincent (leader of group ‘LLASCO’) and Mr Hegarty (leader of group ‘Three Amigos2) who accompanied us on our journey. These teachers volunteered their personal time to attend the camp and offered valuable advice to our students in a challenging yet nurturing environment. With the camp behind us (with countless unforgettable memories), the students are now focusing their time on logging their hours for voluntary service, skills and physical recreation. In Week 9, I will share some more progress logs of students across various activities. Mrs Antoinette Roach
St Luke’s subscribes to a system called Job Jump. Job jump allows you to create an account to view and engage in searches for jobs, courses and traineeships that are relevant to things that you are interested in. Go from knowing nothing to landing the job with JobJump's career exploration and scaffolded plan. JobJump offers career videos, eWork Experience projects, senior subject advice, tertiary courses and job listings in over 120 career areas. That's just the begining. JobJump also includes a comprehensive university guide, scaffolded resumes for 120 careers, eWork Experience projects, TAFE course search, Career VR videos. Create an account at job jump by clicking on “I’m new”, finding St Luke’s Catholic College Secondary and using the password slccss