School of Entrepreneurs
From the SOE Head of School
Greetings to all our students and families of the School of Entrepreneurs.
This term has flown by ever so quickly and students have been responsive and completely immersed in their learning experiences making it a positive start to the year. Staff have also been participating in professional learning this term that has centred around our College goal of ‘stretch and challenge for all learners.’ As a staff body we are committed to continually challenging ourselves to provide quality learning experiences in the classroom. ‘Stretch and challenge for all learners’ is inclusive of all learners in our community, that is, staff and students. Moving into term 2 we will continue to be challenged so that learning experiences for your son/daughter are rich, rigorous and deliberate in its purpose.
Term 2 will see the commencement of our ‘Next Level Self’ program for our Year 10 students. This is a significant time for our students as they continue to revisit and reflect on their strengths, interests and motivations (SIMS) as they have explored in the Life Design course over the last few years. Our ‘Next Level Self’ program is designed to assist our students to make informed decisions about their Preliminary and HSC pattern of study and post school pathway. More information will be disseminated next term about the upcoming information evening and showcase and careers market for Year 10.
Lastly, I wish to acknowledge and recognise the service of Mr Blomfield to our Catholic learning community during his time here. We thank him for his commitment towards our students and wish him all the best in his new role and school. As we progress towards the Term 1 holidays, I wish all of our students, parents and families a very Happy and holy Easter. I hope the celebration of this Paschal period brings hope and new life. Have a safe and restful break and we look forward to welcoming our students back for a busy Term 2.
Sending blessings to you all.
Ms Jacqui Genovese - Head of School: School of Entrepreneurs
A Message from the SOE Assistant Principal
Hello St Luke’s community.
It is with mixed emotions that I let you know that I will be concluding my short but joyful time at St Luke’s at the conclusion of this term. I have been appointed as Deputy Principal at OLMC Parramatta and will begin this role early in Term 2.
In my five terms here I have had the tremendous privilege to meet many parents in the Years 9 - 12 school. Success at school is a three-way relationship between teaching staff, parents and the child, and by far the majority of conversations in which I’ve participated reflect a strong understanding of its importance.
Students are the lifeblood of any school, and this community is full of vibrant, engaged and respectful young men and women. It is a highlight for me to be invited into the conversations, celebrations, challenges and lives of students. These conversations are often simply in passing, sometimes crazy and hilarious, and occasionally difficult, and I treasure this opportunity in my job as a teacher.
I also publicly acknowledge the dedication of my teaching and administration colleagues. I thank them for everything they have done for me and with me.
St Luke, pray for us.
Mr Anthony Blomfield - Assistant Principal, School of Entrepreneurs
FROM AROUND THE GROUNDS
YEAR 9
Year 9 Life Design
This term students embarked on a journey around designing a fulfilling life for themselves and learning about the different opportunities they have to partake in the future.
During the first few weeks of Life Design, students reflected on their personal interests and the different hobbies each person enjoys. We were taught to use an internal compass to help us direct where we’d want to go. The internal compass helped students recognise their priorities, insights and largest gaps for the near future. Students used their S.I.M (strengths, interests and motivations) to help them design a product that they find interest in. Particularly clothing such as shoes, sweaters, jewellery and even music albums which are items that connect to the individual.
After a few weeks of learning about designing and the internal compass, students applied their prior learning into composing a LIFE and WORK view statement to show their perspectives of what they think Life and Work is all about.
During the last few weeks of the term, students were tasked to compose 6 Odyssey plans for them to partake in the future. Jobs such as doctors, engineers, graphic designers and a much more variety helped each student recognise their particular S.I.M. Students then designed their own Ebook to present what they have learnt throughout the term.
This term’s Life Design program was filled with creativity and future thinking for all students in year 9.
Student: Chylsea Amethyst Bolinget
Samples of student work from term 1
Elements of LIFE VIEW statement
Students working on Need to Knows as a group
Student Odyssey Plans
Student Odyssey Plan
YEAR 10
The Year 10 VET Entertainment class completed a Lighting and Audio Workshop at Marian Catholic College on Wednesday, 29th March. This was a great workshop in a large Arts Building where they had access to Digital lighting desks, Spotlight, Audio Mixer and had control of a large projection screen. The students also got to perform segments of a mock school assembly in order to utilise the equipment.
YEAR 11 & 12
Students in Years 11 Chemistry and Year 12 Investigating Science were privileged to have a guest speaker from the ‘Altogether Utility Group’, a company that specialises in sustainable power, water and data services. Erika Mercado, a chemical engineer, spoke to the students about her experience in the field and how she made the transition from high school to university student to working in the field. The students had lots of questions and were very keen to learn more about career paths in science and engineering.
YEAR 12
Year 12 English Advanced participated in a HSC Symposium at the Seymour Centre on the 14th March as part of Module A: Textual Conversations. Students were immersed into a powerful theatrical experience of major scenes from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest coupled with a detailed analysis and lecturette from the amazing Claudia Ware. This provided students with deeper insights into how the text connected to their studied module and core concepts. It was a truly enriching learning experience.
Mrs Alessia Rietdijk
Year 12 Student House Leaders
At the most recent student house leader meeting our Year 12 student leaders were presented their leadership badges. This is a clear mark of the leaders to all of our students at St Luke’s Catholic College and a visual representation of the leadership our students have already demonstrated and will continue to do so. The students have been creating ideas for building the house spirit within our school community and are focused on bringing together their houses so all feel like they belong. The leaders are to be commended for their efforts already and encouraged for what is to come.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wellbeing
Recently we had people from Enlighten Education come to school and presented the “ Walk the Talk” workshop. See https://www.enlighteneducation.com/walk-the-talk/
The organisation was impressed by how thoughtful and articulate this Year 9 group of students were. Feedback from students also showed how much they got from the sessions with the presenters Dannielle and Jack and 100% of students would recommend the program.
So many of the comments demonstrated deep learning occurred, with one student who said:
"It was excellent. The best bit was how interactive it was and how informative it was. I found out more information on sexism, more information on domestic violence statistics, and how to stand up against abuse in relationships"
And another student from St Luke’s who wrote:
"Although at times today was a little uncomfortable for me with the domestic violence section, I think just knowing there are support groups like this was amazing! I learnt to listen to my butterflies, to set boundaries, the signs of an abusive relationship and how to love myself"
We now have a wonderful group of 27 students who has signed up to be on the leadership team to lead Phase 2, the service-learning component of the program to support the essential work of The Haven Women's Shelter.
We are so proud of our Year 9 students and look forward to what they have to offer the school in upcoming years.
Mr Chris Bettiol
Leader of Wellbeing, Growth and Development
ANZAC DAY
Dear Parents and Carers
All students in the School of Entrepreneurs are invited to represent St Luke's and participate in the ANZAC Dawn Service, at Riverstone RSL on ANZAC day.
March to the memorial to commence at
5.45am on Tuesday 25th April 2023
(5.30am assemble at the RSL sub-Branch Hall,
18 Market Street, Riverstone NSW)
Service to start at 6.00am
After the service, you will be invited to attend the community BBQ. This will be held in the park next to the sub-Branch Hall in Market Street, Riverstone.
If your son/daughter would like to participate in the march, please email cbettiol2@parra.catholic.edu.au to RSVP.
I hope to hear back from you
Kind regards
Mr Chris Bettiol
Leader of Wellbeing, Growth and Development
World Poetry Day
On Tuesday the 21st of March we celebrated World Poetry Day. This day is a special occasion to celebrate the achievement of wordsmiths all over the globe, whether it be a songwriter, playwright, novel writer, or the writer of those two poetic lines in a special hallmark card, poetry has the power to capture in words the beautifully chaotic world we live in. As a college, we created a World Poe-e-tree in the centre of the Marketplace where each student had the opportunity to write their name, draw a picture, create a short alliterative poem, write a few lines from their favourite poem or song and form part of our installation artwork. The activity saw students from K-12 assisting and it really was a charming reflection of the creative talents of our students and a reminder about the importance of narrating our world in poetry.
We also facilitated several fun poetry inspired activities in the Hub at recess and lunch including sensory poetry, colouring in activities, paint chip poetry composition, rhyming dominoes, ice-cream scoop poetry creation to name a few.
And finally, our poetry competition. We had 15 students from the SOE enter the competition with wonderfully composed poems. We could only select two winners and it is our great pleasure to announce that the winners from SOE are:
Alex Coombes (Year 11) Rain
Udhay Badesha (Year 9) Soccer
Their poems are below for your enjoyment. A special thank you to Miss Chelsea Wick for helping me in planning, leading, creating, facilitating and executing the activities for World Poetry Day. Miss Wick’s excitement, energy and passion were clearly evident and I appreciate her help to make this special day a reality for our students. And a HUGE thank you to students from Miss Wick’s Year 9 Creative Writing and Film Studies elective class who helped facilitate the activities in the Hub and erect the Poe-e-tree.
Rain - By Alex Coombes
I looked out of the window and looked right up at the sky.
It seemed as though, from what I saw, that a great storm was nigh.
I walked outside and found a stream of water in the lane.
There was only one reason for this and it was the rain.
The monstrous clouds were forming, while the darkness ceased the light.
The indication that gave everybody was: it’s night.
The water in the huge clouds had been released from its chains.
It was the gushing and the ample release of the rain.
The awning near the front yard caused the noise to amplify.
We were so scared and timid, we screamed out and shouted, ‘Why?!’
But it was ineffective to just sit there and complain,
For it was an incessant noise and it came from the rain.
Reverberating thunder loudly sounded with a CRASH!
The people walking on the street had made a startled dash.
The consequences of the storm have caused us grief and pain,
And it all started with a trickle and some drops of rain.
The clouds had started parting; in the sky we saw some blue.
The ceasing of the rain had seemed, quite frankly, overdue.
But soon, undoubtedly, we’ll have to cope with this again.
Until then we’ll enjoy the sun and clearly not the rain.
Soccer - By Udhay Badesha
Verse 1:
Let's talk about soccer, the beautiful game,
The sport that sets hearts and passions aflame,
Where every player is striving for fame,
And every match is like a fiery flame.
Chorus:
Soccer, soccer, we play it with our feet,
From the streets to the stadium, it can't be beat,
It's a game of skill, it's a game of speed,
Soccer, soccer, it's what we need.
Verse 2:
From Messi to Ronaldo, we have the best,
The players who stand out above the rest,
With lightning-quick moves and a lethal finesse,
They take the ball and leave defenders in distress.
Chorus:
Soccer, soccer, we play it with our feet,
From the streets to the stadium, it can't be beat,
It's a game of skill, it's a game of speed,
Soccer, soccer, it's what we need.
Verse 3:
The World Cup, the Champions League, the rivalry,
The games that bring us to our feet in ecstasy,
Where every pass, every shot, every goal is history,
And every moment is pure unadulterated mystery.
Chorus:
Soccer, soccer, we play it with our feet,
From the streets to the stadium, it can't be beat,
It's a game of skill, it's a game of speed,
Soccer, soccer, it's what we need.
Mrs Josephine Camilleri - Assistant Principal, School of Leadership