St Luke’s Anglican School is arguably the Bundaberg Region’s most multicultural school. Guided by the values of faith, performance and honour, St Luke’s attracts families from around the world; like the Abids who immigrated to Bundaberg four-years-ago for work.
St Luke’s current cohort of students come from 27 different countries, predominantly Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, England and Vietnam. Their teaching staff hail from around the globe too; from the likes of Nepal to Papua New Guinea and Ireland.
Collectively, educators and fellow students teach children, ages two to 18, to think globally and value people of other cultures and backgrounds, so they feel a civic duty to contribute and care about protecting human rights. Annual world-wide events like Harmony Week, which was initiated by the United Nations for the elimination of racial discrimination, are integrated into activities across the Early Learning Centre, Primary, Middle and Senior Schools.
As well marking events like NAIDOC Week and studying Japanese from their first year at school, all St Luke’s students are encouraged to participate in a range of international charitable causes. For example, as part of Operation Christmas Child, students fill shoeboxes with toys, hygiene items and schools supplies for Samaritan’s Purse to distribute to vulnerable and disadvantaged children around the world.
It was the School’s values and warm atmosphere that convinced doctors Amina Nazad and Umar Saeed to send their sons, Zain and Hamza Abid to St Luke’s. Both radiologists, Amina and Umar moved to Bundaberg from Canada when Umar got an opportunity to work for Bundaberg Radiology. Originally from Pakistan, the Abid family had been living in Canada since 2013.
Amina said the School’s teachings were evident in her sons and their friends. “Kindness, compassion and a bit of discipline – we’ve had great experiences with everyone we’ve met from the school,” she said. “The St Luke’s community played a great role in helping us settle into Bundaberg.”
Hamza graduated from St Luke’s last year as DUX with an ATAR score of 99.70 and has been accepted to study medicine at James Cook University (JCU). “Living in Bundaberg was my first time living outside a capital city and I’ve really enjoyed it, connecting with nature. I’m looking forward to that in Townsville too – JCU is a nice path to go down if you want to contribute to rural health and live in a regional area,” he said. Hamza’s younger brother, Zain is a keen artist, enjoys playing tennis player and is hoping to study architecture after high school.