Luca Smith is a new student in Series 14. A bright new pupil who is deaf. He has a strong sense of self and isn't against bending the rules when it suits him.[1]
Series 14[]
In Series 14 Episode 5, Luca first appears as one of the St Jude's School for the Deaf pupils joining Waterloo Road following the closure of St Jude's. Luca was devastated by the closure, as he loved it at St Jude's. Waterloo Road run a buddy scheme to help the deaf pupils settle in as they communicate better one-to-one, and Shola Aku kindly volunteers to be Luca's buddy, though things go wrong from the start when St Jude's teacher Gill, who was supposed to be running sessions with the staff and the pupils to help the deaf kids settle in at Waterloo Road, calls in sick, leaving Waterloo Road with no option but to throw the deaf kids in at the deep end in classes with the hearing kids, with only their community support workers (CSWs) and radio aids to help them.
Luca particularly struggles to settle in, especially when he is assigned a CSW who is unqualified in sign language and his radio aid does not help him at all. He becomes overwhelmed and attempts to escape from school grounds, but deputy head Coral Walker catches up with him and talks him down, impressing him with her rudimentary signing skills, explaining that she had a deaf cousin called Angela when she was growing up, but they have since lost contact. Coral persuades headteacher Steve Savage not to punish Luca for his disruption, and explains to him that should he decide to stay at Waterloo Road, he will start the next day with a clean slate.
Series 15[]
Trivia[]
- Luca is the second character in Waterloo Road history to deal with some form of hearing loss, the first is Imogen Stewart, and the third is Jared Jones.
- Luca is the first character in Waterloo Road history to be portrayed by a deaf actor.