The Year 9 Leadership program has been put in place to identify students who have natural gifts in leadership and a strong desire to develop those gifts. Sometimes that natural disposition to leadership isn’t identified by them, but by teachers and people around them, and at other times it may not have had the chance to come out yet. We go through a fairly long process to identify the leadership team, and the group is a large one because the aim of the program is development.
There is a clear need within society to have strong leaders. Leaders who are humble, kind, skilled and personable. Raising the next generation of leaders is our responsibility, and we want to ensure we are training and upskilling emerging leaders within our school to become the best they can be. We believe that our students can influence the future of our community, state, nation and world – so how do we help them get to a point where they are in the best position to do that positively?
The Year 9 Leadership program identifies a need to start from square one all over again. What are the misconceptions of leadership? What are key strengths of leaders we admire? What are the different ways one can lead? The first part of the program goes through multiple personal development sessions for students to reconstruct their idea of leadership. This entails looking at the influence a leader has on people around them, the positions we can lead from and learning from the best leader we can model ourselves on: Jesus. From the end of Term 2 onwards, we provide opportunities to start putting leadership skills into practice. We want to develop students in public speaking, strategic planning, goal setting, peer encouragement and reflective practices. The program will definitely put students out of their comfort zone, but will always be followed with a chance to debrief and identify how we can continue to grow.
All of us have experienced the opportunity to lead in our lives and although we may never feel completely comfortable or competent to do it, we can equip ourselves to bring out the best we can in ourselves and those around us. This year, the goal that the Year 9 Leadership team came up with and set as their 6-month plan:
“Students in 7-9 can express their own gifts in a safe and respectful environment with the opportunity to grow spiritually and mentally in Christ and have a joy and passion to come to school.”
Students have these desires within themselves, we want to make those desires possible. Congratulations to our Year 9 Leadership team of 2022!
Sports
Leanne Y, Nicky D, Lucy B, Joyceline S, Steve R, Aaron N
Service
Hannah D, Lara W, Andrew T, Sharon S, Sarah I, Raeye G
Arts
Adeline S, Lilly R, Meredith H, Harmony T, David K, Logan H