Doncaster, Box Hill, Glen Waverley school captains share hopes for 2021
Young leaders from secondary schools Glen Waverley, Doncaster, Donvale, Ivanhoe and Box Hill have shared their inspiring vision for the future.
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You can have no doubt the future of our state is bright with a stunning response to Leader and heraldsun.com.au’s call for school captains and leaders from across Melbourne to share their vision for 2021.
And after a year of “you’re on mute” shouted into laptops, elbow bumps and online exams, keeping school spirit alive was no easy task. But now students are back in the classroom and ready to make their mark.
In our third annual special report on Tomorrow’s Leaders, we asked school captains across the length and breadth of metropolitan Melbourne: “What is your vision for your schools community in 2021?”.
Captains of schools in Melbourne’s east responded, see their photos and inspiring words here.
DONVALE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE, DONVALE
Millie Southwell and Daniel Lee
At Donvale Christian College, we strive to empower the DCC community through maintaining our supportive and Faith-based environment.
COVID-19 has undoubtedly posed a challenge for many, however, it was also an opportunity for growth and development.
As a community, we overcame this hardship through perseverance, dedication and supporting one another.
Our vision as college captains for 2021 is to restore enthusiasm and nurture a positive environment following last year’s unpredictable events.
Specifically, we are passionate about empowering the other school leaders in the Student Representative Council (SRC), so that they are well equipped to lead to the best of their ability in their various fields of responsibility.
We have established numerous organisational groups within the SRC to plan community events for each year level, with the intention of preserving our fun and Christ-centred culture through these activities.
Every day, we strive to “Act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8), which are qualities that we feel are crucial in every role model.
We hope that through our position of influence, we can be a vessel to mirror these core DCC values to every student and provide a pathway for future leaders to sustain this beyond 2021.
IVANHOE GIRLS’ GRAMMAR, IVANHOE
Winona Lai and Charlotte Middleton
2020 was a year of hardships and unprecedented difficulties from which we learnt many new and valuable lessons.
For us, we were hit with the realisation that in life there are many things that are easily taken for granted.
Whether that be a school assembly or just having fun at lunch with friends, 2020 highlighted the significance of the little joys in life.
As the 2021 school captains, we believe this year should be one that is filled with excitement and laughter.
To make up for lost time, we would like to embrace and promote opportunities in order to strengthen our school community.
This includes speaking out and educating the student body on important societal issues, such as climate change, respectful relationships and inequality.
As young women of this powerful generation, we would love to make an impactful change within the school, as well as in the wider community.
Being leaders of the school gives us the ability to positively influence and embolden younger students, and this year, we hope to amplify those voices of other students.
Our ambition is to make the year 2021 an unforgettable one.
DONCASTER SECONDARY COLLEGE, DONCASTER
Emma McQueeny, Dyan Cantone, Jess Ritchie and Ethan Jayamanna
The Doncaster Secondary College community is vibrant and diverse, catering to all aspects of student development through a wide range of opportunities.
Our vision for the school community in 2021 is one where students and staff continue to work together to create a more sustainable, inclusive, and effective learning environment.
We are working on some key initiatives with the college’s Student Representative Council to achieve this. These include reviewing sustainability measures, mental health education, and indigenous awareness.
Aligning with current societal discussions, we have been aiming to reduce our school’s ecological footprint. In addition to the solar panels currently installed, we hope to improve the implementation of recycling around the college.
More recycling bins, setting up processes to recycle electronics and plastics, and increasing awareness of our carbon footprint are some ways to achieve this.
Furthermore, through the college’s curriculum, we are striving towards enhancing mental health education and awareness. While also making use of the extensive wellbeing team consisting of social workers and counsellors.
Indigenous awareness is another aspect of the school community that we are focusing on. We can enhance this by educating students on the origins and traditional owners of the land they are standing and learning on.
Ultimately working towards developing cultural awareness and understanding.
Through these initiatives, we believe our school community will continue to grow in 2021 and years to follow.
CAULFIELD GRAMMAR SCHOOL, WHEELERS HILL
Charlie Peak
2021 for our school community will be an exciting, rewarding and positive one. Being back on our School campus this year with our friends and teachers means that our school values of thriving together, inspiring creativity, pursuing excellence, embracing diversity and living wholeheartedly can be played out every day.
Last year highlighted the importance of face-to-face connections between teachers and students and to be able to see our school values being demonstrated every day at school will help us to build a community where everyone can be and do their best.
Our school committee’s vision is to create a strong community where everyone in our school belongs and thrives together.
This year, we will strive to continue to prioritise the wellbeing of all our students while creating many memorable moments together.
This year our Wheelers Hill campus celebrates our 40th anniversary, so there will be many events that honour our school’s rich history of coeducation.
Our student leadership team this year is split into four groups allowing us to further focus on how we can improve our school community — consisting of mental health, equality and diversity, spirit and connection, and sustainability.
We will celebrate what we have already achieved in these areas as well as identifying opportunities where we can enhance student experience.
I along with my co-captain Abby, am excited for what 2021 will bring for our School and each and every one of our students.
Abby Hingmann
Looking back to the beginning of the school year, I was feeling a little bit trepidatious. I was wondering how the school community was going to reconnect after such a disruptive 2020, and also thinking about how the committee was best going to alleviate any apprehension from our students about being back at school.
I think when it really comes down to it, 2021 is all about restrengthening our relationships and our sense of community at Caulfield Grammar.
The importance of socialisation was highlighted through what was an unprecedented 2020, so this is at the forefront of our minds this year.
I look forward to continuing to build relationships with students across the year levels and living out the school values while doing so.
My aim this year, with the help of my co-captain Charlie and the Senior School Committee, is to create an environment in which our school community feels respected and heard, and as though they have equal opportunity to thrive.
I am excited to use our strengths as a community and uphold all values of the school. I am learning new things about leadership every day, and I am looking forward to what is to come in 2021.
I am eager about listening to student voice and using this to create positive change within the school environment.
Each and every individual within the school community brings their own talents and strengths. It is my goal to help them ‘pursue excellence’ and ‘thrive together‘ as one.
GLEN WAVERLEY SECONDARY COLLEGE, GLEN WAVERLEY
Saipriya Prakash, Gaurav Gupta, Tynan Pereira and Jess Stevens
As a school we have a set of traditions and values that we are proud of, our challenge is to build on these values and establish new traditions.
We want to lead innovation and give students more opportunities to engage in all aspects of school life, both in the classroom and in the extracurricular sphere.
After a difficult 2020 our vision is to reconnect students to the school and to each other.
For us, after a year of connecting in the online environment, we are focused on having students’ re-establish that face-to-face connection.
We are helping facilitate this through implementing new initiatives that blend what connected us during 2020, to a desire to reconnect in 2021, things like E-Sports teams now compliment more traditional extra curricula activities like sports, study groups and the arts.
The lockdown earlier this year deprived our Year 12s of their traditional study camp, which was a big blow to student morale and motivation.
As leaders we are striving to seek alternative ways to reinvigorate our peers and ensure they leave Glen Waverley Secondary College with fond memories.
Working with our teachers to develop a revamped, shorter version of the camp, implementing initiatives to allow for more student voice and encouraging all students to participate in the activities that were greatly missed last year, such as: athletics and swimming carnivals and the recent Cultural Diversity week.
WESLEY COLLEGE, GLEN WAVERLEY
Paige Heavyside and Ben Meachem
For us, the vision is to establish and rekindle what was lost last year both for students, teachers and families.
As leaders of the school it is our duty to be able to create a safe community for everyone and we are doing all we can to achieve this.
Through social justice a safe environment can be fostered. Furthermore, we will be constantly addressing this within the Wesley community which involves encouraging students to take action with compassion and pride.
We are looking at establishing numerous programs such as mental health days, social justice programs and fundraising events and we’re promoting aspects of the community everyone can feel passionate towards, whether that’s sport, music, drama or more.
Mental health is a highly prevalent issue in society and therefore we are aiming to promote positive mental wellbeing. Some aspects that are being implemented are mental health days, where the student body are educated on useful ways to help maintain a balanced and positive mental state.
External speakers will be utilised along with other resources that will be available to help students in need.
Another vision we have is for a more sustainable school environment. The community at Wesley are consciously making efforts towards having a positive environmental impact. This year an environmental focus is recycling and improving our bin systems.
Overall, 2021 is going to be exciting and rewarding for us as leaders and the Wesley College community and we are looking forward for what the year holds.
TEMPLESTOWE COLLEGE, TEMPLESTOWE LOWER
Sienna Kardaras, Indi Brown and Emma Helmore
As year 12s, we have seen Templestowe College grow and change over the last six years, and we are so grateful and excited to be a part of the leadership team this year.
Our overarching vision for the school is to encourage connectedness and respect, while helping students prepare for life beyond school.
Indi Brown
As the 2021 school captains, and graduating students, we are committed to preparing the students for life post school. Over the course of 2021 we will be holding several workshops educating students in our Entry (Yr7 equivalent) and FLE (Flexible Learning Environment, years 8 and 9 equivalent) year levels about mental health and life skills.
The 2021 graduating cohort has met with a motivational speaker who provided study tips and discussed university. We have also worked with the school’s careers advisers to learn about the transition from school to postgraduate education and how they are assisting students of all year levels achieve their goals within this area.
We are so excited to keep working with the staff and students at the school to continue to build an inclusive and supportive community.
Sienna Kardaras
Connectedness within the school has always been a focus for Templestowe College, and we aim to continue to build on it. To help achieve this we have organised a camp to Anglesea in May for our graduating class — this will be a fantastic time for our graduate cohort to bond and form close connections by participating in team-building activities in an environment outside of the classroom (as grads, Emma, Indi and I are very much looking forward to this).
This experience will also allow us to create friendships between fellow grads and help expand a support network when going through the stresses of the final year of high school.
Another initiative to build on connectedness is a movie night for our Entry, FLE 1 and FLE 2 students. We acknowledge that our FLE 1 students spent the majority of their first year of high school in lockdown and our new Entry students were unable to go on Entry Camp due to the restrictions placed on numbers at the time.
As a result, they have missed out on many opportunities to bond together as a cohort. Therefore, we have dedicated an event to these age groups. We want to help students build and strengthen friendships, staff and leaders to feel more connected and welcomed at the school. We have created a fun movie night with food trucks, where we will be projecting a classic, “Back to the Future”.
Emma Helmore
We are aiming to continue to treat everyone in the college community with kindness and respect. A new program in 2021 is a student-run ‘TV’ program called “Connect TV”, which runs once a week and is dedicated to providing students and staff with information about events happening at the school, as well as celebrating cultural and historic events that are important to the college.
In addition to school captains, the college has Student Community Leaders (similar to house captains) who work tirelessly within their communities to provide a wide range of events for students to enjoy.
In Term 1 we supported the community leaders to run community dodge ball, drama, swimming, basketball and music. These events are designed to be inclusive and supportive for all students and have helped foster a sense of community pride and mutual respect among students.
WHITEFRIARS COLLEGE, DONVALE
Charlie Schroder, Baxter House and Alexander Pisotek
As a student leadership team, we look to make a diverse range of improvements through all of our leadership positions.
In the field of environmental issues, we are looking to enrich our understanding of the world we inhabit through a joint partnership with the Catholic Ladies College in Eltham, working to inform each other in ways that we can improve our relationship with nature.
In social justice and wellbeing issues, our focus continues in fostering a healthy respect for all marginalised in our community, propagating sentiments of equality.
We endeavour to raise awareness of metal health issues through community-based, informative activities and through our new partnership with Resilience Project.
We, as a leadership team, also will maintain the great qualities that have forged Whitefriars into the school it is today.
We will continue to maintain the supportive environment of the college that celebrates excellence and encourages all, champions the Carmelite values of ‘contemplation, community and service’ and sculpts sensitive, gentle men.
OUR LADY OF SION COLLEGE, BOX HILL
Livinia Thompson and Emily Bugeja
As captains of Our Lady Of Sion College, our vision for our community reflects passion, opportunities and love.
We hope to bring positive change and are committed to encouraging and supporting students to achieve their best.
Change can be scary and risky, but also refreshing. Without change, there is no movement. We hope that through our school community we can contribute to a positive, energetic and supportive environment for all to embrace.
Our greatest vision for 2021 would be to have each and every Sionian student feel ‘named and known’ and believe that they can achieve anything they put their mind to.
Opening up dialogue between not only students but also with the wider community is a significant approach that we both value, and consider it the cornerstone of our vision. Following the year that was, we want to initiate this dialogue by encouraging all students to open up, leading them into conversations and new opportunities.
At Sion, we are more than just a school; we are a community and a family.
Being a daughter of Sion is something we take much pride in as we carry this vision forward.”
VERMONT SECONDARY COLLEGE, VERMONT
Ellie Ryan and Mike Yong
After such a testing year for everyone last year (students and teachers included), Ellie and Mike will strive to be role models in their community to promote positive connections in their school. As leaders, Ellie and Mike want to be approachable for all students and inspire young leaders to better their school community.
Through Surf Life Saving, local sports teams and performing arts, Ellie tries to continue to make the most of opportunities as a leader and has built a passion for advocating involvement and kindness, believing wholeheartedly in the power of compassion.
She is passionate about spreading an attitude of kindness and acceptance that will allow a community like Vermont Secondary College to flourish, and she hopes to see a culture of simple respect and acceptance.
Before trying to change things externally, she wants to be the best person that she can be as a role model for other students through involvement in school sport, music, performing arts and in her work within the school’s leadership team, so that any student is able to approach senior leaders and peers.
Overall, her goal as a leader this year is to promote inclusivity and involvement in the school’s programs as much as possible through personal actions and words, and to work with fellow leaders to help make this happen.
In 2021, Mike wants to reinvigorate community spirit through positive connections between students, teachers and other VSC community members.
His aim is to make 2021 a year to never forget, but for the right reasons this time. Mike strives to inspire the next generation of leaders and young adults; he is excited by their passion and energy, characteristics they will need to lead Vermont Secondary College into the future, in their own unique ways.
Mike wants to set a good example for younger students to interpret leadership in their own way. Through this, Mike wants to help young leaders grow into the best leader they can be and do things for the school and community they themselves can be proud of.
Mike has worked closely with the school and Whitehorse Council throughout his schooling years to organise awareness and events with a focus on a more environmentally friendly school.
Especially after the challenging year that was 2020, the student leadership body is more committed than ever in 2021 to strengthening the community spirit at Vermont Secondary College.
Both Mike and Ellie would like to be role models to the new generation of leaders they hope to inspire, who will continue to promote both social and environmental positivity.
AVILA COLLEGE, MT WAVERLEY
Julia Grubnic and Martina Go
This year, we will be working with our core presentation values of faith and community to enhance school spirit and identity.
Our goal is to encourage young girls to be ‘someone that makes someone feel like a someone’. In other words, ‘Be the Light’ for those within your community at school and outside of school.
As school leaders, we are committed to establishing a place for people to feel comfortable to be their authentic selves.
We believe that the future needs unique and confident leaders who will inspire others to do good deeds and highlight positivity in society.
Our aim is to foster relationships within the community and encourage people to be a role model within the community.
BOX HILL HIGH SCHOOL, BOX HILL
As part of the prefect team and as School captains of Box Hill High School, we are really hoping to create an inclusive school environment that everyone can feel safe in across all year levels. To help with this, the prefect team is undergoing basic mental health first aid and volunteering in our school’s Wellbeing Center. We will be undertaking mindfulness activities and hopefully getting to know the younger year levels who we might not know as well so we can really present the senior leadership team as friendly and approachable so that we can make real positive change in our school.
Another area we are aiming to focus on is how we can improve our school’s impact on the environment. As we all know global warming is currently an extremely relevant issue, researchers say that we have less than 7 years to save the climate before the damage of the increasing temperature becomes irreversible. To contribute to helping fixing this global issue, we along with the prefect team are discussing events that we can implicate at our school, such as possibly planting trees, installing more recycling bins, holding fundraisers to raise money for charities who work for improving our environment. These events not only allow our school to be a part of the bigger picture, but these events can act as an opportunity to bring our school community together, which ties in to our goal of having a more inclusive school environment.
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