Boroondara, Stonnington school captains share hopes for 2021
We asked school captains from Melbourne’s inner east for their 2021 vision. Here are photos and words from our inspiring young leaders.
Inner East
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You can have no doubt the future of our state is bright with a stunning response to Leader’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 the inner east responded, and you can read their inspiring words here.
XAVIER COLLEGE, KEW
Dante Reid
At Xavier College in 2021 our leadership vision is centred on the notion of unity and incorporates our school theme of “Pilgrims on the Earth, Pilgrims with the Lord.”
We are hoping to promote this unity amongst the school community by building on the support, empathy and trust that exists within the students and staff.
A very pertinent issue in society at the moment is around what respectful relationships look like and how we, as young men have a role to play in striving for gender equity.
Continuing work which commenced two years ago, we are organising a forum around positive and respectful relationships with several other schools to be held on May 28.
As leaders we are looking to start a conversation amongst young people on issues around respect, consent and positive masculinity.
In particular, we are keen to explore the role we have in this topic by listening and promoting proactive discussion and are conscious of how significant these themes are.
As a leadership group, we are endeavouring to foster the positive atmosphere that lives here in a fashion that transcends year levels, interests and friendships to create an environment where all people can feel part of something truly special.
To achieve this, we are building upon our college’s foundations of faith, respect, humility, compassion and service.
Along every step of this seminal journey, we are also looking to enjoy the year, relishing the opportunities that come our way and being grateful for the chance to be together after the obvious challenges of last year.
Another key focus is to engage a broad range of voices and encourage leadership in all forms, be it in sport, music, academics, arts or community service.
We’re conscious of the many and different paths that each student takes during their respective time at school and throughout life.
Following consideration of the forms of leadership that have had the greatest impact on us, we feel it is crucial to be approachable and act as role models for all students.
There is a pride for the school that lives in all at Xavier College. We, as leaders, embody this pride and hope to benefit our community by assisting to maintain our positive environment. We aim to engender a place where all can feel safe, accepted, appreciated and enabled to be their best selves.
At Xavier College, we are truly excited by the chance to lead and the possibilities of the year ahead.
ST CATHERINE’S SCHOOL, TOORAK
Lucy Campbell and Clementine Newton-Brown
In 2021, our vision for St Catherine’s School is to help create a strong, powerful and connected community of women who are able to ‘dare’ themselves to become involved in opportunities available to them.
These opportunities could include co-curricular activities, obtaining help from teachers outside of class, or simply asking a question in class.
All of these simple undertakings can assist in creating a more confident and connected community between students as well as teachers.
Our theme for this year, ‘Dare’, encapsulates the pursuit of being courageous and stretching outside of your comfort zone.
To be daring is something that is needed more in young girls and by encouraging them to take their opportunities and expose themselves to new experiences, their perspective will broaden.
In our time at St Catherine’s we have always tried to challenge ourselves in as many ways as possible, and now we want to support everyone in the school community to ‘dare’ themselves to embrace opportunities.
As a result, ‘Dare’ aims to charge greater self-fulfilment and ultimately lead to a flourishing community where each individual feels valued, more confident and comfortable, as though they belong.
CAMBERWELL HIGH SCHOOL, CANTERBURY
Charlie Lacey, Angus Carter, Pearl Madan and Lukas Battey
In 2021, we see Camberwell High School working towards being a safe school in which people feel comfortable, appreciated and have every opportunity to excel.
Our theme for the year is ‘inclusion and connectedness’, which for us means accepting every individual for who they are and allowing them to voice their own perspectives.
This year, our vision has a variety of parts. Firstly, following lockdown in 2020, we feel there is a necessity to focus on the mental health of our peers.
Student wellbeing could never be more important and we want to provide a safe and inclusive community for all students.
We also aim to promote respectful relationships in our school and are liaising with various members of our school community to do this in a meaningful way.
Within this, we aim to promote student voice and create an environment among all year levels that encourages inclusion of all perspectives.
We have already had opportunities for student forums and committee meetings to activate student voice across all year levels and we look forward to continuing this throughout the year.
Through all of this, we aim to create a school community that is inclusive, supportive and connected.
FINTONA GIRLS’ SCHOOL, BALWYN
Kara Whitbourn and Marianna Giavris
As the 2021 School Consuls of Fintona Girls’ School, we are grateful for the opportunities we have been offered during our years at Fintona and we are proud and honoured in achieving our roles as consuls.
We aim for these similar values to be reflected amongst all within the school community and hope to continue to foster a community which promotes compassion, respect, individuality and inclusion.
This year, our primary goal is to create a greater sense of togetherness, security and assurance amongst our peers; something that is vital following the challenging events of 2020.
Through the organisation of fundraisers and whole school events, the encouragement of co-curricular activities and enlightening assemblies, we hope to further strengthen the community’s bond and allow every Fintonian voice to be heard.
As consuls, our vision for Fintona is to continue to champion the values and ethos, of the school: the virtues of hard-work, the importance of friendship, respect and support, and the inclusion of the gifts and talents that every individual
Fintonian possesses, in staying true to the school’s moto ‘Age Quod Agis’, do what you do well.
ST KEVIN’S COLLEGE, TOORAK
Nicholas Bare, Lucas Harrison, Luca Di Conza and Dominic Morelli
We extremely honoured and excited for the opportunity to serve the school community in 2021.
This year, we are all eager to reinvigorate school life with the sense of community that was sorely missed in a disrupted 2020.
Our school is built on the touchstones, inspired by blessed Edmund Rice, and in true form we aim to exalt liberating education, develop our justice and solidarity, extend our gospel spirituality and laud our inclusive community.
Our vision for the school is premised upon the desire of all students to embrace the Kevinian identity and find a second home at this school.
Whether it’s encouraging Year 7s and 8s to involve themselves in the lunchtime activities which are organised by ourselves and the other student leaders, or generating social justice initiatives alongside our fellow senior students.
The distance that was enforced between the members of our community last year, has made the need for a re-establishment of belonging all the more significant in 2021, and with the appointment of a new principal as well; we, the student leaders of 2021, truly comprehend the impact of our contribution to the school and of the legacy which we will leave.
In maintaining the development of our school, we also will work with the staff to generate a safe, caring environment for all students and staff, and will use these new opportunities to both reform and renew the culture of our school.
The school is entering a new epoch, and as its leaders, both student and staff, will work to re-set, re-claim and re-imagine our Kevinian identity, and implore all those of our community to buy into the spirit of our college.
ST MARY’S COLLEGE, WINDSOR
Darcy Lynch and Campbell Oldham
Our vision for St Mary’s College in 2021 — a new coeducational inner-city Catholic school — stems directly from the opportunity ahead to build a new college community and culture.
St Mary’s College is a supportive school environment, whereby students, parents and staff work in partnership to achieve the best outcomes for all students.
Likewise, our Parents and Friends group provides our college community with broader input, diversity, and a sense of community which permeates our two adjacent campuses.
We are privileged to lead a community with the touchstones of Edmund Rice Education Australia — gospel spirituality, inclusive community, justice and solidarity, and liberating education as its foundation.
As leaders, and more importantly as a college, we aim to continually promote a sense of community in all aspects of college life, whether that be at events such as our athletics carnival, student voice committee meetings or at the St Mary’s inaugural Foundation Day.
Essentially, this year our vision is to successfully capture the traditions and the sense of community that previously coexisted at CBC and PCW, as we create a new St Mary’s College community, a school for all.
DE LA SALLE COLLEGE, MALVERN
Tom Seddon, Will Dwyer and James Bohan
In 17th century France, St John Baptist De La Salle committed himself to the education of the poor, recognising the importance and utility of schooling.
Over 400 years on, De La Salle College continues to not only provide a quality academic education that caters to the uniqueness of its pupils, but also instils an admirable set of values undergirded by an inclusive community that fosters empathy, respect, tolerance and compassion.
Instead of wholly focusing on the narrowness of academic performance and the big, dark, all-important number they call ‘The ATAR’, De La looks more broadly and endeavours to produce men of tremendous character and integrity that treat all with respect and dignity regardless of sex, nationality, political views or any other personal characteristic.
Benefiting from the wisdom of past thinkers, De La is guided by a philosophy that promotes a willingness to embrace the challenges we all inescapably confront in life so as to achieve one’s full potential and grow as an individual.
As individuals, we are encouraged to question norms, develop a healthy scepticism in a way that cultivates independent learning.
Accordingly, it is precisely this mentality that furnishes its students with the requisite tools to make for a meaningful and enjoyable life.
WESLEY COLLEGE, PRAHRAN
Ollie Pateras and Leyla Kenneally
As prefects our primary role is to create a community at school where students feel accepted and individual growth and discovery is encouraged.
Our vision is to ensure all students feel empowered to make decisions affecting life at school.
We believe everyone at Wesley has the right to shape how our community operates, while working towards achieving their personal and academic goals.
With 2020 disconnecting us from normal school life, the challenge we put forth to our peers was to try something completely new this year.
This may be auditioning for the musical, trying a new sport or even writing a letter for the student newspaper.
We hope this not only provides a new experience for students, but also challenges them, fosters new friendships, and most importantly strengthens our school community.
As leaders, we also want to develop the role our school plays in the wider community.
While students are excellent at raising money through bake sales and casual clothes days, we want to strengthen our sense of connection to the cause.
This inspired us to plan opportunities for student involvement in our local community, for example our Charities Prefect is planning a building day to support communities affected by last year’s bushfires.
As young people we have a major role to play in advocating for change. Therefore, our most important focus as prefects is to give our peers the opportunity to voice their opinions, as our individual ideas will never match what an entire cohort of students could create together.
As said by John Wesley, “Do all the good you can”, and this is exactly what we hope to lead in the Wesley community this year.
SIENA COLLEGE, CAMBERWELL
Harriette La Motte
My vision for 2021 is to ensure Siena girls are achieving their goals in order to be the best version of themselves. No matter how big or small the goal may seem, it is important for each girl to feel as though they are supported.
Whether this support is through enabling a girl to feel comfortable to speak up for what they believe in or ensuring they have everything they need to take action and succeed.
Siena has the ability to cater for everyone’s aspirations and goals and I would like to make
sure each student feels that they are much more than who they see themselves as and are capable of anything.
Chloe Barker
My vision for Siena College in 2021 is for my school to be a place where every girl feels as though their voice is heard. I wish for girls to continue to be able to express their opinions, ideas and suggestions freely.
If my school community is able to continue to do this, girls will feel empowered. Furthermore, I know that Siena College places great importance on respectful relationships, freedom of opinion and student voice. This encourages all in our community to have their opinions heard, their values and beliefs respected, and therefore perspectives are enriched.
CAREY BAPTIST GRAMMAR SCHOOL, KEW
Ishan Merchant and Saskia Lim
Our vision for the Carey community is to open the discussion about culture, more specifically the factors which contribute to Carey being one big family, where every student feels appreciated and recognised.
As discussions about respectful relationships come to the fore of Australian society, we want to look inward and address the environment we create at Carey.
We are aware that meaningful cultural change takes years to come to fruition. While we don’t expect everything to happen overnight, we are confident we can lay the foundations for younger students.
Encouraging student voice at assembly, hearing about different student experiences and exploring what it means to be good to ourselves and those around us are all ways in which we can begin this shift.
Carey has always been a great place to grow, and we hope that, as society strives to be more inclusive and caring, we remain focused on our pursuit of the same.
STRATHCONA GIRLS GRAMMAR, CANTERBURY
Francesca Clarke
We appreciate that the last year was challenging, yet the challenges presented by COVID-19 have seen change within our school community that may well become long-term.
Strathcona Girls Grammar School is not one to shy away from change, and our management of these changes has been more than effective this year.
Our flexible community allows not only for this change to be accommodated, but also for students to develop this same sense of adaptability that is critical throughout life.
The Strathcona community encourages the development of well-rounded, creative individuals who will continue having positive influences, regardless of which path they choose to follow.
This year we are committed to recognising the importance of communication and connection by encouraging dialogue among all year groups.
We want to promote intellectual and social growth and development within the school community by providing a safe, supportive setting so that students have the opportunity to explore and to clarify their own beliefs and values, to take risks, and to think and speak for themselves.
To be able to recognise and respond to individual challenges, both overt and subtle.
RUYTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL, KEW
Zoe Boussioutas and Annie Timm
It is the overwhelming sense of community developed and nurtured by past school co-captains that we look to as a guiding example of leadership in our roles at Ruyton Girls’ School.
One of the most valuable lessons we learned in 2020 was that you truly never stop growing and adapting both individually and as a leader, and this has continued to prove true as we’ve stepped into our positions this year.
We are both very conscious of wanting to preserve the incredible legacy left by co-captains before us while also bringing our own inspiration and sense of self to the role.
We don’t want to lose that feeling of connection and togetherness that has become such a pivotal part of our years at Ruyton.
If the past 12 months have shown us anything, it’s that this culture is not created by mere physical proximity on school grounds, but rather a deeply rooted sense of unity and support amongst students, staff and parents.
Our vision for Ruyton in 2021 is to continue to strengthen the bonds within our school community.
The importance of having a support network is at the forefront of both of our minds; being able to rely on others for encouragement and advice brings out the best in ourselves and others.
With strong support systems like these, being able to learn and grow from mistakes becomes infinitely easier.
This year, we know that regardless of whether or not we are able to run events on campus, the experiences of last year have left us with the wisdom and confidence to overcome any challenges that may come our way.
GENAZZANO FCJ COLLEGE, KEW
Sophia Connor and Sarah Salib
In the 132nd year of Genazzano FCJ College, being united and serving our college has become more important than ever.
Following a year of separation as a whole community, as college captains we are so proud of the way that each Gen girl has approached adversity with such positivity and courage.
As endorsed by our theme of ‘Better Together’, our community strives to be a supportive companion throughout all aspects of college life.
Having hope for a better world is the main focus of Genazzano, aimed to be achieved by our strong faith and confidence.
Through embracing the sisterhood of our community, each girl is supported every step of their schooling journey in immersing themselves in Gen life with the passion that we take pride in.
Working together and maintaining our true Gen Girl spirit is imperative when striving for hope for a better world.
SACRE COEUR, GLEN IRIS
Emma Arbuthnot and Madeleine Denver
After seeing through such a challenging year in 2020, we believe it is essential this year in 2021, to turn over a new leaf and focus on reconnecting with one another and the aspects of Sacré Coeur that we love the most.
Our vision for 2021 centres around fostering a school environment that celebrates individuality and seizing opportunity.
We encourage students to be courageous, exceed their comfort zones and embrace the abundance of experiences that Sacré Coeur has to offer.
This year, we want to challenge each and every student at Sacré Coeur to be courageous in their learning and strive to make the most out of their school life.
We hope to support an environment where people feel connected whilst encouraging students with compassion and kindness.
2021 is a year filled with potential. It’s a time for growth, fun, and new opportunities. As proud representatives of the Sacré Coeur student body, we strive to maintain the supportive and collaborative community of Sacré Coeur.
Focusing on resilience, we want to encourage students to explore their own potential and continue to embody the very best versions of themselves.
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