Knox, Lilydale, Maroondah 2021 school captains share hopes, dreams for future
We asked Melbourne’s Year 12 captains what their plans are for 2021. From Knox, Lilydale and Maroondah, see all the photos and words of our inspiring young leaders.
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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.
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 from several schools across the outer east responded, and their words are published here.
YARRA HILLS SECONDARY COLLEGE, MOOROOLBARK
Jake Pawsey
In 2021, we as Year 12 student leaders are striving to ensure Yarra Hills Secondary College’s community continues to build on our values of respect, endeavour, achievement, and pride.
After the remote settings for the majority of 2020, students across the college may have felt disconnected from the typical school environment.
Therefore, throughout 2021 I believe our growing school community should focus on the engagement in student learning.
Through an increase in decisions made by student voice, I aim to help advocate alongside my peers for further student involvement in our own personal and educational learning.
The Student Representative Council (SRC) this year has already outlined goals for 2021. They have campaigned for uniform policy changes such as an improved winter uniform and to increase the amount of lunchtime and after school activities so students can participate in extra-curricular events decided by themselves.
The leaders and I envision Yarra Hills as a secondary college that prioritises student learning needs and the uprising want for engaging events.
Starting my secondary schooling at Yarra Hills as a year 7 student, I have learned to appreciate the efforts from our teachers and staff through my journey. Their aspirations to connect to students on a personal level makes Yarra Hills a community of comfort and enjoyment. I hope to not only see this continue in 2021 but to communicate with teachers and co-ordinators as a college leader to ensure Yarra Hills continues to pride themselves in these qualities for the future of the school.
Ultimately, the vision for the school community in 2021 is to provide students from all year levels opportunities for them to feel proud to be a Yarra Hills Secondary College student.
Katja Munns
My vision for my school community in 2021 is to be more connected. Yarra Hills Secondary College is a place where we are able to lift one another and support each other no matter the year level difference, but my vision is that I would like this to happen more.
I want the Year 7’s to be able to come up to Year 12’s if they need help and not be scared of the older kids.
I want the younger year levels to learn from the older students if it’s needed. This would help to allow them to form new connections with students older than them, and learn new things. For example, if a student is unable to understand something their teacher has taught them, they are able to go to the older student they formed a connection with and ask for help.
That student can then explain in a different way, and help them to understand the information they didn’t.
I understand that this may be hard to do due to the older students having their own work to complete, but it will benefit those in need.
If someone had free time they would be able to check in with the younger year levels and help if it is needed. Although this vision may be tough to achieve at first, I believe the college has the power to do it.
MONBULK SECONDARY COLLEGE, MONBULK
Michelle Schmidt, Amalija Kostich Angerson, Courtney Carroll, Abby Stephens and Ruby Scott
Throughout my leadership journey at Monbulk College, I have been invited to and involved with numerous events such as the VicSRC Congress, being Junior School Captain and an active member of the Monbulk Student Voice group and now to be inducted and presented as School Captain for Monbulk College in 2021 which is something I have worked extremely hard to achieve and I am currently fulfilling my duties to the best of my abilities and being given all sorts of amazing opportunities.
I am a proud student at Monbulk College and have always been supported by teachers which has also built up my strength and confidence as a leader.
MOUNT LILYDALE MERCY COLLEGE, LILYDALE
Melinda Virgona and Sam Green
This year as we celebrate 125 years of Mercy Education in the local community, we are focused on working on the Mercy value of service.
As part of this, we will be following in the footsteps of our foundress Catherine McAuley going out into the community to serve meals to those less fortunate than ourselves.
In this year of service, we aspire to help others in any way possible even if it is just a home cooked meal and someone to talk to. We hope this small change makes a meaningful difference in the lives of our community.
Student voice is more important than ever as we come together again after a disjointed 2020. Our College vice-captains Will and Eliza work closely with the Student Representative Council to gather these ideas and put them into action.
Together our voices will help shape our college and give us the confidence to extend these skills and shape our community once we leave school.
AQUINAS COLLEGE, RINGWOOD
Mikaela Tenney and Flynn Wilkinson
When setting our vision as student leaders at Aquinas College, our student leadership team has decided to utilise the method taught to us by His Excellency, the Governor-general of Australia Mr David Hurley.
This method involves assessing two aspects of the college entity; the security of our people, staff and students as well as the outward perception of our school.
In practice, we look at how the students of Aquinas feel about being a part of the college community. What do they value? Do they feel safe? What are they looking for to fulfil gaps they may be feeling?
This approach has played an instrumental role in forming our vision for our Aquinas College community in 2021. When we reflect upon the hopes we have for our school community, we envision a school which values the further promotion of physical and mental health and wellbeing; as well as one which is a place of acceptance and belonging for all, an aspect which is already an integral pillar of our college.
We then look towards how the school is presented and perceived in the broader Maroondah community. What do people think of our school? When people see our students in public what is their perception?
Our final hope for 2021 is to further instil the importance of sustainable practices in the College, especially in a rapidly growing and changing world.
Overall, we aim to enhance the preparedness of our students for life after secondary school by reinforcing the significance of respect and compassion which has been ingrained in us from the moment we stepped through the gates of Aquinas College.
This system will help guide us as a leadership team as we strive towards our goals in 2021 to drive positive change in our Aquinas College community.
YARRA VALLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL, RINGWOOD
Lauren Dickins and Blake Matheson
Being part of Yarra’s student leadership team is certainly a privilege and great responsibility.
Having been part of the school for years and benefited from the work of previous student leaders, we certainly have great hopes and plans for how we might be able to serve our school and community in 2021.
As a leadership team, we are of the collective belief that our efforts should be aimed at both those immediately around us and those in our local and global community.
We hope to celebrate cultural diversity, encourage contribution, promote outward thinking and stimulate a fun and thoughtful sense of community.
We endeavour to fulfil these aims by adopting the servant leadership model. Therefore, we are focused on the growth and wellbeing of those in our community, serving them in the most effective ways.
So far, we have based many of our initiatives around the promotion of cultural celebration and awareness within our school as well as outside of it. A primary focus has been celebrating our international students and gaining a greater understanding of their Chinese culture through big Lunar New Year celebrations, involving a dumpling lunch and festival dancing.
Being led by our amazing Captains of International, Cynthia and Frank, we feel as though this had a profoundly positive impact on our school community. Members of our team have also been involved in the promotion of the ‘Share the Dignity’ program at Yarra, whereby students are encouraged to drop off sanitary products for those who cannot access them.
Looking to the future, we are setting out to promote the ongoing and increased involvement of Yarra students in fundraisers such as the Good Friday Appeal, the World’s Greatest Shave and the 40 Hour Famine.
Additionally, we are planning to continue promoting multiculturalism within the school through celebration and increasing awareness, and a focus on the NAIDOC week. To engage in global interaction in 2021, we are planning to support the charity ‘Sharing Hope’ with its refugee work on the Thai-Burma Border, where displaced people are currently suffering under a military coup.
We are also hoping to heighten our environmentally conscious outlook through a continued approach to effective recycling processes and to always encourage kindness and thoughtfulness.
We hope to make a difference in these helpful, practical and positive ways, to both the Yarra community and the wider population.
EAST DONCASTER SECONDARY COLLEGE, DONCASTER EAST
Elliott Fong and Amrita Kohli
East Doncaster Secondary College is rich in culture and diversity and we have a cohort that strives for excellence.
As leaders of this school and members of this community we endeavour to push for greater interconnectedness of these diverse attributes to make our school an even more inclusive and positive place to be.
With so many nationalities and backgrounds, we’ve worked hard this year to run events to allow students to contribute their culture.
Additionally, to aid our goal, EDSC has developed a rich program called “Positive Futures”, allowing for further connections between year levels leading to an increase in the overall connectivity and sociability between students.
In these classes, four students from each year level and house group are designated into a class of around 20 students. We hold these classes weekly, where teachers work with students to provide support and care and create a fun atmosphere where students across the school can get along.
As leaders of this college, our aspirations this year would be to continue to run inclusive and intuitive events for our students and staff, as well as continuing to uphold our schools excellent academic and athletic performance. We understand there may be a difficult road ahead for us, but we believe that we are both willing and capable of seeing this through.
TINTERN GRAMMAR, RINGWOOD EAST
School leadership team
Tintern Grammar has a history of having strong student leadership teams that have collaborated with and inspired the school and wider community through initiatives and events for the purposes of encouraging school spirit, providing further care for the community and where needed, raising recognition of support and funds for those in need.
The 2020 leadership team, through active voice, connection and creativity, led the school with positivity and a wonderful sense of togetherness during an obviously challenging year.
The 2021lLeadership team has committed to build upon the wonderful foundations already laid, while striving to add their own flair and identity as they work with and for the Tintern Grammar and wider community to:
– Lead with care and inspiration, modelling resilience and a growth mindset … while having fun!
– Provide recognition of and opportunities to further strengthen and support, the importance of mental health
– Further promote, and provide opportunity for, equity and diversity
– Further empower student voice
– Ensure a memorable year of enriching opportunities, events and celebrations, year level and school wide.
– Further strengthen our unified learning community where students, staff, families and alumni share their unique journeys.
– Continue to model and promote students’ characteristics in line with Tintern’s values
NORWOOD SECONDARY COLLEGE, RINGWOOD
Olivia Kiefte and Sam Ball
At Norwood SC we see an importance for all students to feel a sense of belonging at school, where all students and staff are included and respected.
After months of online learning we have learnt to appreciate the relationships we have with teachers and fellow students and the importance of supporting one another within the school community.
As leaders at Norwood we hope to encourage students to take care of their wellbeing and make sure they are aware of the resources available to them, such as our wellbeing hub.
This ensures that the entire school community feels empowered in their learning, fostering an environment where everyone aspires to try their best at school and sees value in their education.
As a result, we hope that fellow students can enjoy their time at Norwood, and ensure they make the most of it. Students at Norwood have an array of opportunities at the school (through academics, sports, music, leadership, and more). We aim to encourage each and every student to harness their full potential.
At Norwood we see a value in giving back to our community. Currently we are working towards fundraising for the Lighthouse Foundation, a charity that aims to end youth homelessness. The Royal Flying Doctors Service is an organisation Norwood proudly supports annually.
Overall, in a time like this, it’s important for our school to come together and support each other. COVID-19 has seen us as a community split apart like never before. Therefore, we see the importance of reconnecting not only to our education, but also mentally and socially to normal school life.
MATER CHRISTI COLLEGE, BELGRAVE
Emma Gerber and Cassidy Ede
Although 2020 presented real challenges and disappointments, we learnt a lot about ourselves and the importance of being organised and adaptable.
We also experienced the value of belonging to a supportive community and have a fresh appreciation of the real energy that comes from actually being together.
So our first goal is to harness that energy and build on our supportive and inclusive community by encouraging participation and enjoyment in the many opportunities we have at school.
Like many young people, we are passionate about environmental and social justice issues. We especially want to address the problems of gendered violence and discrimination against those of diverse backgrounds.
We will continue the conversations and support initiatives which will empower others to bring about change.
We recently spoke at the College International Women’s Day breakfast and are inspired by the 2021 theme – “Choose to Challenge”.
We are surrounded by positive leaders and friends and are looking forward to a great year.
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