New school captains’ share hopes, goals for 2023
Wyndham’s schools will soon have fresh faces take over student leadership. Meet your 2023 school captains and hear what they hope to achieve.
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With the school year quickly drawing to a close, a new generation of student leaders are gearing up to represent their fellow classmates.
Many schools from across Melbourne and the wider Victorian education system have already revealed who has been chosen to lead their student bodies in 2023.
This year we asked school captains across Melbourne’s western suburbs what they hoped to achieve during their time as college captains.
Multiple schools across the west are yet to pick their captains for 2023, however here are the thought-provoking answers from the schools that have.
Point Cook Senior Secondary College
Vrinda Rani
As the College Captain next year, I hope to motivate students, encouraging them to grow not only academically, but also socially.
It is important to me that the students I learn alongside, feel comfortable and included in the environment that they spend the majority of their time in, therefore increased inclusivity and student voice is one thing I plan on working towards next year.
While I am a little nervous about the idea of leading the school, I am also excited to make the most of my last year in high school, and hopefully leave behind a legacy.
As well as encouraging students to be more involved, I hope to also develop my own skills in terms of communication and leadership with the help of my peers.
I hope that overall, next year will be full of events and collaboration among students and year levels, helping me to get to know the students that I will be representing.
Keziah Magele
Being a femaleIislander college captain here at my school gives me the motivation to make my people proud.
I am hoping to challenge myself in leading the school, coming up and planning school events and just being able to be the voice of my fellow students.
The thought of being a leader at school does sound stressful and hard but I am thrilled to take on this position.
I feel a mixture of excitement, nervousness and determination going into the new year as College Captain.
Next year it is important to me that I do not lead in front, but that I lead beside my peers.
It is important to understand that to be the voice, I need to hear the voices and opinions of the students in order to move our school to its greatest potential.
I intend on being the leader that my fellow students can talk about issues they see around the school, how they learn best and just be someone my peers can have a friendly chat with.
Together the students have the power.
Mount St Joseph Girls’ College
Zara Curtis and Kate Lavers
We are both honoured to have been appointed as Mount St. Joseph‘s Girls College school captains for 2023.
The two of us really enjoy listening to our peers’ concepts and ideas, which assist us in striving for the benefit of the school community.
We have both come to love this school, even with the challenges faced, that feeling of belonging has stayed constant.
I’m sure that we both share memories of when we first started in year seven, looking up at the senior students with blazers overflowing with badges and priority seats on the bus.
Now, five years later, we both share an annoying number of badges on our blazers, constantly talking about our “experiences”.
By being given the privilege of representing the MSJ community as their college captains, we both hope to gain a new perspective and a new set of skills that will eventually navigate our lives further into the future.
The sentiment behind our school motto, ‘Virtue and Courage’, is ingrained in every facet of life here, and exemplified in the theme of striving for excellence.
Such unconditional compassion, and generosity are ideas that we, along with the other leaders hope to echo.
As a part of MSJ’s leadership team, we act to endeavour and establish an open relationship between the leaders and student body.
In this role, our priority is to encourage and nurture each student, the wonderful girls that make up our thriving school.
“Leaders become great not because of their power but because of their ability to empower others”, we believe that leadership is the opportunity to inspire onlookers to become their own leaders in demonstrating the correct behaviours.
Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination, on cooperation, not intimidation.
Everyone here has the ability to lead and inspire the person next to them.
To all students, it is our hope to give, support, and uplift you in every stage of your school life, with our goal being to not only carry on a legacy but leave behind (hopefully) inspiration for the future leaders to come.
Westbourne Grammar School
Oscar McNaughton
As school captain for 2023, I am so excited to have the opportunity to represent and lead our wonderful school, Westbourne Grammar.
I am looking forward to building on the legacy of past leaders and having a positive impact on our school community as we continue to grow and inspire each other.
I also hope to develop myself as a leader by developing strong relationships with others, and embodying the school values of community, creativity, scholarship and courage.
Next year, I wish to encourage others to embrace who they are and their own individual skills and interests.
I believe that for each student to thrive in the classroom, they need to feel included, valued, and eager to come to school.
Creating a sense of community is essential in building a place of belonging where students feel safe to take risks, ask questions and embrace every opportunity that comes their way.
For me, school is about giving things a go, making mistakes, and growing into a better person than the day before.
Westbourne Grammar offers so many amazing opportunities and experiences for students.
When students feel recognised and valued for who they are, they are more likely to try new things, step out of their comfort zone, and thrive.
Harriet Morton
I recognise that receiving this position of being a leader at Westbourne is a huge privilege and responsibility, but it is one that I am excited to take on and embrace during my last year of secondary school.
Heading into 2023, I aspire to uphold our school values of community, courage, creativity, and scholarship, using these values to further create an inclusive Westbourne environment that ensures each student feels as though they are proud to belong.
I am most excited to work in combination with Westbourne’s 2023 prefect body to launch new initiatives while recognising and upkeeping the work of past prefects.
For example, their creation of Westbourne’s PRIDE group, cultural recognition segments within Westbourne’s assemblies and the student article writing platform Westbourne and Bred.
Finally, before my school journey comes to an end, I hope to inspire and motivate my peers to harness the opportunities that Westbourne offers.
With such a broad array of extra-curricular activities, such as music, sport, public speaking, and many more, I hope to encourage those around me to get involved in these opportunities and expand their learning beyond the walls of the classroom.
Altona College
Razan Katrib
I’m currently a year 11 VCE student at Altona College who enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing volleyball, and engaging in my community whenever and however I can.
Last week, I was extremely grateful and thrilled to find out that I had been elected as College Captain for my school next year.
I am mostly looking forward to being able to make a difference and help the voices of my peers and other students at my school be heard.
Altona College makes an effort to allow students to undertake roles of leadership and encourages us to speak up in order to make our education an enjoyable experience.
This makes me feel at ease about leading our school next year along with my fellow Vice Captains.
In terms of my captaincy, my goals are to encourage resilience in as many students and my peers as possible, provide every student with a voice, and ensure that school is a comfortable and enjoyable environment for all.
Personally, prior to the end of my school journey, I hope to make as many memories with my friends and enjoy the experience while also working as hard as I can to do well in year 12.
Suzanne Cory High School
Carol Danial
Although being the leader of a select entry school like Suzanne Cory High School will be daunting and at times challenging, I am committed to doing all that I can, to see Suzanne Cory continue to grow alongside fellow student and staff leaders.
We have a bright future that will see us continue to unite in school pride and excitement, which I hope to achieve by sharing my own sense of identity in my role as School Captain.
Particularly, the impact I hope to leave is one of compassion and kindness.
I believe leaders have a unique position to create this vision, in schools, to lead an example of kindness.
To be approachable, relatable, understanding.
I believe compassion is very powerful; a quality that can bridge gaps and form meaningful relationships to last.
By consciously making efforts to understand each other, we can strengthen our values and spirit within the school and broader community.
As a leader in 2023, I aspire to see students continue to be grounded in empathy, support, and growth, so the richness I know and love about Suzanne Cory continues, above and beyond.
Muhammad Taha Kamran
Suzanne Cory High School is not just another academic school.
It is an institution for excellence, progression, and growth in all aspects of a student’s life.
Being a leader at Suzanne Cory is unlike being a leader anywhere else.
I get to work with like-minded individuals to cater for a student body who are not only involved in academics, but sports, music, community engagement, leadership, and much more.
With a palette of aspects to consider, being a school leader is more than simply applying your leadership skills.
As school captain, I am looking towards developing a culture in the leadership team where we learn from each other.
Having been school captain at previous schools and holding leadership positions in sports, music, and the community, I will be looking to forward my knowledge to our specific domain leaders.
As a team of school captains, we will work together to ensure the leadership team gets the most out of us as experienced leaders and further betters the experience of current and future Suzanne Cory High School students.
Werribee Secondary College
Meghana Janumpally
I’m Meghana Janumpally and I’m one of the Werribee Secondary College captains for 2023 and am proud to have this position!
Here’s a little bit about me; I have a knack for being outdoors which I’ve discovered through Army Cadets and tend to delve into the world of true crime.
I’m someone who is passionate about making the most of opportunities presented to me or creating those opportunities for myself as it aids in character growth and confidence.
I believe after some challenging years it is a priority for me to promote a variety of extra-curriculars and programs to increase engagement in non-academic fields for students of the college.
Shiraz Idris Mohamed
Hi, I am Shiraz Idris Mohamed and I am honoured to be one of the College captains for 2023.
I am so grateful for this opportunity and hope that I am able to fulfil my duties as a school captain in the following year.
A little about me: I love to read books ranging from mystery, romance, thriller to comedy.
I love to travel, I recently visited four countries earlier this year with my family!
Visiting many green sceneries filled with nature which I adored!
I often perform speeches for my Eritrean Community in order to honour the armed struggle of my people.
Through my knowledge of Eritrea and its constant battles to achieve Independence, it has taught me the life lesson of struggling first and then achieving greatness.
This is similar to school where we are constantly batting constant struggles however we always achieve greatness in the end, and we remain resilient (A WSC school value).
Their goals for 2023
We want to create a more positive culture in school among students, especially between different year levels through collaborative activities and positive messages, this enhances our school‘s mission to create a safe environment where all students are valued.
We are working towards achieving learner agency with the leadership team, where students take ownership over their learning in order to create a space where all learning styles are welcome and accounted for.
We also hope to achieve to build interconnectedness with the school and the Wyndham community through developing connections and relationships with the community members and place.
This allows students to fulfil their potential and enables them to embody our school motto of ‘live worthily’.
St Albans Secondary College
Kathleen Phan
As a 17-year-old Vietnamese student, it has often been pressed upon me that I should prioritise my learning goals.
By taking on various leadership roles within the school community, however, I have discovered how fulfilling it feels to support my peers in their goals.
The thought of leading a school as College Captain, initially felt daunting and intimidating.
This apprehension though, was quickly replaced by feelings of empowerment, knowing that our school community trusts us to support their ambitions.
Before I finish my secondary education, I aim to increase connectedness across the school.
Through facilitating a sense of belonging for all students in our diverse community and being proactive in voicing student concerns, I aim to help nurture a positive environment for all individuals.
We will strive for lasting impacts in our ever-changing community, no matter how big or small.
Karli Keskin
I’m really excited to begin my journey in such a large leadership role as the position offers so many opportunities to form many new relationships.
I feel as if my entire life has surrounded the idea of being a student, and I am excited to experience a different side to school, which will allow me to flourish as a person.
My final goal for high school is to work as hard as I can to not only achieve good grades, but to encourage myself (and others) to become an independent and successful person.
I also hope to work as hard as I possibly can to make the environment that my peers learn in as accommodating and safe as it can possibly be.
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