SRC Year 7 to Year 12

Student Leadership at our school begins with the vital job of electing Year Level Leaders across the school.

Students are able to nominate themselves or be nominated by a teacher or student. All nominated students are given the opportunity to present a speech to their cohort and the votes gathered by the student body help determine the students representing each year level.

As our school has evolved and grown, student leadership has become an important part of what our school is all about. We now have four School Captains, representing VCE and VCE VM. Our school captains present at various school functions throughout the year and have become the face of our school. Students develop valuable skills by working together and making their last year at the college count.

SRC students meet once a week during lunchtime where they plan leadership initiatives across the school. Students discuss what their goals are for the year and they put steps in place to plan whole school events such as Free Dress Days, Athletics and Cross Country. SRC students also attend a form assembly each morning where they are able to spend time gathering information from the rest of their cohort and are able to mingle with leaders from other year levels on a more regular basis.

The elected SRC students also help in the elections of Class Captains. Each class can nominate a class captain and can follow the same process as Year Level Leaders to run elections. Class Captains work together once a term to share leadership initiatives and are often presented to by staff and other students as they represent every class across the school.  Class Captains are also given exclusive training to help develop their skills as future leaders.

All students are given opportunities throughout the year to develop their leadership at Cranbourne Secondary College. For example, this year we had a number of students attend the World Vision Youth Conference. Students who elected to attend were from various year levels and did not necessarily belong to the class captains or SRC group.

 

Meet our 2023 School Captains SRC

Class Captains

Class captains make up one of the most important units of the leadership in the school.

If this unit is effectively managed, there will be a flow-on effect across the rest of the school. Additionally, giving each and every class representation allows all students within the school to have a voice.

When nominating themselves for this position, students need to be aware that this is a large responsibility, but also a privilege.

Throughout the year a class captain will:

  • Represent their class by gathering data and providing information and suggestions to their SRC representatives
  • Attend meetings with the SRC members for their year level
  • Provide feedback to their class about SRC decisions/meeting outcomes
  • Work in close coordination with Pastoral Care teacher/Form group teacher/Classroom teachers
  • Receive leadership training
  • Provide wellbeing to the class as the need arises – this could be in the form of offering support, passing on concerns, being able to inform students of correct processes and protocols in relation to wellbeing
  • Work with teachers to develop curriculum and offer input on classroom practices
  • Organise class events in consultation with Pastoral Care/Form teacher
  • Promote class participation in school extra-curricular activities or events
  • Support the SRC leaders to run whole school activities/initiatives
  • Attend meetings with the YLCs or other staff as required
  • Complete any additional tasks as requested by Student Leadership Coordinator, Year Level Coordinators, Pastoral Care/Form teacher or classroom teachers

Students interested in taking on this role are to provide their teacher with a written nomination, stating why they want a leadership role and what they think they can bring to it. Once the nominations are complete the nominees will need to prepare a speech to deliver to their class. Once this has been done the class will need to vote for their chosen representative.

Teach the Teacher Program (Year 7 to Year 12)

The Teach the Teacher Program is designed to develop students’ personal leadership, communication and problem solving skills.

Students have the opportunity to engage in peer-to-peer teaching and learning and build on their strengths to develop:

  • Student Leadership – Teach the Teacher Program

    an understanding of student voice and representation

  • an greater understanding of teaching and learning
  • their potential to be leaders through a student-led professional learning session
  • their own unique approach to leadership
  • an increased understanding of their personal strengths and skills
  • effective communication skills
  • a willingness to create a more inclusive school culture

Students had meetings throughout the year where they worked on data collected from last year and information gathered from teachers at the Teach the Teacher staff professional development undertaken last year and made decisions on what their focus would be moving forward.

Students found that the issue of approachability was an important one to raise with students and staff. In an effort to find out more around this issue, students conducted staff and student surveys to look into student-teacher rapport. All teachers who completed the survey said they felt they were approachable but our students thought differently and gave ideas on how they feel their teachers could become more approachable. The Teach the Teacher group then did their own research and found that students value authentic teachers. Research told them that authentic teachers were seen as approachable, passionate, attentive, capable, and knowledgeable, while inauthentic teachers were viewed as unapproachable, lacking passion, inattentive, incapable.

Students then presented their data and research to the staff this year at a Professional Development afternoon and discussed ways teachers can become more approachable to reduce the gap between students and teachers. Students not only organised this afternoon, they worked collaboratively to bring their work together and all took an equal part in presenting and facilitating table group discussions with teachers. The event was highly successful with both teachers and students feeling more connected and students particularly feeling better developed in their public speaking skills and confidence.

Through the Teach the Teacher program we have recognised the importance of listening to the students and their thoughts on how to continue to develop positive relationships within the school community. Students not only feel that their voices are being heard but that action is being taken. The Teach the Teacher program will continue next year and we hope to involve more students in the conversation.

Download the Teach the Teacher 2019 video

Launch into Leadership (Year 10 Elective)

Our very first leadership elective commenced in 2019. Launch into Leadership aims to develop each student’s leadership through an emphasis on communication, teamwork, self-discipline and organisational skills.

Students explore leadership styles and develop skills including: finding your passion, living with purpose, teamwork, speech writing, public speaking, problem solving and making a difference.

 

Download the Launch into Leadership video

MultiPride

MultiPride is all about young people from culturally diverse backgrounds taking the lead in shaping the school culture they want to be a part of.

Students know that if they’re experiencing racism, or bullying of any kind, they’ve got someone they can go to, someone in a MultiPride jumper. They’ve got a place they can go if they’re committed to solving tensions with words, rather than acting out physically.

At the end of the day, it’s just about being better. It’s about leadership. It’s about calling out discrimination.

But more than anything, it’s about pride.

Download the MultiPride video.

George Massouris
Assistant Principal

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