Student leadership
At Oakhill Drive Public School student leadership is an important aspect of school, especially for our senior students. All students from Year 1 onwards have the opportunity to be selected for the Student Representative Council. In Stage 3 students participate in leadership programs and are nurtured in developing self confidence and initiative and their leadership skills in many areas including public speaking, decision making, and working effectively with others. They are given many opportunities to demonstrate and continue to develop these skills throughout Years 5 & 6.
At the beginning of Year 5, students are informed of the expectations the school has of its senior students and the student leader election process. The school expectations of respect, responsibility and resilience are continually reinforced throughout the whole school and it is expected that our senior students will model and promote these to other students.
In Term 4, Year 5 students are invited to participate in student leader elections. This process involves peer/self nominations and speeches, followed by all students in Years 2-5 voting for their preferred boy and girl candidate. All students are eligible to stand for election, however students who have received more than one red note during Year 5, as a result of breaching school rules, will not be eligible to hold the positions of School Captain or School Vice Captain. At Presentation Day, the positions of School Captain, School Vice Captains, Prefects, House Captains and House Vice Captains are announced. The school leadership team is required to sign a ‘Code of Conduct', which outlines the responsibilities and duties expected of students who hold these privileged positions.
Student Representative Council (SRC):
Students are happier and participate in their education more effectively when adults listen to their ideas and value their opinions. Schools also benefit when students are actively involved in the life of the school. An SRC is a formal group of students elected by their peers to represent them. The aims of the SRC are:
- to provide a forum to express their ideas and opinions
- to develop leadership
- to promote improvement in the school
- to promote school spirit
- to encourage ideas of commitment, community service peer leadership by example.
Students discuss the role of the SRC and elect two representatives from each class. Students may nominate themselves or others. SRC representatives participate in one training day. Here time is dedicated to introduce students to the skills of collaboration, communication, organisation, problem solving, leading a meeting and public speaking. These skills are explicitly taught by teachers to the SRC students during meetings as they organise school events, discuss community participation, and support to charities.
In the past, our students have developed wish lists for the school’s consideration. Members schedule meetings with the Principal and the P&C to share their thoughts. In the past this has included; more handball courts, upgrades to bathrooms, playground equipment and funding for our UNISEF sponsor child and other charities. Each SRC member attends the meeting and reports back to their class. They lead class discussion (with the help of the teacher) about the topic and take the opinion of the class back to the meeting.
At Oakhill Drive Public School, we give students the opportunity to voice their opinion and take up causes that are important to them.
