Leadership
Buddies Program
Every Prep student is allocated a Year Six “buddy” for the duration of their first year at school. A buddy is someone who new students can quickly recognise and befriend and who can offer peer support on the playground. Buddies also regularly visit the Prep classrooms to participate in structured activities. The buddy system works on building a relationship between an older student and the prep child based on trust, affirmation and acceptance.
The Buddy system encourages Prep student to:
- Feel welcome
- Feel part of the community
- Become familiar with school rules, buildings and daily routines
- Have channels to act through when experiencing difficulties
- Develop skills through cross-age tutoring.
Older students in return:
- Develop responsibility
- Develop sensitivity and tolerance
- Develop academic skills through cross-age tutoring.
Student Representative Council (SRC)
Elected representatives from all class groups form the Student Representative Council who meet regularly to play an active role in school decision making, making the school a better place to learn in and to provide community awareness of Social Justice issues.
Year Six Leaders
All the Year Six students hold school leader positions, responsible for working in teams to drive actions related to Sustainability, Social Justice or Student Wellbeing. The leadership program at St. Mary's focuses on developing leadership capability in all students, enabling them to:
- Promote positive and respectful relationships in the school community
- Draw on personal strengths to achieve goals and describe the influence that personal qualities and strengths have on achieving success
- Develop role descriptions, team briefs and timelines
- Work collaboratively and contribute effectively as part of a team,
- Identify the characteristics of an effective team
- Describe both their own and their team’s performance when undertaking projects and suggest improvements
Public Speaking
Students in Year Five participate in the Advance Presentation Skills Youth Leadership Course in Term Four each year, as they prepare for their role as Year Six Leaders the following year.
The course provides a unique opportunity to the Year Five students to develop confidence, persistence and resilience through public speaking.
The course culminates in a ‘Graduation Night’, where the students present both prepared and off-the-cuff speeches to their parents and teachers.