STUDENT LEADERSHIP ‘STEPPING UP’

On Tuesday, 31st May, we had the opportunity of taking our Primary School Student Leaders to a Primary School Leadership Conference at the Perth Convention Centre. These students were challenged to consider their roles in the Primary School and to do things better than before, effectively ‘stepping up’ into their roles for the year ahead. The conference leaders suggested four qualities that could be employed by our student leaders to increase their leadership capabilities, as outlined below.

1. SERVICE OF OTHERS

Too often leaders think about themselves first. A leader must step up the concern and focus they have for other people. For example, if a student leader says, “I can serve others, I’ll let them join in our football game”, then it’s a nice start. But what if the leader just said that because they don’t want to stop playing football themselves? To step up in this example, the leader might need to be prepared to stop playing football to join in with activities that others are more enthusiastic about. Serving others means placing their needs before your own.

2. TAKING INITIATIVE

Leaders shouldn’t wait for a teacher to announce a job to do. If a leader sees something, they should step up themselves. Even if it’s not normally that student leader’s job. Even if it might take some hard work. Even if the effort doesn’t achieve much. Initiative is all about the positive action to have a go without sitting back and waiting to be forced to do something.

3. EXEMPLIFYING SCHOOL VALUES

School values are the list of things that are important at a school. At South Coast Baptist College our four key values are Love, Hope, Wisdom, and Grit. Most people know that leaders shouldn’t do the wrong thing, but that’s just the starting point, because leadership isn’t just about not doing things. Leaders need to step up and know their school values. Once leaders know them, they need to do these things deliberately. Exemplifying values needs to be a living, breathing example of these values.

4. LEADING WITH PURPOSE

The purpose of a student leader isn’t just to help at an assembly or at sports carnivals. Those things are part of the purpose, but student leaders should accept the challenge to step up their purpose! The purpose of leaders is to make their school better than ever before. Their purpose is to change something that really needs changing. Their purpose is to do something that lasts for many years. Their purpose isn’t just to copy what the student leaders have done in the past. This year I look forward to seeing our Primary School leaders, develop their purpose, initiative, and service of others in their leadership roles over the 2022 academic year.