It is that time in the school year again when the students in Year 5 start to consider their roles for next year and whether or not they would like to be recognised as a leader. We encourage every boy to apply for a role, but also appreciate that not every leader has to wear a badge.

The students in Year 5 have come a long way this year and have stood up and been counted as leaders on many occasions already. The boys have helped mentor their Kindergarten buddies throughout the year, successfully delivering the Arthur Interactive Mouse (AIM) Buddy Project, teaching their buddies social skills through topics such as empathy, forgiveness, honesty and learning from others. In addition to this, the school has started to explore service learning for each year group and Year 5 have partnered with Cromehurst School. The boys have been partnered with Cromehurst students from Kindergarten to Year 6 and have started to visit on a weekly basis, assisting the Cromehurst classroom teachers and students with learning activities. It has been fantastic to watch these interactions as the Year 5 students have really stepped into their leadership roles and we are hoping to extend the partnership with Cromehurst into next year.

As part of the leadership process, the students unpacked the qualities of a good leader, exploring those qualities with Mr Barrington-Higgs and the current Year 6 leaders. Among those that the boys identified most strongly with were the themes of being respectful, empathetic, open minded, demonstrating equality, being yourself, a problem solver and a great communicator. As part of the process, the boys who wished to nominate themselves for leadership roles had to deliver a speech to their respective house, with a massive 39 out of 51 boys delivering speeches this year. The standard of the speeches was fantastic considering that the boys only had an hour to prepare, and the boys then voted for the nominees. The staff will then have some input into next year’s school leaders, and there will be some students waiting excitedly until all is revealed on Presentation Day…

Throughout the boys’ current unit of inquiry, ‘The colonisation of different places is influenced by significant events and people and can impact future generations,’ they have also been exploring significant female figures in Australia’s history. These have ranged from Edith Cowan to Julia Gillard, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley to Cathy Freeman. Many of the women were pioneers and leaders in their various fields, and it has been great giving boys the opportunity to broaden their understanding of leadership and gender. This has been particularly important in the context of building a culture of respect, both for each other and members of the opposite sex in the lead up to White Ribbon Day (25 November) and through partaking in events such as the UN’s International Day of the Girl Child.

It has been a real pleasure teaching Year 5 this year and watching the boys grow into potential future leaders of this school and beyond into ‘men of substance’.

Sam Watson and Pascal Czerwenka – Year 5 Teachers