“The foundation of a collaborative learning community is collaboration – working together for common goals, partnership, shared leadership, co-evolving and co-learning – rather than competition and power given only to a few.” Julie Boyd and Carole Cooper

Leadership is encouraged and developed in all aspects of classroom life.  All the things outlined in this section of ‘what matters most?’ play a part in helping children understand themselves, grow as learners and develop as leaders.  At OLOR we want children to have the experience and to understand that every child is a leader and that leadership is a responsibility we all share. All students, be they in Kindergarten or Year 6, have an important and public role to play in contributing to the school community. With this in mind all teachers work on developing cooperative structures within their classroom using the Kagan Model of Cooperative Learning and the Gibbs Model from TRIBES.

In addition to this, there are also specific leadership building strategies.  We try to ensure that the leadership opportunities are authentic, meaningful and related to making a difference in the life of the class community and/or school community.

In the context of our Catholic Worldview, the model of leadership is one of service and ministry.  All Year 6 children are involved in meaningful leadership opportunities that involve peer-teaching children in younger grades, for example, during Mission Week. 

Leadership first becomes formalised in Year 4 when the Future Kindergarten - Year 4 Buddy relationship is commenced during orientation. This relationship involves social and emotional support for the incoming Kindergarten child and develops into educational support as the Kindergarten year progresses. At the commencement of the new school year Year Five set up play equipment in the infants courtyard for before school and recess play. They also move around the courtyard supporting the children in the process of locating peers and initiating play with them. This support is gradually lessened before school, and transferred to lunch time throughout 1^st term. 

Year 6 begin the year with an integrated English, Religious Education and Personal Development Unit. Before the unit is introduced, the children will participate in activities from “Tribes”. All children need to feel they are working in an environment where good learning is taking place for all children, where they feel safe to be themselves, to work at their own level and feel successful. The children will initially work with a different group of children each day before working in a ‘tribes’ group. 

General discussion about the structure of student leadership at OLOR will be held. Discussion will include:

what is expected of the Year 6 leaders

the process of the election and

a description of the various leadership roles. 

Student Leadership Structure

All Year 6 children will be seen as having a significant role to play as a student leader. The student leadership structure consists of:

Student representation Council (SRC) with 18 Year 6 representatives of which 14 are class representatives, two are school captains and two are house captains.

• 2 School Captains
• 4 House Captains
• Year 6 Leadership Teams  

SRC Election Process

Any child who nominates themselves for a position on the SRC or as a sports captain will need to give a speech. The speech will outline what they consider their role as a leader to be at OLOR. The speech will be two minutes in duration and given to the children in the primary grades, Years 3-6. 

The children and teachers will listen to the speeches and then vote with the 16 children with the highest votes forming the representative part of the SRC. Voting is ‘first past the post’. From the 16 elected by the primary grades, Year 6 themselves and the teachers will elect the school captains - a boy and a girl. This will be a preferential vote. The two captains elected will become the SRC Chairpersons. 

NOTE: It is possible that some of the 14 elected SRC members will wish to stand for Colour Captain positions. In this situation the child may stand for colour captain and if successful the child with the next highest votes for SRC membership will be invited onto the SRC.

The Role of the SRC at OLOR

Each member of the SRC represents the voices of their respective class or leadership area from Kindergarten to Year 6.  They visit their classes on a regular basis, sharing anything of interest from their SRC meetings, seeking feedback on ideas and issues and asking about any class issues that they would like raised at the next meeting.

The SRC meet with the Principal as needed, at least once per month, and sometimes as frequently as once each week.  In these meetings team members share what they are currently working on and ideas from their classes. 

At times throughout the year they organise special events like The Talent Quest or mufti days, as a result of discussions at their meetings. 

Sports Captain Election Process

Children who wish to be considered for sports captain positions prepare and present a speech to Years 3-6 at the same time as all leadership positions are given. The children in Years 5 & 6 move into colour houses to vote for colour house captains. 

Other Leadership Opportunities at OLOR

There are eight other leadership teams:

• Library
• Environment
• Liturgy
• Social Justice
• KidSpace
• Technology
• Sport
• Citizenship 

The children will be asked to list their preferences and the teachers will place the children in teams according to their indicated preferences. The children may not receive their first preference but efforts are made to give them a placement with which they will be happy. 

Library Team 

The members of the Library Team are asked to volunteer on a regular basis to help in the library at lunchtimes on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays depending on their other commitments.

During these times they can help younger students with using the computers, playing recreational games and generally assisting with packing up at the end of lunchtime. At times the team members will be asked to assist with such tasks as borrowing and returning books for other students and re-shelving books in the library.

During Book Week there may be additional responsibilities such as meeting and greeting visitors (eg. author visits) and thanking them at the conclusion of their visit.

Usually there will be an opportunity during the year for the Library Team members to visit a local bookshop (usually the Children’s Bookshop at Beecroft) to assist with selecting some books for the library. Before such visits they are required to survey other students to see what kind of new books are considered to be most needed and wanted. 

Environment Team

Each year the Year 6 Environment Team is made up from students who are interested in the environment and have expressed a desire to make a difference in their world through environmental issues.

The first meeting of the year looks at the “Green Dates” web site and a focus for each term is chosen.  This links with outside companies such as Keep Australian Beautiful and Planet Ark to access their resources as well.  Each year we usually take part in Clean Up Schools Day, World Environment Day and Schools Tree Day.  All of these activities involve communicating with the rest of the school community in assemblies, posters around the school and the school newsletter.

This year, as a major focus, we have applied for a Community Water Grant from the Commonwealth Government.  This involved doing a water audit of the school looking at our water bill and examining ways to save water around the school.  The team were very keen to install a water tank but on inspection there were no gutters to funnel the water into tanks and it was decided to apply for duel flush toilets instead.

This Year’s team is very enthusiastic to have meetings and discuss their views on the environment.  With such topics as climate change in the news daily, they even suggested showing Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” to the school!

A great team to work with – a passionate subject to deal with! 

Liturgy Team

The Liturgy Team assist the Religious Education Co-ordinator to fulfil her role in relation to school liturgies and some outreach activities. They help prepare and lead some of the school liturgies especially those that are non-Eucharistic. The role of the team varies according to the nature of the liturgy. They are also involved in awareness raising of projects such as Project Compassion. 

Social Justice Team

Each year the Year 6 Social Justice Team is made up from students who are interested in the social justice issues and have expressed a desire to make a difference in their world.

The Year 6 Social Justice Team take an active role in school outreach opportunities.  Each year under the guidance of their support teacher/s  they work together to plan and organise special events for the school community to acknowledge and celebrate significant days like Harmony Day and National Reconciliation Week.

They lead the staff, students and parents in prayer and share stories to build greater understanding within the community.  Sometimes this team organises special raffles, mufti or collection days to support particular charities or initiatives like the Vinnies Winter Appeal. 

KidSpace Team

The Kidspace team is made up of students who enjoy working with others, and have a particular passion for supporting their peers with social issues.

KidSpace is timetabled for Thursdays (K-2) and Fridays (3-6) in one of the classrooms and is designed as a place where children can come to spend some time away from the outdoor pursuits enjoyed by many students at lunch.  It is seen as a “safe” place to be, where encouraging and helpful students are there to support peers, and a place where a teacher can chat to students informally about anything that might be troubling them.  

This team supports the coordinating teacher by helping to choose games and activities, which children will enjoy.  They then make themselves available on a roster system to help out on these days – playing with students who come along, and helping encourage pro social behaviour. 

Technology Team

The Technology Team support the school – staff and students – with the management of the IT resources, under the guidance of the IT co-ordinator.  They look after photographing important school events and recording class assemblies so that they can produce DVDs for those parents unable to do so themselves.

This team also assists with running the K-2 and 3-6 Computer and Internet Safety workshops, led by the IT co-ordinator.  Also, at times during lunchtimes, this group of Year 6 leaders make themselves available at lunchtime in the library to support their peers, in learning how to use the technology. The teachers call on these children when they need support in using technology in classrooms, and when setting up equipment for liturgies, masses or concerts. 

Sport/Skills Day Team

The Year Six Sports Team allows for students to be involved in leadership activities in a practical and helpful way. These students organise and facilitate the Thursday Skills Day where classes from Year Two to Six are encouraged to participate in a range of sporting games and skills. The team is involved in:

• Agreeing on appropriate sports and skills
• Deciding on appropriate areas for each sport/skill
• Cooperating and negotiating with school staff and other students
• Agreeing on strategies for student management
• Organising a roster system for classes and sport/skill
• Evaluating successes and areas of development 

Civics and Citizenship Team

The Civics and Citizenship Team are responsible for several aspects of school life.  They take a leadership role in welcoming special visitors to the school, and helping to organise events like Open Day, where they talk with prospective families and assist the parent helpers as needed. 

This team also helps in preparing special assemblies relating to their role, especially the Anzac Day service and a commemoration for Remembrance Day.  They are also involved in any special organization of weeks like Celebrating Democracy Week. 

Every Monday morning the Civics and Citizenship Team organise the Flag Raising Ceremonies whilst we sing the National Anthem.  Some of the team run an assembly in the courtyard with the infants classes and the remainder look after the primary assembly in the undercroft with the portable flagpole.  The team are also responsible for raising and lowering the flag each day, and storing it appropriately.

The team also support the school by taking a lead role in the management of the school lost property. Each week/fortnight the team sort through the items returning those with names to their owners and tidying the remaining items.