Deputy Principal - Student Wellbeing 

Students from St John’s were invited to attend the City of Greater Dandenong Student Leaders Forum on Tuesday 16/3. This was a great opportunity for some of our year 9 to 11 Student Representative Council members to build on their leadership skills and be part of ‘student voice’ in our local community.

Below are some reflections from those students on what they felt about the day:

The event (youth leadership forum) that occurred on the 16/03 was a really great experience for me and the rest of the other 6 SRCs of SJRC. 

My highlight of the day is when we got together with different schools to discuss and share ideas with them, it was something great to experience and step out of our comfort zone and make our voices heard.

Something I learnt and will use is P.M.A – positive mental attitude, a speech made by Kizzy he also pointed out to everyone that- even doing the smallest thing like not scrolling through social media when you wake up straight away will already make you start your day with your bad foot, but instead getting up from bed and doing your bed getting to work -will start you off on the right foot, it will make you feel like you have accomplished the most biggest thing ever even though it is very little. Sharomy Jinendran AQ3 yr10

The leadership forum run by the City of Greater Dandenong’s youth program was a wonderful experience. I learnt a lot about leadership, positive mental attitude, how to start the day off on a good note, what leadership looks like, what leaders need to focus on and the problems that face young people today and what we can do to help. It was a great opportunity to make friends from other schools and talk to people who had similar interests. My favourite part of the day was the inspirational speaker at the start of the day, he shared a lot of wisdom with us which will help me on my path as a leader. I also enjoyed meeting the mayor and our group discussions. All in all it was a fantastic experience that I would recommend for all future leaders. Tameka Haggett DE6 yr10

The time spent at the Youth Leadership Forum opened my eyes to the problems that face contemporary society and just how much influence people of our age have on change and how much our voice is heard. The participants worked in groups to address these problems and helped to devise solutions for them. We were also exposed to an array of gripping public speakers such as the Mayor of the City of Greater Dandenong, Angela Long, who detailed her past experiences of guiding people to a greater future. It was a truly worthwhile venture that left those who attended inspired to make a change. Kye Duncan CO6 yr11

Last Tuesday was The Youth Leader Forum. At the youth leader forum, we sat at tables filled with different leaders from schools and discussed social justice issues. The day helped us grow as leaders and helped us learn how to combat the issues of leading a team. The overall experience was a great idea and every leader should learn all this. Tristan Longmuir LE4 yr10

On Tuesday 16th of March, my fellow SRC’s and I travelled to the Springvale Library for a leadership forum. It was organised by the local Youth Group of Greater Dandenong to help workshop our leadership abilities and to hear what we, as the younger generation, have to say about the current issues within our community. The day began with a motivational speech from a special guest speaker who taught us about the traits of a leader, and how we must try our best to have PMA  (Positive Mental Attitude). We then spent the next couple hours discussing with leaders from other schools about the problems actively troubling our society and generation. We reviewed topics such as discrimination, unemployment and mental illnesses. Overall it was a great experience to not only hear other leaders perspectives, but to know that our voice was being heard and is influencing our community for the better. Royce D'Mello DE3 yr9