Student Voice

Student voice and agency has continued to grow and become a big focus for students at South Oakleigh College. Students at South Oakleigh College are empowered to become involved in decision making and planning to improve student outcomes. Student Leaders make decisions affecting the school community as they work through their different portfolios. Our Student Leadership Program has continued to evolve to incorporate a peer to peer model.

School Leaders immerse themselves in the school community and use their time in different positions to improve student outcomes for all students. Leaders initiate different activities and ensure they run successfully, with maximum student involvement. School Leaders work collaboratively with other students, staff and all stakeholders.

Our successful Peer to Peer Model has helped drive change within our student leadership program. Students are delivering our successful Peer Support Program. School leaders are also running and enacting change within their leadership roles in the S.R.C.

Such leadership roles allow students to develop organisational skills. Students also develop skills and capabilities needed in different leadership positions. We encourage all students to apply for roles as leaders with the school.

Peer Support

Introduction Session 1

The Peer Support Program of 2021 has officially begun. On Thursday 4 January, the Peer Support Mentors ran a session for the Peer Support Leaders of 2021. The new Peer Support Leaders had their first official introduction to the program.

In our session, we introduced the peer support leaders to the structure and plan of how we, as a team, are going to go about this year’s Peer Support Program. The Peer Support leaders were introduced to OneNote and Teams, which will be our primary source of planning and communication throughout this year. We also discussed the structure of our program, such as how many students will belong to each group, when they will take place, and the expectations of all leaders including behaviour and schoolwork catch up throughout the year.

We are off to a great start, and excited to see the 2021 Peer Support Program in action over the year. We look forward to delivering a great program for all the Year 7 Students.

The Peer Support Mentors this year are: Annabelle Windsor, Maple La & Amy Vine.

Sport Prefect Leaders

Hi, we are Emily and Andre, your sport prefects for 2021. It’s our job to work alongside the HPE team and assist in organising the swimming sports, athletics carnival and house cross-country carnival. We are hoping to promote participation and create some different events to have a bit of alternative fun! We are also here for the students to help them with any concerns on the day or leading up to the events or activities. We aim to help as much as we can for any and all sport or physically active events whether it be a carnival or a lunch time competition.

Acacia House Captains

Havan and Cayla are working closely with Acacia students to make sure the house system is an enjoyable and fun experience by implementing ideas and activities. We work with the Heads of Houses and the other House Captains to plan house events and activities. Currently, we are helping in planning the Year 12 jacket-designs as well as ensuring Year 7s and new students have a stress-free transition to the school. Last Tuesday we took part in the house swimming carnival; everyone had loads of fun and enjoyed the time spent with friends. Acacia came 1st in the chant which was an amazing accomplishment for all students. In addition, we placed 3rd overall, which was only 20 points behind Waratah. On behalf of Acacia, we want to say a big ‘thank you’ to Mr Knee for organising such a successful and enjoyable day.

School Captains

Hello staff, fellow students and parents, new and old. Our names are Nishtha, Billy and Tamika and we are privileged to be the School Captains for South Oakleigh Secondary College in 2021. This year we will be working closely with students and staff to plan events and activities for the entire school community. Our first introduction in our School Captain roles, saw us attend school during the holidays to plan and assist in the delivery of the Welcome Back Assembly. This assembly transitioned new and old students into school from the summer holidays, preparing the students for the upcoming year. We have been collaborating with our fellow senior-school leaders, on many assignments already, including the recently held swimming carnival. We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead and will welcome any ideas you bring. Thank you.

Year 12 Retreat: Student Statement

"On Wednesday 3 February, Year 12 students left for a three-day retreat to CYC The Island in Phillip Island. We undertook various exciting activities such as the Flying Fox, Rock Climbing, Circotron, as well as team-building activities such as the Multi-Legged Run and the Giant Swing. Throughout the Retreat, there were multiple sessions; some of them highlighted the importance of recognizing our top 5 Character Strengths, effectively studying, managing our time as many of us begin our journey as an 18-year-old adult and looking into maintaining momentum to be able to achieve goals throughout the year. Tristan Miller, a celebrity speaker, inspired students through his motivational story of going "against all odds" to achieve his goal of running 52 marathons in 52 weeks in different locations around the world. The Year 12 Retreat was an unforgettable experience which created remarkable and everlasting memories."

Nishtha Patel

School Captain

Banksia House Captains at the Swimming Carnival

Our role at the swimming carnival was to make sure that Banksia was organised. We rallied up the students and ensured that everyone knew what was going on in case of any confusion. To make sure everything ran smoothly, we had a schedule with all the event times with the different age groups in case anybody was unsure of when they were up. We cheered everyone on very loudly and we were proud of their efforts and what they have achieved. Towards the end of the day all of the Banksia senior students gathered together at the front for the house chant. We all chanted loudly and showed amazing house spirit! This was really great to see because everyone came together and really showed just how much pride we have. Overall it was a great day and Chun and I were so grateful for everyone’s participation and we were very proud. For the future of Banksia, Chun and I are going to be working closely together to make sure that all our upcoming house events are filled with a lot of more participation , making sure that everyone is familiar with our house chant and overall make the pride grow to become even better! Thank you – Markella and Chun