Significant Events and Student Achievements

2026 Global Learning Student Ambassador Project–Celebrating Student Leadership & Global Connection

The 2026 Global Learning Student Ambassador Project has provided our students with a wonderful opportunity to develop their leadership, communication and advocacy skills while making a meaningful contribution to our school community.

Doncaster Secondary College was very proud to be selected as a participating school in this year’s program. Over the past six months, our Global Learning Student Ambassadors have worked together to promote multicultural understanding, strengthen connections between students and create opportunities for greater inclusion across our school.

The Project culminated in the 2026 Global Learning Student Ambassador Closing Forum, where our local and international students joined student leaders from Victorian Government and independent schools. The forum provided an inspiring opportunity for students to reflect on their achievements; share the initiatives they had developed and exchange ideas about future projects.

Our DSC ambassadors actively participated throughout the day, confidently sharing their experiences and contributing thoughtful ideas for strengthening global learning and student connection at DSC. Their enthusiasm, collaboration and willingness to listen to the perspectives of others demonstrated the qualities of effective young leaders.

We are particularly proud of the way our students worked together across different year levels and backgrounds. Through their involvement, they have demonstrated that student voice can make a genuine difference in creating a more welcoming, inclusive and globally connected school community.

Congratulations to our 2026 Global Learning Student Ambassador Team

A special thank you to our wonderful ambassadors for the time, enthusiasm, creativity and leadership they have contributed throughout the project:

• Kuysing (Kyle) Te
• Nelly Carol (Nelly) Lim
• Zian (Mia) Gao 
• Guqin (Grace) Xu
• Elyse Van Der Mei
• Madison Nguyen
• Tsz Wai (Josephine) Kung
• Boxuan (Danny) Wang
• Junyu (William) Yan
• Chenxinyi (Celine) Zhao

Student Reflections – What the Project Meant to Us

Our ambassadors were also invited to reflect on their experiences and share what they have gained from participating in the Global Learning Student Ambassador Project.

Their reflections highlight the value of providing young people with opportunities to have their voices heard, develop confidence, build friendships across cultures and take an active role in shaping their school community.

We look forward to continuing to support our students as they grow as confident young leaders and global citizens.

As a Global Learning Student Ambassador, contributing to our community is what I enjoy the most. I’ve learned that creating opportunities for students from different backgrounds to communicate, cooperate and have fun with peers helps promote multiculturalism and global connections. Additionally, working in the International Student Voice Forum to run different kinds of programs helps strengthen my collaboration and teamwork skills. I’ve also gained the knowledge that teamwork needs the respect to other’s opinions and taking on leadership responsibilities. The Global Learning Student Ambassador Project provides me with the chance of becoming more confident in communicating and working with peers by sharing and discussing various ideas of running inter school activities. Moreover, it provides me with the opportunity to share my ideas and take on leadership responsibilities by organizing and hosting several events such as International Students Buddy Program and “Your Safety, Your Voice” Poster Contest Award Ceremony. One of my favourite activities is “Your Safety, Your Voice” Poster Contest because it helps raise people’s awareness of neighbourhood safety issues and encourage people to live more safely. It was also my very first time of hosting an award ceremony as well as receiving the prize in the contest with honour. Participating in activities with students from different backgrounds creates valuable opportunities for us to genuinely connect, interact and learn from each other by communicating and cooperating during the sessions. From working with other international students through different activities, I learned that communication is the key skill that ensures our sessions can continue smoothly and efficiently as well as to keep improving for next time. I felt that our student voice was genuinely valued. For example, IEPD gave us a response immediately that they accepted our feedback and promised to improve for the future sessions which we were greatly appreciated that our voice was heard. My involvement has changed the way I see myself as a student leader because the Global Learning Student Ambassador Project gave me the chance to share my ideas, communicate with peers and contribute to our community which strengthens my confidence a lot. I would recommend Global Learning Student Ambassador Project to other students because it really enriches our experience and helps us develop leadership skills as I build up my confidence during the project as well. In the future years, I would say that our Global Learning Student Ambassador Project will become better as we collect reflections from participants and continue contributing to our society. - Guqin (Grace) XU

Being a Global Learning Student Ambassador in 2026 has been a meaningful and rewarding experience. I enjoyed working with other ambassadors, sharing ideas, and helping create a welcoming environment for newly arrived international students.  Through the school project, I became more confident in communicating with others, working as part of a voice team, and taking on leadership responsibilities. These Organizing activities such as the “Your Safety, Your Voice” Poster Contest and “READY PLAYER ONE” helped me develop my organization skills and teamwork skills. I mostly enjoyed the Dragon Boat Festival and Mooncake Festival celebrations. I helped with designing promotional materials including designing the poster and preparing Compass newsfeeds. They gave me the opportunities to share Chinese culture through Zongzi and Mooncake with other students. I realized that cultural activities could bring people from different backgrounds together. These experiences helped me understand the importance of multiculturalism and global connections. I also learned a lot from working with international and local students. I felt that our ideas, opinions, and student voice were genuinely valued, especially when we were encouraged to contribute ideas about activities for international students. The project has changed how I see myself as a student leader. Now I understand that leadership is about listening to feedback, supporting others, and creating a positive environment for all international students. I would strongly recommend the project to other students because it provides opportunities to develop valuable skills, build global connections, and make a meaningful contribution to our school community. I hope future projects will continue to provide more opportunities for cultural activities, and collaboration between international and local students. - Chenxinyi (Celine) ZHAO

What I enjoyed the most about being a global learning student ambassador is that I was able to help new international students adjust and make new fun memories of all our activities. I have learnt how to be a better leader and after 4 years of being a part of the international program I have been able to work on my communication skills and my leadership skills to help steer people into the right direction. This project did make me feel more confident in communicating, being able to talk and lead people every week really made my confidence grow. My favourite activity was the food guess. Every year I look forward to either hosting the activity or being able to play. It’s really fun to see people guess foods from different cultures regardless of if they have tried the food or not. Participating in activities with students from different backgrounds helped me understand multiculturalism and global connection by seeing how other cultures interact with each other and how different cultures values influence people. Yes, I did feel that my ideas and student voice were valued. After every session my mentor Ms Sally Huang would give us feedback on the sessions, and it is nothing but positive. Yes, my involvement has changed as I now see myself as a leader. I started in year 7 as a local buddy, and now as year 10 who is no longer a buddy but an ambassador, who oversees the activities and experiences of new international students. Yes, I would recommend the Global Learning Student ambassador project to other students, I think it is important for students to try new things outside their comfort zone and make new friends. I would like to see in future years more local buddies and more activates that reflex current trends or games that new ambassadors have made. -Madison NGUYEN

The aspect I enjoy the most about being a Global Learning Student Ambassador is having the opportunity to grow my interpersonal capabilities and overall confidence. I feel as though the project has allowed me to express myself with confidence and learn more about varying cultures and global perspectives. Overall, I the project has allowed me to gain a sense of self-confidence and willingness to share my ideas with the team. Not only that, but I have also made many new friends over the years of my participation. The Global Learning Student Ambassador project has significantly improved my communication skills and ability to converse and work collaboratively with others. It also helped develop my sense of responsibility and ableness to undertake difficult tasks and activities. My favourite experience during the project has been the forums. This is because I strongly enjoy being able to represent my school and present our achievements to a large audience. I also enjoy them because they allow me to meet new people from various schools. My participation in activities has allowed me to better understand multiculturalism and global connection through the collaborative nature of the activities, which presents diverse backgrounds and means of collaboration. Through running events such as the International Student Buddy Program, I have been able to explore many different cultures and perspectives all within my own school. From collaborating with international students, I have developed important communication abilities and significantly improved my intercultural understanding. My group's student voice and opinions were generally valued to a high extent. Although there is room for improvement, the program allows an opportunity for students to portray their ideas openly. My involvement has changed my view regarding the way I present myself. I since have become a more confident and capable student leader. Overall, I would recommend the Ambassador Project to incoming students as it serves as a strong way to develop many new skills and meet new people. Although, at times it can be slightly difficult to complete all activities alongside school studies, so, I'd personally only recommend joining if the student has ample time to contribute to their team. Whilst the current program is strong, I personally think it would be a significant improvement if the project allowed student expression with a less structured approach to advocate for greater diversity and creative expression among students. - Elyse VAN DER MEI 

I enjoyed connecting with students from different cultures and working together on projects that promoted global understanding. It felt meaningful to contribute to a welcoming and inclusive environment. I gained stronger communication skills, cultural awareness, and confidence in teamwork. I also learned how to adapt my communication style when working with people from diverse backgrounds. The project encouraged me to speak up, share ideas, and take responsibility during group activities. These experiences helped me feel more comfortable leading and collaborating. The multicultural workshops were my favourite because they allowed everyone to share personal stories and cultural experiences. They created a warm, open space for genuine connection. They showed me how different cultural perspectives shape communication and problem‑solving. Working together helped me appreciate diversity and understand global connection on a deeper level. I learned about their challenges, strengths, and unique experiences. Listening to them taught me empathy and helped me understand how important support and inclusion are. When I suggested adding more interactive cultural exchange activities, the team accepted the idea and included it in our event planning. It made me feel heard and appreciated. I now see leadership as supporting others, encouraging participation, and creating space for different voices. I feel more confident taking initiative. I would recommend the project as it helps students build global awareness, develop leadership skills, and form meaningful friendships. It’s a supportive and enriching experience. - Boxuan (Danny) WANG

Overall, I enjoyed being able to participate and collaborate with other students from different year levels through teamwork, collaboration, and helping each other through difficult moments throughout the process of our project. I also enjoyed receiving the opportunity to meet and interact with students from different schools through the Global Ambassador Conference on 17/09. I believe that being able to step out of your comfort zone and explore new opportunities is what makes the experience enjoyable.

I have definitely built my courage to step out of my comfort zone through constant encouragement from the international department as well as both local and international students that were a part of this Voice Team. Additionally, participating in this project while also managing my academics as a Year 11 student strengthened my ability to manage my time despite the rigorous schedules I have to cope with. 

This project ultimately assisted me in gaining more confidence in terms of my public speaking abilities that allowed me to effectively communicate and work with other students regardless of our perspectives of certain areas in our project. As a student who is seen as a 'vocal student' when it comes to social justice, I believe that taking on this leadership role that came with the weight of heavy responsibilities exercised my abilities to maintain an open mind around diverse perspectives from different individuals. Leadership responsibilities like this gave me an opportunity to voice my opinions around public concerns within the school community, essentially allowing me to act on causes I strongly advocate for. 

I think that my favorite moment in this project is not necessarily the activities we hosted but the conclusive conference we attended recently. I really enjoyed being able to interact and see innovative projects done by other schools that influenced me to think beyond the picture. I enjoyed collaborating with other schools through our inter-school project with Gennezzano that strengthened our community with other schools. Additionally, I also got to meet or at least briefly interact with other students outside of my school in an educational setting where we shared similar values around the same topics such as social justice, and global change which made it easy for us to converse with other peers during that conference.

Personally, I found little to no difficulties when it came to interacting with other students from different backgrounds as I often find myself capable of understanding the values of multiculturalism and global connectedness through my own family background and multilingual abilities which made it fairly easy to be able to communicate and interact with each other. Of course, there were other cultures and traditions that I've discovered throughout the process of this activity which allowed me to broaden my perspectives around how I perceive different cultures and traditional customs. These activities built a strong connection between students throughout the year that allowed us to slowly grow comfortable of interacting with each other, allowing them to share their own anecdotal experiences around multiculturalism and global connectedness.

I definitely learned how to be a part of a group as someone that prefers to work individually. I learned how to accommodate others that progress at a slower pace ultimately allowing me to build my patience and cohesion between different students. The activities we've hosted all played different roles in challenging me in my ability to listen and collaborate with other international students despite our differences in how we approach situations. I learned that listening to other peers is also an important role when it comes to being a Global Ambassador as it reflects how well we are able to communicate and work with each other. This is not only beneficial in the educational setting but also a skill that can be maintained beyond the educational field.

I believe that progress has been made when it comes to expressing my ideas and opinions to school authorities. The first step isn't necessarily the action of change, but it's more on making authorities within the school community aware of student concerns that affect the community as a whole. This encourages authorities to engage in problems that are of interest to students. As an international student that has a strong sense of advocacy for social change (as mentioned), I believe that being able to hold a sense of voice within the school community as an international student allows me to express my concerns directly towards the International department as well as the senior department on behalf of the SRC team.

I think that my involvement changed the way I saw myself in terms of my ability to play a role within the school community. I never expected myself to take on this role as I used to believe that only high academic achieving students were the only ones that could contribute towards the school community. Being chosen as the one of the many talented student leaders made me see that I am capable of achieving things that I thought were beyond my abilities. 

I think that I would recommend students that value change within the school or the broader community. I believe that the Global Learning Student Ambassador Project is an introductory step to encourage students who want to advocate for what they want - a start to their journey. Students who enjoy participating and collaborating with other students from different year levels while exploring themes of diversity, global connection, and multiculturalism should consider contributing towards the International Student Voice Forum as this allows them to explore different perspectives around these shared values while being able to see change through their efforts.

I think that we should explore different ways to approach future activities within the Ambassador Projects as this allows students involved in this project to explore new ways of connecting students rather than the repetitive activities done every school year. A good example of this is incorporating ideas and projects done by other schools that were presented during the International Student Voice Forum as I believe that the general goal of bringing all schools together in that forum is to share and encourage students to take inspiration from other schools. I also believe that maintaining the structure we have in these projects would be beneficial for future years as this builds a foundation towards all our projects to enable an effective and efficient way to put projects into actions. -Nelly Carol (Nelly) LIM

2026 Global Learning Ambassador Inter-School Writing Competition

Stories Without Borders: Celebrating Diversity and Global Connection

As part of an IEPD initiative and the 2026 Global Learning Ambassador Project, Doncaster Secondary College (DSC) was delighted to collaborate with Genazzano FCJ College on an exciting Inter-School Writing Competition.

The project brought Global Learning Ambassadors from both schools together through an online meeting, providing students with an opportunity to connect, exchange ideas and explore the many ways that culture, diversity and global connections shape our lives.

Sharing Stories, Celebrating Diversity

Students were invited to respond to the theme: “Celebrating Diversity and Global Connection”

Each participant was challenged to write a 300–400-word personal essay inspired by their own experiences. Students could draw on their cultural heritage, family traditions, languages, friendships, journeys, personal experiences or connections with people from different backgrounds and parts of the world.

Rather than simply writing about diversity as an idea, the competition encouraged students to share authentic stories and reflect on how their experiences have influenced their understanding of the world.

Students Connecting Through Their Stories

The competition provided a wonderful opportunity for students from DSC and Genazzano FCJ College to learn from one another through their writing. Their stories demonstrated that global connections are not only created through travelling between countries, but can also be found in our families, friendships, languages, traditions and everyday interactions with people from different backgrounds.

Following the submission of entries, ISP staff and the 2026 Global Learning Ambassadors from both schools participated in the judging process. After careful consideration of the students’ creativity, personal insights and connection to the theme “Celebrating Diversity and Global Connection”, four outstanding entries were recognised.

Congratulations to our successful students:

🏆 1st Place – Elyse VAN DER MEI - Doncaster Secondary College

🥈 2nd Place – Nelly Carol (Nelly) LIM - Doncaster Secondary College

🏆 1st Place – Yan Yin Lee (Rosina) - Genazzano FCJ College

🥈 2nd Place – Nina Stevenson - Genazzano FCJ College

We are delighted to share the winning and shortlisted students’ stories with our wider school community. Their writing provides a wonderful insight into their personal experiences and perspectives, while highlighting the richness of cultural diversity and the importance of building meaningful connections across communities.

We warmly congratulate all participating students for sharing their voices, experiences and stories through this wonderful inter-school collaboration.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our ISP Acting Assistant Principal, Ms Scarlett REEVES-SMYTH, who generously supported the judging process at very short notice. Her contribution was greatly appreciated, particularly given the limited timeframe for completing the judging process.

Congratulations to Our 2026 DSC Global Learning Ambassadors

We would also like to acknowledge and thank our 2026 Global Learning Ambassador Team for their enthusiasm, commitment and support throughout this wonderful inter-school initiative:

• Kuysing (Kyle) TE
• Nelly Carol (Nelly) LIM
• Zian (Mia) GAO
• Guqin (Grace) XU
• Elyse VAN DER MEI
• Madison NGUYEN
• Tsz Wai (Josephine) KUNG
• Boxuan (Danny) WANG
• Junyu (William) YAN
• Chenxinyi (Celine) ZHAO
•  

Their participation reflects the leadership, creativity and global-mindedness that the Global Learning Ambassador Project aims to foster.