School Captains Speech 2025

Aditi K and Luca S

INTRODUCTION

Good evening, everyone, my name is Aditi Krishna and this is Luca Stevenson. We are the proud School Captains of POPS for 2025. As leaders this year, we have learnt so many valuable skills and today on this very special night, we are going to take you through our journey of ups and downs from Foundation to where we are now.

FOUNDATION

When I first entered the classroom on my first day of school, I was so overwhelmed. My teacher, Mrs Allegretto, was immediately so welcoming. She cared for all of us so much. I remember the 100 days of school, we made little paper hats and we paraded around the school in them. We were so proud that we had made it to 100 days of Prep. I had a special lunch order and we had fun the whole day. I thought to myself at that moment that I knew I was going to have the best time at school.

I loved having a big buddy; hanging out with my big buddy was one of the highlights of the year. It was like having an older sibling. All our buddies made us feel so welcome and it was very comforting to know that no matter what happened, we always had that one person who would look out for us. I really loved my start to school.

YEAR 1

I started school at POPS in Year 3 but I still share the same experiences with COVID. In Year 1 COVID hit. It was new to start school at home, getting on Webex and learning online. Even though the sleep-ins were fun, we really missed our friends. It was challenging to keep in touch with everyone. We could barely socialise with people other than our family. It was really scary to think that COVID could make people really sick. When I was that young, I was terrified of COVID. I was figuring out how to get onto Webex and I was late to a couple of my classes. I needed a lot of help from my parents to make it a habit in my daily routine. I eventually got COVID in year 3 and it felt terrible! I was basically living in my room and I felt like I was in Antarctica, but my skin felt like it was the sun. I absolutely hated it, but after a week, I felt as good as new!

YEAR 2

Year 2 was a really challenging year, we were on and off at school because of COVID. It was still really scary not to know when we were going back to school. We had to wear masks in class and it was really terrifying when you had to do a COVID test. You couldn’t visit any of your family and your only source of what was happening was on the news. I remember thinking when I first heard of COVID that the world was going to end. But we remained hopeful.

One of the highlights of the interrupted school year was our excursion to the MCG, the Botanical Gardens and the Shrine of Remembrance. It was really fun to journey through the city and have a tour through the MCG. It was a great year for resilience and bouncing back after a hard year.

YEAR 3

In Year 3, I joined POPS. Even though I was new to the school everyone immediately welcomed me and I felt like I had always been a POPS student. COVID was over and everyone was so excited to see their friends after a long time in lockdown. We did so many different events in Year 3. One of the best things, was our camp to Candlebark Farm, because it was everyone’s first camp. We were all so excited and happy about just having 3 WHOLE days and 2 WHOLE nights just with our friends. The activities at Candlebark Farm were so entertaining and there was a Gaga Pit as well! None of us had ever seen anything like that and we treated it like ROYALTY! We also went on a flying fox and did a lot of fun activities.

Another activity that was really exciting in Year 3 was our very first Cross Country and Athletics day. We were really excited to do all the tabloid sports on Athletics day because Mrs Carbone had been teaching us how to throw, run and jump, during P.E. Cross Country was also really fun because we got to experience how the tiring run would feel. Some of us went on to run at district Cross Country, which was really exciting, since it was our first Cross Country.

YEAR 4

One of the highlights in Year 4 was participating in Cucina and Gardening. I remember in my first Gardening session, it was a really hot summer day and we were given the job of watering the plants. FYI, water and hot children do not mix well. We had the idea of cooling ourselves down by splashing each other with the hose; it was really fun; we came back to class soaking wet but with faces full of laughter and smiles. In my first session of Cucina in Year 4, we made Vietnamese rolls. It was really fun to learn about different cultures and how different people ate around the world. It was also really yummy.

For Year 4 camp, we travelled to Sovereign Hill. I loved this camp. We walked around the site and it was like we had travelled back in time to the 1850s. There was a creek where we did gold panning, a hard-boiled Lolly factory and underground mines, which we got to tour through. I remember that in one of the mines, I was unconsciously cowering; I was so frightened. Most of us found gold and it was really exciting to actually see actual gold. I think all of us will never forget that camp.

YEAR 5

In year 5, we got introduced to the senior school. We got our little buddies, which was definitely a huge highlight of year 5. We loved talking to them and taking care of them, which is a big responsibility but with lots of cuteness involved. We made them feel welcome to our school and our buddies loved playing with us. In year 5, we got introduced to Inter School Sports and we played so many different sports together. Some of us played sports we had never played before. We really enjoyed trying out these new sports.

We went to Canberra for camp and it was so fun! It was a 5-day camp and we did so many different activities. We learned a lot about Parliament House and even got to see the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese in action! It was definitely one of my favourite camps at POPS. When the year was coming to an end, we started applying for leadership roles. At this time I was very nervous because I desperately wanted to get School Captain and many other students wanted to apply for many different roles. Finally, our roles were announced and we were ready for our amazing last year of Primary School.

YEAR 6

Year 6, we can’t believe we have finished all our primary schooling. It's really amazing to see how far we have come and how far we have to go. There are so many things that have happened during the year but I really enjoyed the Young Leaders Conference. It gave us an opportunity to listen and see leaders in different areas of expertise all giving their advice to us on how to do the best you can.

We really loved the camp to Philip Island. It was an adventure camp and a lot of fun going canoeing and swinging high on the Giant Swing. Oh, that Giant Swing was the scariest and the most exhilarating thing I had ever done. It was fun to do things differently then in the classroom and it was exciting to travel overseas and be on an actual island. We all loved it. It was a great bonding experience for the whole of the senior school.

CLOSING

Wow! Look at that, we’re finished, it’s official. We are Graduates of 2025! When I look back to when I was in Foundation as a little boy, I would never have thought that I would be here, standing before you as a future High School Student. POPS is the greatest, and I couldn’t have asked for a better Primary school, that goes for all of us. We will never forget what this school has done for us.

From the Classroom