Student Voice & Agency
A point that resonates with me and drives my work in Student Voice and Agency is that schools need student voice as ‘schools should reflect a microcosm of society’. We consult with students and include them in the decision-making process because that’s what a cohesive and sustainable democracy needs to continue thriving. I believe 2024 has been a fantastic year for students to continue our commitment of students contributing meaningfully to the school.
Amplify 7 -10
The purpose of Amplify is to enhance student feedback on their learning. In 2023, the Amplify leaders designed our survey and tested it on a small number of Year 7 classes. After some refinement, the leaders delivered it to the entire Year 8 cohort. This data was then presented to teachers in their Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) and the students provided ideas to help refine the survey based on the feedback. Our leaders then further refined the survey, based on their reflections as leaders and the feedback received, and rolled it out across Years 7-10. Moving forward, the Amplify leaders will present a semester overview of student feedback to PLTs and offer their insights to assist in refining our curriculum.
Working Groups – Uniform and Canteen
As a leader, I have loved the opportunity to engage with the staff, parents and students to get feedback on our uniform policy and the canteen. The uniform review was a particular highlight as students reviewed the uniform policy and identified areas they felt needed updating. They generated questions for the school council to hear their perspective and put forward suggestions for changes. As a result, further consultation was requested by the school council to investigate other possibilities. A formal proposal to enact that change has now been requested.
Beauy Voices
The Attitudes to School Survey is completed every year by staff, parents and students. This data is used to help set the school’s priorities every year. This year, Beauy Voices was introduced. Developed in collaboration with the student Year Level Leaders, each year level viewed and reflected on the data for their cohort. Their responses were compiled to create a snapshot for each year level. Representatives from each year level met with me and shared their insights on the data and cohort feedback. As a school, we were then able to identify patterns that assisted in prioritising our school goals.
Teach the Teacher
The most successful part of Beauy Voices was the Teach the Teacher presentation. I was fortunate enough to work with a fantastic group of Year 10 students. In collaboration with VicSRC, the students reviewed the Attitudes to School data, identified areas of concern they felt were significant for their year level and then developed a professional development session for teachers. The area that students selected to work on was rubrics and feedback. Honestly, it was one of the easiest programs to run. The students designed the inquiry question, decided the formatting and style of presentation, created an icebreaker to run at the start of the session, invited staff to share their thoughts and collected feedback for reflection. Each PLT has stated that this was hands down the best professional development they have had all year. Additionally, it has sparked such a conversation that the rubrics and feedback will be part of the school’s annual plan for next year. The students are very excited to continue collaborating with teachers in 2025, and I similarly, cannot wait to continue working with such a brilliant group of young leaders.
Mr Chris Ardi
Learning Specialist - Student Voice & Agency
