CAB Leadership Conference - Years 5 & 6

In Week 3 the Year 5 and 6 students participated in the CAB Leadership Conference. We were split into mixed class groups to develop our leadership skills. Each teacher ran a unique session and we finished the conference with an engaging and empowering group session. The individual sessions included: 

Collaborate

I believe this session was about teamwork and communication. We were building a bridge out of raw spaghetti, marshmallows, tape, bluetack and string. We had to think outside the box and effectively use each other's strengths. We watched a slideshow that helped us understand that groupthink is bad and we need to collaborate to maximise quality. This brought together groups and moulded new friendships. 

Goal setting

This session was to help us achieve our goals in a smart and controllable way and recognise our success. First we watched a small video about Ben Crowe and how we can set a goal without expectations and find out the best way to reach the value of your goal. Ben talked about helping famous people like Ash Barty, this helped us work out the intent and the effort you had to put in. To end this powerful lesson we wrote down a goal to achieve using the smart goal template. 

Character strengths

We focused on character strengths in this lesson and identified why we need to understand our own strengths and others. We got into a group of 4 or 5 and listed each other's strengths to contribute to our own lists. We attained a new knowledge of our peers in the year 5/6 cohort. We spent some time by ourselves and listed what we think our strengths are and wrote them in our CAB conference booklet. I think I speak for everyone when I say that the students were left with confidence and a reassuring feeling in themselves. 

Trusted learners 

This lesson was about trusted learners and how we can appropriately and effectively have a trusting relationship within our 5/6 cohort. To start off we got to know each other through a game called 2 truths and a lie. We built a friendship between our small groups and learned some new names. We were told to brainstorm some things we could draw that symbolises trust between students, teachers and staff of our school. We voted with ones we liked best and they will be put into lanyards to be worn when students are working out in our communal space, the CAB. 

Small actions, big impacts

We started off this session about small actions and big impacts by watching a video of a continuous ripple. As a group we thought about what could be causing this ripple of leadership. Then we watched another video about leadership, power, determination, action and impact. The video was a speech from an army leader about how one small action can have a ripple of effect. We need to put in perspective of what we can do to start the chain of effect and impact. We thought about people such as Mallala Yousafzia, Greta Thunberg and Ned Brockmann. We made a goal about what we hope can start a ripple of action. We were empowered to try for what we believe in. 

Ben Pettingill and public speaking

Ben Pettingill talked us through his experience of being blind and running marathons to raise money. He showed us his amazing attitude and way of dealing with tough experiences. He had a love of public speaking and showed us how to speak fluently and authentic with it. He empowered us to write our pledges and imply new tips for our experiences to come. 

To conclude we came up with a statement that we will all uphold as 5/6 students in the CAB - DON’T BE A BOSS, BE A LEADER!