School Captains head to Leadership Conference

On Tuesday the school captains spent the day at the Dream and Lead Youth Conference. They listened to inspirational stories, learnt a lot and came away with a lot of knowledge and ideas that they can implement in their leadership role at the school. Here are their reflections of the day.

Dream and Lead Youth Conference

By JZ

Leadership is the ability to influence and guide others. That was the definition of leadership at the Primary Lead and Dream Conference at the Melbourne Convention Centre! It was an extremely exciting day for us four school captains (JZ, Lucy, Andre and Eleanor)! We, Mrs. Vesdrevanis and Mrs. Hodgson took a train from Nunawading Train Station to Southern Cross Train Station. The Melbourne Convention Centre was HUGE! Before the conference began we all had to write our definition of leadership. After that we had a bunch of people come up to the stage and talk about their life stories and how it made them become leaders.

My favourite speaker was Amanda Marshall. She was offered a chance to work up at a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory. She wanted to TAKE THE CHANCE and go to work there, but she didn’t feel that courageous yet. While at university she met a man who also wanted to go there, so they piled up in the car and drove off. But then came a river with a very strong current and also the neighbourhood of about 60 crocs. Amanda was terrified! But she knew she had to TAKE THE CHANCE, and so Amanda slammed the gas and drove across the river! She made it safely into the remote community. She learnt lots about Aboriginal life there, and there she also got married to the man she went there with. I found Amanda’s story really inspiring, because she had to take lots of life changing chances and choices to get where she is today. The choices she made, and her bravery left us all in awe. The quote she left for us was: “It’s not just the chance you see, it’s also the steps on the way. ”Overall, the day was really nice with lots of educational value and dances. I hope to be a great leader everyday!

Dream and Lead Youth Conference

By Eleanor

On the 12th of March Mrs Vesdrevanis and Mrs Hodgson took Lucy, Andre, JZ and to the Convention Centre for the Dream and Lead Conference. We all had so much fun and learnt lots about how to be a good leader. My favourite part was when Bonnie talked. Bonnie and Amanda helped run the conference but they each got a chance to speak about their own experiences. When it was Bonnie’s turn, she talked about how we all belong somewhere and that it’s ok to be different. She spoke about her story and how she always changed herself to fit in. Bonnie then said that she realised real friends accept you for who you really are, not who they want you to be. The point Bonnie made was that it’s good to be different and we should all be comfortable in your own skin. “You are perfectly brilliant just the way you are” - Bonnie

Dream and Lead Youth Conference

By Lucy

On the 12th of March Mrs Hodgson, Mrs Vesdrevanis, JZ, Andre, Eleanor and I went to the city and learnt about leadership. It was a lot of fun and there were about 1,800 people there. The best part was there was music and a lot of socialising with other captains from schools! Five people came to teach us about leading the school and taking responsibility. There were two boys and three girls to teach us about their life stories. All of them were really inspiring to us. Eleanor's favourite was Bonnie, Andre’s favourite was Skye, JZ’s favourite was Amanda and my favourite was Trent. But there was also the CEO of the convention centre, his name was Will. We liked him a lot but we were more interested in the other people. Trent Dennis Lane really inspired me to never give up on your dreams even though people tell you you aren't going to make it. Even though people told Trent he’ll never get into AFL, he challenged that statement. The first draft night he didn’t end up making it but then, three years later he went again and got drafted to Sydney Swans. So he taught me that anything’s possible if you believe in yourself and work hard.

Dream and Lead Youth Conference

By Andre

Leadership is the ability to influence and guide others. I think Skye represents that, and that’s who I’m going to write about today. Skye used to live in a caravan park with one brother, two sisters and her single mother. She had to show some leadership because most of the time Skye took care of her three younger siblings. One time at school Skye vomited all over herself and got the nickname Chucky. Then another time she accidentally put hair removal on her eyebrow and then got the nickname unibrow. She has a great quote "Resilience isn’t the ability to bounce back it’s the ability to bounce forward”. Thank you Mrs Vesdrevanis and Mrs Hodgson!

Round Robin Sport Update

Last Thursday all Grade 5/6 students headed off to various venues to take part in the first Summer Round Robin District Carnival day. Students had been selected in either cricket, basketball, softball, rounders or tennis, and they played a number of short games throughout the day.

DPS has made a solid start in all sports, however we are at the halfway mark of proceedings. The final Summer Round Robin day will be held on Wednesday the 27th of March - the final Wednesday of term - where hopefully we can share some great news!

Secondary School visits

This Tuesday, two former students, Jimmy and Hannah, visited with the Assistant Principal of Mullauna College, Jeff McMillin, to promote the school, and let our senior school students know about the differences that lie ahead for them once they reach secondary school.

This follows last week's visit by Doncaster Secondary College to the senior school. A big thank you to both schools for taking the time to visit. Please check out the Open Day flyer image below, for more information about Doncaster Secondary.

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