Student Voice
Student Representative Council Report - Term 1 Portfolios Initiatives
The 2022 Student Representative Council has begun the new year with many wonderful events and initiatives in our school community.
- In our Campaigns portfolio, they’ve hosted Harmony Day and the House Athletics Carnival Canteen.
- Our Curriculum portfolio explored learning and student voice in the classroom by initiating the “My Voice and Agency” logo competition.
- Our Enrichment portfolio has worked on establishing new and reestablishing existing clubs to assist students with their learning and social development at our College.
- Our Health and Wellbeing Portfolio has focused on students’ mental health this term by implementing brain breaks for students during lessons.
- Our Outreach portfolio has begun establishing ways to review how the S.R.C. interacts with the student body and the wider College Community.
We thank all the students and staff for their support this term and we are looking forward to continuing to work with all student leaders in exploring student wellbeing and voice across our South Oakleigh College community.
Esther Walker & Sylvia Krozian
Co-Presidents
Student Representative Council
S.R.C. Campaigns Update:
This term, the S.R.C.'s Campaigns Portfolio has been busy planning and hosting events. On Wednesday the 23rd of March, we hosted Harmony Day for the school to celebrate its diverse multiculturalism. We had an outstanding turnout of colour and cultural dress with students and staff bringing $2.00. At recess and lunch, we held a bake sale and we sold a range of cultural baked goods, such as inari, Dobosh torte, and Spanish cupcakes. It was a resounding success with the majority of the food selling out!
A big thank you to everyone who donated food. We raised a total of $955.95 on Harmony Day. All proceeds went to Mission Australia, a charity that helps disadvantaged families with social and affordable housing and connects Australians with crisis and prevention services among so many other things. You can find out more about their work at https://www.missionaustralia.com.au.
On Thursday the 24th of March, we ran a Canteen during the House Athletics Carnival and sold sausages in bread, veggie patties, drinks and snacks to fulfil everyone throughout the day. We raised a total of $499.91, and all our proceeds went to Disability Sports Australia, Australia’s peak national body representing athletes with physical disabilities. You can find out more about their work at https://www.sports.org.au/.
We would like to thank the College Community for their support this term and look forward to an even more successful Term 2.
Genna Windsor
Council Secretary and Leading Campaigns Representative
Student Representative Council
S.R.C. Curriculum’s Update:
The S.R.C’s Curriculum Portfolio focuses on learning and student voice in the classroom. Our team works collaboratively with staff and students to come up with ways and initiatives that continue to ensure that we have student voice and agency in the classroom and what we can do to help to shape planning in the curriculum. During term 1, our Portfolio has been extensively working on a new initiative called “My Voice and Agency.”
This initiative is aimed to boost student input in learning and the curriculum. As a team, we thought that we needed to add something small that represents “My Voice and Agency” so we decided to launch a logo competition! We invited students to create a digitally done logo that best represents “My Voice and Agency.” We received many great entries from students. Our next step in this competition was voting. Students and staff were asked to vote on the logos that best represented “My Voice and Agency” to them. The winning logo will now be used in our next step to this initiative and future S.R.C. initiatives representing student voice in learning.
Greg Acciarito
Leading Curriculum Representative
Student Representative Council
S.R.C. Enrichment’s Update:
The S.R.C Enrichment Portfolio actively focuses on extra-circular activities that extend learning opportunities for students at our College. The purpose of Enrichment is to offer time for students to better understand a range of learning concepts with greater depth.
During Term 1, our Portfolio has been working to enhance existing clubs and create new ones. We invited students to join different clubs at our school and help our Portfolio to create new clubs that other students will enjoy attending.
At South Oakleigh College, students are given a variety of clubs to choose from such as Chess Club, Production Club, Alphabet Soup Club, Debating Club and so much more. Near the end of Term 1, our portfolio is hosting a Club Gala during our school's annual Open Night where students from all clubs will display what happens in each club. This initiative is aimed to help students, staff and visitors get a better insight into the many different clubs that allow students to create, design and learn without limits.
Mehak Dhingra
Leading Enrichment Representative
Student Representative Council
S.R.C’s Health and Wellbeing Update:
The S.R.C’s Health and Wellbeing Portfolio this term focused on students’ mental health. The team worked to improve how the students feel about their time at school and in the classroom. In term one, we reintroduced brain breaks in every class.
We had noticed how different students react to 70-minute classes over the years at the school; some cope well with them, while others find it difficult to concentrate for long periods. Our goal of brain breaks for students is to help their brains shift focus and to reengage students during/between lessons. The brain breaks cards included interactive and relaxing breaks that involve standing up, moving around, and sitting and interacting with others. The Health and Wellbeing team would like to thank Ms Liu who helped and supported us to implement this initiative.
Meghal Patel
Council Secretary and Leading Health & Wellbeing Representative
Student Representative Council
S.R.C’s Breakfast Club Update:
Every Thursday, Student Leaders throughout the College have continued to organise weekly Breakfast Club, providing fresh food for all students and staff in the morning. Last Thursday on the 7th of April, a Celebratory Breakfast Club was hosted by all of the Student Leadership Team. It was a successful morning with the serving of bacon and eggs, hash browns and milkshakes!
The S.R.C team would like to thank all the Students Leaders and staff who volunteered to come and help in the morning, thank you!
Meghal Patel
Council Secretary and Leading Health & Wellbeing Representative
Student Representative Council
Year 7 Leader Elections
The Year 7 Leader Elections were held on Wednesday the 16th of March, with all Year 7 students gathered in the South Oakleigh Theatre. All candidates delivered lovely speeches to their peers and teachers, encouraging students to vote for them as their Year 7 Leader.
On behalf of the Student Leadership Team, we are very excited to congratulate the following students on their successful appointment:
- Soham Dhital
- Sher Sidhu
- Sophie Volpert
- Amalia Shaer
We look forward to working with the new Year 7 Leaders and thank all candidates for their nomination.
Sylvia Krozian & Esther Walker
Co-Presidents
Student Representative Council
Iliana Derzotis
Mentor
Peer Support Program
Year 7 Leader Introductions
Hello, my name is Soham. I am one of the new Year 7 Leaders. I am 12 years old and have a dream to be College Captain in 2027. I have a keen interest in sports and really like table tennis. I will try my very best as one of the S.R.C's in Year 7 and S.R.C. in general. I hope I see you around the school or at Breakfast Club. Thank you
Soham Dhital
Year 7 Leader
Hello, for those of you who do not know me I am your 2022 Year 7 Leader, Sher. I love sports, and am looking forward to helping my fellow S.R.C members, to help make this school as good as can be.
Sher Sidhu
Year 7 Leader
My name is Sophie Volpert, and it is a privilege to be a Year 7 Leader at South Oakleigh College. I’m really looking forward to getting to know the students and teachers, and immersing myself in my new school community right away! Though I’m best known for being sporty, my other passion is constantly learning new skills. For example over lockdown, I learned knitting, crocheting, juggling, and how to solve the Rubik’s cube!
Sophie Volpert
Year 7 Leader
Hello, my name is Amalia and I am a 2022 Year 7 Leader. I am so glad that I was able to get this role. Now here are a few things about me: I love to play tennis and basketball, which are my couple of favourite sports. I go for Essendon in the AFL. I love to cook. I love caring for others and being able to make friends. I am so excited about planning fun events and helping all of you.
Amalia Shaer
Year 7 Leader
A Letter from our International Student Captain
As an international student, I chose Australia as my study destination as it ranked in the Top 3 in the most popular countries to study abroad and nearly 900,000 students were enrolled in Australia in 2018. Many Australian international students report coming to Australia in order to gain a higher-quality education, thus, a chance to explore a new culture and to experience a different life.
Choosing to enrol and attend South Oakleigh College is one of the proudest decisions I have ever made as the school consistently challenges me to be a better version of myself in a multitude of ways every day. During my almost 4 years of studying at SOC, I have always felt welcomed and encouraged by our supportive teachers and staff, amiable classmates and the friendly school environment.
To start off another fantastic year, some of the students got together and decorated the school to celebrate Lunar New Year! 2022 is a Year of the Tiger 🐯, according to the Chinese zodiac. It is believed that those born in the year of the Tiger are predicted to be brave and confident. We wish all our students to have a great year ahead at South Oakleigh College.
International Student Captain
International Student Captain
Leadership Conference
The Leadership Conference at Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre was interactive and inclusive. Throughout the day we viewed many inspirational guest speakers who devote their life to supporting youth leadership and empowerment. We viewed many inspirational guest speakers, one of whom spoke about choosing to make conversation and carry out acts of kindness even if you are not close to the person. This may apply to my role as a Peer Support Leader by guiding the Year 7's with encouragement and compassion.
Breeanna Shields
Peer Support Leader
Youth Leadership Conference 2022
We listened to a few young entrepreneurs speak, including the Founder and CEO of this Youth Leadership Conference. I learnt about the stories, barriers and journeys in their life that helped them get to this point, where they are encouraging the new generation of leaders to create change. I was really moved by their personal ambitions and learnt about how words and presence can make a difference. I think we were all inspired to start doing what we believe in, helping the people around us and following our dreams.
Lucien Tarjan
Peer Support Leader
On Tuesday the 1st of March, a handful of students were lucky enough to be selected to go to the Youth Leadership Academy Conference. This conference would cover certain aspects of leadership that students can learn from and apply to their life. Students got to witness the achievements and goals people have accomplished over the years due to the leadership skill they have been taught. We got the chance to hear from guest speakers who have started their own companies, travelled around the world, met famous figures and more. Personally, I enjoyed hearing the different lives of the speakers and how they have been motivated to do what they do. Each and every one was different despite all the stories including some form of leadership. It goes to show that there isn’t just one kind of leadership, there can be many kinds and in many forms. The conference taught me how I can use leadership to stand up for what I believe in as well as, how I can use leadership in my everyday life. Overall, the conference was a great learning experience for any of the students that attended and, would definitely be recommended for people who are interested in building their leadership skills!
Mackenzie Dickson
Enrichment Secretary
Student Representative Council
Throughout the day at the Youth Leadership Conference, we heard from multiple inspirational guest speakers and heard about their experiences growing up and their leadership roles!! Everyone learnt a lot about how to improve their leadership skills and how we can be leaders no matter how young.
Stef Milanovic
Peer Support Leader
House Captains Report
As House Captains directly after COVID lockdowns, it was hard to pick up the reins and form house spirit with other students. However, through a lot of perseverance, resilience and help from our fellow "Banksians", we were able to manage a lot of things during Term 1, such as collaborating with volunteer students in creating our house banner along with establishing our brand-new mascot - Barry Banksian. Consequently, we've managed to create a mascot for our house, bringing us much enthusiasm and participation during our House Athletics Carnival which will help us with involving students in the future. In addition, Banksia has shown great communal effort in raising money for the Community Action Day Walkathon, thus supporting the Monash Children's Hospital. Overall, in the forthcoming terms, we hope many more students will showcase interest and participate in house activities along with upcoming events as we’re confident that Term 1 is a sign of prosperity coming our way.
Jason Pouliezos & Mollie Pham
Banksia House Captains
Performing Arts Prefects Report
Our first lunchtime concert for this year has been a huge success, with great attendance and performances! After two years of being unable to run concerts, it’s finally been able to return, and the enthusiasm and excitement towards our performers were fantastic. Huge thanks to Phillip Clark for helping out with sound and the lights, along with the VCE music band, Paz, George, Jason, Sophia, Ana, the music teachers, and everyone who made the concert run smoothly.
We plan to run another lunchtime concert on the second Friday of next term, so we hope to see you there!
Sophia Donnellon & Julia Creeley
Performing Arts Prefects
Student Voice in Differentiation
At the end of Term 1, all SOC students were invited to share their opinions, ideas and suggestions about differentiation in the classroom. As a result, three groups of enthusiastic students from Years 7 to 12 joined the project and participated in two sessions over two days.
In the first session, the students looked at the data from the AToSS surveys. They offered their interpretation of what each survey factor meant to them. During the second session, the groups came together to unpack the term “differentiation” and explain what it meant to them and their peers. These discussions provided great examples of SOC teachers tailoring learning programs to cater to individual student needs and plenty of ideas and suggestions on what could be done in the classroom to engage all students and ensure they learn best. All data collected during this project will be used in a staff Curriculum Day in Term 3 focused on differentiation.
We sincerely thank all participating students for their honesty, energy, insightful reflections and valuable ideas and suggestions. Their contributions will assist SOC staff in understanding students’ perspectives and empower teachers in creating differentiated lessons across all subjects to engage various types of learners.
Anna Proy
VicSRC Conference
As the Student Representative Council (S.R.C.) Facilitating Teacher for South Oakleigh College, I attended an online conference held by the VicSRC on Monday the 28th of March. The purpose of this online conference was for teachers from across Victoria to get together to share their experiences of helping students develop leadership skills. The conference also provided a forum where we could openly share our ideas on how we can improve how we can continue to empower student leaders in our respective schools and the broader community.
I personally had an opportunity to share my own experiences working with the Student Leaders at South Oakleigh College and shared the work we have undertaken to allow the students’ voices to be heard by their peers and their teachers. This includes student-initiated events such as Wellfest Week, Harmony Week and the Peer Support Program which were all very successful and resonated with the other teachers at the online conference.
Leah Liu
Facilitating Teacher
Student Representative Council
Alphabet Soup
The Alphabet Soup Club is back up and running this year! We meet weekly on Tuesday lunchtimes in A4. We discuss issues surrounding the LGBTQIA+ community in both our community and in the media. We also celebrate events, such as official days, or celebrating someone's personal milestones. We welcome all members of the LGBTQIA+ community and allies, and have a great time hanging out. Recently, we were visited by Full-Time LGBTQIA+ Liasion Officer (LLO) Jeremy Oliver, one of two in the state. He spoke to us about what LLOs are, what they do, as well as how to reach out to them. We have also been planning for events later on in the year to celebrate international dates such as Wear It Purple Day and IDAHOBIT Day. Be sure to come down to A4 at Tuesday lunchtime, as we are always having a good time and welcoming new members.
South Oakleigh College Alphabet Soup
(SOC Diversity and Inclusion Club)