National Young Leaders Day 

Our Stage 3 Leaders, the Student Representative Council, School Captains & Vice Captains were fortunate to attend the National Young Leaders Day on Tuesday, 7th March at the International Convention Centre, Darling Harbour. We were among thousands of primary school leaders and listened to inspirational speakers who have been involved in leadership throughout their careers. We were given wise advice to apply throughout our lives and we are thankful for being given the opportunity to attend such a valuable day. We worked collaboratively to recount our experiences from the day and to share with our community what we have learnt as a leader.  

Chris Green - Cricketer 

Chris Green is a phenomenal South-African born,  Australian cricket player, who plays for New South Wales and the Sydney Thunder. He is 29 years old and is the current captain of the Sydney Thunder. He’s an extrovert, believing that unity is the best superpower, when it comes to leadership. 

During the National Young Leaders Day, our first speaker, spoke about his experiences as a cricket player and his mentality as a leader, which we found inspiring. Chris talked about the key to effective leadership skills and acceptance. He is an extraordinary speaker and definitely showed us what true leadership is. Whenever anyone else or Chris himself feels stressed, he would tell them to embrace the pressure or just simply accept that it was there. By centring himself, he would also calm others. A truly inspiring and remarkable leader. “It's best to have meetings often as communication is what keeps the team together, " Chris stated. It’s a statement that we felt is powerful and is in touch with the real-world.

 Written by Ryan and Mikkah 

Caitlin Bassett - Netballer 

Caitlin Bassett was our second speaker and is a former netball player. She played for the Western Australian league. When C Bass (her nickname made by her team) was 16, she was selected to play for the Perth Orioles. When Caitlin was on the team, she had to show the coach how much she could lift. Unfortunately, she couldn't lift the 20kg weight. Caitlin's teammates used to laugh and say, “She can only lift a broomstick!” Caitlin completed sets with the trusty broomstick for a while then was able to lift 20kg. At the end of her career, she could proudly lift 40kg! Her teammates didn’t make fun of her, in fact they only pushed her to reach her goals and helped her become the wonderful role model she is today. 

Ever since C Bass joined a team, she stood by an important belief, 'We before Me', as a leader. Starting out as a defender, she realised at tryouts defending wasn't for her and the coach saw she had amazing height, so he encouraged her to become a goal shooter. 

At age 14, Caitlin made her first state team and made a vow to herself that she would make it as a professional netballer. Her netball career lasted 18 years. Caitlin won gold at the Commonwealth Games and was part of a world champion team twice. She is remembered as a legendary netball player who has scored over 2000 goals! In February, 2022 she retired, after multiple concussions, broken bones and hips, and with no contract offered it was time for a big change. Caitlin's new careers is as a Fox Sports commentator. 

Written by Maple and Lily

Nazeem Hussain - Comedian, Actor and Author

Nazeem Hussain is a hilarious Australian comedian, actor and author. He was born in Melbourne on April 21st, 1985. His parents were both born in Sri Lanka and met in London before they found themselves relocating to Australia in the early 1970's. Nazeem is married to Shaheeda Abdula and they have two children. 

When Nazeem was younger, he regularly misbehaved at school. He usually got distracted or distracted people around him. Nazeem rarely finished any work and was often off task but now he is one of Australia’s biggest stars in comedy. 

Surprisingly, Nazeem is not just a comedian but he is also an actor, television and radio presenter and author. When he was at University in Melbourne, Nazeem was studying to become a lawyer. Once he graduated from university, he decided that he wanted to be on stage telling people jokes and sharing his life story. Nazeem has now become a successful comedian and has had very supportive friends and family throughout his journey. In 2015, he won an award, Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He has also been in movies such as Legally Brown. Nazeem's latest achievement is a children's book titled, Hy-larious Hyena! He is very proud of his new skill as an author and is working on a second book in this series. 

Written by Arden and Olivia

David Hurley - Governor-General of Australia

It was a wonderful privilege to listen to our forth speaker, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley, Governor-General of Australia.

Mr Hurley is 69 years old and in 2019, he started in this role. He served in the army for 51 years, starting his journey as a cadet as an 18 year old. Mr Hurley was chosen to be a leader of several veterans who had fought in the Vietnam war.  We learnt that even if you have less experience than others, you can still lead them.

Mr Hurley stated that leaders have to represent their own school and serve the individuals they lead. To be a great leader who could be looked up to, you would have to bring leadership into your own mind. Our Governor-General mentioned a few key aspects to being successful leaders. They include:

• Learning how to listen to people
• Listening to others concerns and their experiences
• Understand why you are leading

Mr Hurley claims that to comprehend how and why you are leading is the most critical and vital points of being a leader. He believes the most essential quality of a leader is humility. Mr Hurley also gave us some advice and said that you have to believe you have strength inside yourself.

Written by Katelyn, Chloe & Aedan 

Dr Jordan Nguyen - Biomedical Engineer

The last speaker at our National Young Leaders Day was Dr Jordan Nguyen. He is a Vietnamese - Australian Biomedical Engineer who creates special robots and machines that help enhance many different individuals' lives. Dr Nguyen supports people with disorders and disabilities. His work has gained much attention in the media across Australia, as he was seen on the TV shows - Catalyst and The Project. He has a quote that he lives by: "One life, persist to improve many". He has also written a book titled, 'A Human's Guide to the Future', as well as being the CEO of Psykinetic. 

Dr Nguyen told us he has a passion for technology, robotics and the arts, which he got from his parents. His mother was an artist and his father, a technology and robotics professor. Dr Nguyen firstly shared a video of a robot he created whilst at university and he programmed it to take guests on a tour around the campus. He then shared a clip of a series, 'Becoming Supernatural'. In the series, Dr Nguyen made a dream come true for a 13 year old boy named Riley. He has cerebral palsy and all he wanted to do was drive a car. Dr Nguyen made this possible with Riley using his eyes to control and drive the car around an obstacle course. The series has won 10 awards and is extremely popular. In 2016, Dr Nguyen was a finalist for the Australian of the Year award. We can understand why, he is inspirational.  

 Written by Spencer, Kevin and George