Aitken College Newsletter

Cumberland

   

                               Mrs Leanne Schulz

Cumberland Leaders

Congratulations to the students elected as leaders for 2019. The leaders will have many opportunities to develop leadership skills and take on responsibilities throughout the year. The 2019 leaders are:

 

Cumberland School Captains  

Krisy I and Antonio M

Performing Arts Captains  

Tanisha S and Sienna G

Community Service Captains  

Jayda C and Gabrielle G

Environment Captains  

Alexandra L and Manaan B 

Sports Captains  

Lauren P and Alex M

Brodie House Captains  

Georgia A and Kayla A 

Cameron House Captains  

Chelsey C and Darryn G

Clark House Captains  

Grace T and Suveer C

Millar House Captains  

Ethan Y and Spencer C

 

The leadership team enjoyed participating in the Leader Training day. The following article was written by the Cumberland School Captains, Krisy and Antonio. 

 

On Monday 18 February, all the school leaders attended the student leader training day at the Hume Global Learning Centre at Craigieburn. Mr Forward led the afternoon and showed us videos and quotes that emphasised leadership. We also worked in teams to complete tasks that made us think about the qualities of an effective leader. 

 

What we did… 

The first activity we did was going around meeting other Captains, this helped us to get to know the other leaders. We also discussed the College values of compassion, honesty, integrity, respect and kindness and how we can use them in our leadership roles. One of the fun activities we did was debating the pros and cons of the school uniform. It enabled us to have a say about things we would like to change. There were many different opinions about the uniform, but the main ones were about the Year 12 jumper and the parka. Another fun activity we completed was a chance game that was all about secret communication and trust.  

 

What we learnt…. 

We learnt that you don’t need to be special to start something big, and when you work together you can always achieve more. We also learnt that to be a leader you don’t have to be the fastest, smartest, tallest, wisest or the biggest. To be a good leader, you need to have courage, cooperation, dependability and confidence. 

 

Conclusion…. 

To conclude, the student leader training day was very enjoyable and we learnt lots from the day. It was a great way to bond as a College leadership team and think about the qualities we need to lead and serve the school community.

 

Parent Information Evening

It was a great attendance at the Cumberland Parent Information Evening. Mrs Crisara discussed the significance of the College Values, Mr Forward gave an overview of My Aitken and the parent app and I presented some of the aims of Cumberland, including tips to help support children's development of independence. Parents then had the opportunity to meet the homeroom teachers who presented an overview of the curriculum and organisation of the classroom. 

 

The following is a snapshot of some of the messages presented.

 

Cumberland aims to: 

  • Promote a safe, challenging learning environment where students are eager and excited to attend. 
  • Improve learning outcomes for all students.
  • Provide challenging, differentiated learning programs for students. 
  • Use data to inform teaching. 
  • Provide strong pastoral care for students.
  • Support the needs of students, parents and teachers. 
  • Have clear communication between home and school.
  • Be solution focused. 
  • Foster the College values of honesty, compassion, integrity, kindness and respect. 

The following is an excerpt from Parenting Ideas, written by Michael Grose, (One of Australia’s leading parenting and educational writers and speakers). 

 

Language of Independence Building 

‘Independence-building is vitally important for parents. It is the pathway to children’s competency, confidence and creativity and the short cut to resilience and real learning. We’ve gradually retreated from this approach over recent generations much to our children’s detriment. It’s time to help kids reclaim their independence. Getting our language right is a good place to start as family change always begins with shared language.’

 

Twelve examples of independence building: 

1. Goal: Independence 

“Never regularly do for a child the things a child can do for him or herself”  

2. Goal: Self-help 

 “Is this something you can do?” 

3. Goal: Contribution 

“Have you checked the help roster today?”  

4. Goal: Decision-making 

 “Which of these two would you prefer?” </