Student leadership
VSAGSC - Year 10 Conference
Organising the conference
On Monday 16 September the Victorian State All Girls’ School Conference (VSAGSC) was held at Matthew Flinders Girls' Secondary College. MGSC’s two Year 10 representatives - Lily West and Nisha Makam - were part of the organising committee. This involved meeting in Geelong four times with 12 other girls from the Victorian State Girls' Schools Alliance in the led up to the conference.
On the day 15 girls from each school, including those who planned the event travelled, to Geelong. A morning tea greeted everyone to begin a day filled with activities and experiences. It started with the students hearing from Amenah, a local lifeguard who shared her experiences working in a male-dominated industry.
Then, the activities began in a three-group rotation. One was a yoga/meditation session, to explore wellbeing and mindfulness. Another activity was conducted by representatives from The Body Shop who explained the organisation's sustainability efforts and taught skin care. Finally, there was a self-defence class where a bodyguard instructor taught the girls a variety of techniques to use in a dangerous situation. This was followed by a delicious pizza lunch. The day concluded with a speech from Rema Othman, the founder of Othman Conveyancing, who shared her experiences from VCE to becoming a successful young entrepreneur.
As a thank you gift for attending, the girls received a show bag filled with donations given from a variety of different companies and organisations.The day was a huge success and all attendees left with some valuable life skills for the future and made memories they will never forget.
As a token of appreciation, the National Gallery of Victoria donated books for each school which we presented to Ms Brown.
Lily West - Middle School Captain
Nisha Makam - Language Domain Leader
VASGSC Year 10 Conference
Attending the conference
The day started with a trip to Matthew Flinders Girls' Secondary College in Geelong. When we arrived we had opening remarks, fabulous show bags, and guest speaker Amenah McDonald who is a surf lifesaver and talked to us about a healthy growth mindset. After that we split into groups and headed off to our activities; these consisted of skin testing from The Body Shop, yoga/meditation, and a self-defence class. After doing two activities we had lunch (pizza and kombucha!) and then went to our last activity. We then headed back to the hall to see another guest speaker, Rema Othman, who is an entrepreneur that created Othman Conveyancing when she was 19. She talked to us about how she created her company and got her qualifications whilst in school, and how her mindset helped her create her path and company. After the guest speaker, we had thanked yous and the day ended!
Huge thank yous to all who participated, but especially Lily West and Nisha Makam for helping organise this event.
Mia Evans (Year 10)
STEAM Leadership
Hi! My name is Casey.
I am a Year 12 student and I am the Senior Science / STEAM Domain Leader for 2019.
STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. It represents the marriage of science and design — it is these two disciplines that help drive the innovations and inventions that build the future. As a student of science and design, I know first-hand how powerful it is to have these multidisciplinary skills — it is why I want to become an engineer.
I applied for this leadership role because I had never been a domain leader before (I had only been on the magazine committee for the first few years of high school), and it was my last year — my last chance to have the experience of domain leadership at MGSC. That pushed me to take on the challenge, but I had always had a passion for STEAM.
Throughout my high school life, I have been lucky to be involved in so many incredible experiences — all of which were related to science in some way. I got to go to NASA, win a 'hackathon' with friends (received $1000, robots and much more!), go on a national science camp with like-minded people and learn so much about what the world of STEAM had to offer.
These exciting events in my life made me want to help others have the same experience. My main goal as a leader was to enhance the STEAM opportunities offered to MGSC students and promote the diverse choices of science and technology fields available. This led to me creating the STEAM Newsletter. With the help of teachers, leaders and volunteering students with a passion for science, we forged the STEAM Team. This enabled the newsletter to be supported by a club of minds with different ages and interests. Every fortnight, the STEAM Team and I will choose STEAM content we think should be shared with the school. I then package this content into a newsletter that has everything the students need in one place.
The STEAM Team and I are proud of the newsletter, and I am taking measures to ensure that it continues next year and the years after that.
The other work I have done as a leader this year is help organise Science Week. You can read about the activities we did in the previous school newsletter. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing next year’s leaders out-do our example.
Being a domain leader in Year 12 is tough, but I have genuinely enjoyed the responsibility and the opportunity to make a positive change in the school community. Your accomplishments could become legacies, and the skills you learn from them are advantageous! Plus, it looks really good on your resume!
My main piece of advice for students with an interest in: science, technology, engineering, the arts, mathematics or whatever else sparks your interest! — Don’t let the fear of the unknown hold you back from opportunities to experience something new. Take everything you can get! The world is pushing for more people in STEAM at the moment — especially girls! These experiences will teach you so much and your personal development will grow so much quicker as a result.
Thanks for reading, stay curious.
Casey Boswell (Year 12)
Congratulations to our two Year 10 leaders, Lily West (Middle School Captain) and Nisha Makam (Middle School Languages Domain Leader) who represented MGSC as part of the planning team for the annual Year 10 Victorian Association of Girls' Secondary Colleges conference at the end of last term.
The day was a success due to the extensive planning and organisation that these two students, together with pairs of students from each of the other state girls’ colleges collectively created. The day itself ran very smoothly and each of the activities and guest speakers, thoroughly enjoyed by the students invited to attend from each of the schools. Current Year 9 students are encouraged to consider their involvement in this event in 2020. Thanks also to Ms Sian Sharpe for accompanying and supporting the students for this event.
Student Leadership 2020
During last term, applications were called for most of the student leadership positions for 2020. Interviews will take place over the next few weeks with applicants being notified via email as to their interview times and locations. All students are encouraged to consider nominating for a leadership role within the college. The structure of our leadership program enables individual students to come together as part of a team fostering strength and a sense of community.
The focus of much of the training and team meetings has been on developing a better understanding of student voice and the importance of being part of the both the conversation and the solution to issues and concerns raised by the students and for the students. Throughout the year, student leaders have gradually taken on more responsibility for leading their own teams and working with various staff to achieve their goals. With so much reported in the media lately of young people in particular voicing their concerns about many issues, it raises the importance of how we achieve ‘voice’. Student voice is not student noise. The aim is to create platforms for conversations and actions involving the whole college community.
Wendy Harvey
Director of Girls' Leadership