Student Voice

Student Leaders Nomination Process

Over the first fortnight of school we have begun the process of electing Student Leaders for 2020. The following timeline provides families with information regarding Student Leadership announcements: 

Student Council

Do you want to help improve our school?

Are you good at listening to other people, and understanding their point of view?

Can you work alongside others in a respectful manner?

 If so...then joining the Student Council is for you!

What is the Student Council?

In 2020 the  Student Council will be made up of one representatives from each class (from Prep– Year Six). These class rep’s are elected by their peers to represent their point of view on lots of important matters around the school.

What does Student Council do?

In 2020, the Student Council will meet each fortnight with selected teachers to discuss what is going well in our school, and to talk about ideas for making our school an even better place to learn. The Student Council are also involved in fundraising, working alongside the PTA to provide support across the school. The first task in Term One, 2020 is for the Student Council to manage the icy-pole sales and allocate funds to a project around our school. 

Student Council members may also be asked to work alongside community groups, such as the local kinder, emergency services and other groups in the Upwey area.

How do I nominate for Student Council?

Firstly, if you are interested in Student Council you should speak with your family and your teacher. You will need to give a speech in front of your class, talking about the qualities which you believe make you a suitable student.

Below are some guidelines and a timeline of what to expect for the nomination process.  

What qualities should Student Council members have, and what are they expected to do?

In 2020, we are hoping our Student Council will be able to raise enough money through the sales of icy-poles to respray the lines of our basketball court and handball courts. 

In 2019, our Student Council did a great job sourcing enough board games for every class to be full of things to do when it's too wet or hot to go outside!

Above all, Student Council members need to aspire to meet our school’s values in everything they do.

Some of the tasks, and things you may like to cover in your speech are: 

- What are your ideas for improving our school?

- How will you promote the Student Council​​​​​​​ around the school? Such as, speaking at assemblies, a display board, posters, newsletter articles, movies on the tv, etc

- What things have you done thus far to help make your classroom/ school a better place to learn?

- How will you make sure you are representing the views of people in your class?

- What type of murals do you think could be done around our school, and how would this be achieved?

My Inspirational Experience

By Zane W- Class 56A

If you’ve been watching the TV over the last few weeks, you might have seen that the Australian Open is all over the media. It is an event that people get very excited about, and some people even say that it is a place where you can make history. On the TV I had seen kids wearing HotShots shirts toss the coin at tennis matches, and I thought that they were just picked out of the crowd. However, that isn’t actually how they get picked…

It was Round One, on January 21st, and our family was driving to the arena to meet some other people from the Upwey South Tennis Club HotShots Program. I was really excited driving in because we were sitting in my family’s new seven-seater car.

When we go to the arena we were told that we were going to be able to have a hit on Rod Laver Arena before the tennis matches were starting. I couldn’t believe it! I thought the day couldn’t get any better…but I was about to find out that it could!

“Zane, it’s your lucky day!” my tennis coach said to me. He was smiling, because I had been nominated to do a coin toss at the Australian Open. I was excited but had no idea who was going to be playing in the match, or even any idea of what to expect.

After hearing the news from my tennis coach, I had so many mixed emotions. Some people said I might be doing the coin toss with Rafael Nadal, the NUMBER ONE male player in the world!! WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! But I couldn’t get my hopes up because things can change very quickly at the Australian Open.

I had to arrive one match before my allocated coin toss. Whilst I was waiting the time seemed to go slowly, even though there were so many exciting things to see. There were reporters and officials everywhere, and lots of entrances from the tunnels underneath the seating area. In the tunnels under the arena there were lots of triangle-shaped screens listing the names of previous champions. Even though there was so much to see, I tried to focus…so I stood patiently and waited to be called onto the centre court.

And then the big moment came.

I couldn’t believe I was actually doing the coin toss for Match 3 between Hugo Dellien (Bolivia- Rank 73) and Rafael Nadal (Spain- Rank 1).”

This is it, I can do this!! YES, YES, YES.

I think that my nerves must have been showing, because Dylan Alcott (Australia- World Ranking Number One) who is an inspirational wheelchair tennis champion helped me relax by chatting just like we were friends. He was very well mannered and respectful when talking to me. He asked me questions such as “What’s up, do you play tennis?” and he asked me other questions that I felt comfortable answering. Dylan was very thoughtful, and not at all arrogant. I couldn’t believe that a World Number One player could be so friendly, so I just had to ask him “Is it true that you are World Number One?” Dylan just smiled at me and said that it was true. I felt so happy.

When I was going through the tunnel to walk onto the court, I could hear the crowd buzzing and feel the excitement building. When I walked out of the tunnel onto the court, it felt like there was 20,000 pairs of eyes looking at me. The roar of the crowd was a great feeling, but also a little scary. In the tunnel I felt like I was floating.

When we got to the court, and I was standing next to Nadal, I felt like I knew the players personally… which is a bit weird because I didn’t actually know them, but I definitely felt like I knew them. Nadal even patted me on the back and gave me a thumbs-up!

After the huge build-up, the toss of the coin was actually really easy to do. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, and I was really happy that I had the confidence to pose for photos with the players.

After the toss, Dylan Alcott smiled at me and said, “Dude, good coin toss!”