Student Voice & Activities

2019

My name is Sawsan Hassan and I have been given the privilege of running Student Voice and Leadership at CESC for 2019. This year there are many changes and new initiatives that will be taking place in student voice, ranging from changes to selection processes for leaders to the formation of a Student Representative Council. As part of a whole school improvement initiative, CESC is making these changes to improve student’s agency, connectedness and governance.

This term we will be having two assemblies. The first will be for Harmony and Close the gap day taking place on the 21st March during period 4. The second will be a whole school assembly taking place during period 1 on April 1st. All parents and members of the school community are invited to be part of our assemblies and to support and celebrate our students’ accomplishments.

I look forward to meeting many of you in person and please don’t hesitate to contact me via email should you require any information about Student Voice and Leadership at CESC.

School Leaders

The process by which we select our school captains for 2019 was quite rigorous. Applications, elections and interviews with the principal were all part of becoming a school captain this year.

In December last year over 600 students and 80 teachers took part in school captain elections. The process was open to all students and teachers to vote for who they thought would be the best representatives for the school and the student body for 2019.

Being a school captain is a great opportunity to be a leader and role model to students in our school. School captains represent our school at external events and take part in planning internal events such as assemblies. This year we have a very diverse group of captains from different backgrounds and with different interests and talents. However, one thing that they have shown that they have in common is the commitment, passion and enthusiasm to improve the school and make it the best place it can be for students today and in the future.

Congratulations to all of the students that nominated themselves and to all the staff and students that took part in the election process.

School Captains

Grace Tibusious

I have been elected as one of the school captains for 2019. I am completing year 12 this year. I wanted to take on this role because I wanted young women to have someone to look up to and come to for support. I want young women at CESC to know that if I can do it, they can to. I also want to ensure that everyone in the school feels like their voices matter and that they are being heard. My job is to make sure I make myself available to my fellow students so they can voice their opinions on how to make our school a better place.

Waad Salih

I am completing my year 12 this year. I really wanted to have the opportunity to play a role in student leadership at CESC because I knew the possible positive changes a leader could make within our school.  I had originally thought that I didn't have the ability to represent our school. However, when I was approached about applying for leadership and I learnt about the new initiatives taking place in student voice, in particular the SRC, I jumped at the opportunity. I felt like the passion that I had to bestow change was going to be appreciated and encouraged through this position. I look forward to being at the forefront of change and growth of student voice at CESC.

Conor Pennington

I am currently a year 12 student at CESC. I applied for the role of School Captain as I wanted to be a role model and inspire students in the younger year levels. As school captain, I want to push towards making our school anti-violence and anti-bullying, and ultimately make our school a safer place for everyone. Over my school years, I have had many previous leaders become an inspiration and role model to me, and I want to continue their legacy and make them proud.

School Vice Captains

Brittney Garvey

I am a student in Year 12 VCAL. I wanted to be a CESC Vice School captain because I wanted to make a change to our school. I also wanted to be captain because I wanted to challenge myself and be the best I can be in my final year at school. Being the Vice Captain means a lot to me, it gave me hope that I can do anything if I push myself. Also, as this is my last year, I would like to play a role in making positive change to our school for future students. I am looking forward to working with the younger year levels to increase our student voice and ultimately making our school better.

Poe Pouesi

I am currently completing year 12. To me being a Vice Captain of Cranbourne East Secondary College is not just a title, but an honour. To be in the position where I can make a difference, lead and make our school a more jovial environment is a great opportunity for me.  This position will also give me the opportunity to be a role model for students and to be there in times of need and celebration. I strongly stand by our school values of respect, growth, achievement and responsibility. These values are what makes Cranbourne East Secondary College a place where students are able to learn and feel safe and accepted. This is how I feel about my ‘second home’ and I desire to do everything I can to make every student at my school feel the same way I do. Peace.

Olympia Ward

I am currently in year 11 and when I first showed interest in becoming a school Vice Captain my peers and teachers supported me every step of the way. I have always had a passion for helping others and standing up for people in order to make a positive change. Being chosen to fulfil a position in which I am able to be a voice for CESC students is an honour. Although the responsibility will be a challenge, it will only help me to grow and prosper as a not only a leader, but as a person. So far, my role has helped me to develop my communication and organisation skills. I look forward to the journey ahead of me as a CESC Vice Captain.

Student Representative Council

Another initiative taking place this year is the creation of the Student Representative Council (SRC). The SRC is a student run and governed body that addresses the needs, interests and concerns of the students. To help establish this body all school captains will play a role on the SRC executive.

Year Level Leaders

Part of implementing the SRC was the addition of new student leadership roles called Student Year Level Leaders. Student Year Level Leaders represent their year levels on the SRC and liaise between the students and the SRC. This ensures that all students are represented on the SRC and to increase the number of students developing their leadership and mentoring skills.

To select our Student Year Level Leaders, each year level took part in an online student election, voting for nominees from their respective year level. 

The interest and participation in the nomination and election process was outstanding. There were over 41 applications received for these new positions with students showing real interest in being part of starting something new that is aimed at increasing student agency, voice and governance. Nominees were active in promoting themselves and teachers played an enormous role in encouraging students to nominate themselves and to take part in this democratic process.

Congratulations to the following students on being elected as the Student Year Level Leaders.

2019 the SRC Executive

The SRC executive is made up of 18 students all playing different roles to collectively run the SRC in the interests of the students. The SRC is open to all students and meets every Thursday at lunchtime.

Events

Harmony and Close the Gap Day

This year the SRC has many plans for activities and events. The first is to organise Harmony and Close the Gap day taking place on the 21st of March. The SRC, school captains and the Culture Club will be organising and hosting the Harmony and Close the Gap day assembly taking place during period 4.

Parents and members of the school community are invited to attend this assembly to support our students’ cultural performances and presentations.

GRIP Leadership Conference

On Tuesday 12th March, I attended the GRIP leadership conference at the Melbourne exhibition and convention centre, along with some other student leaders at CESC. This conference was a practical and interactive training conference for student leaders that had schools from all around Victoria. We attended multiple sessions that addressed different strategies to build a strong leadership team in our school.

The first session showed us how to recognise which people we should focus on as leaders and how to achieve this. To be able to pursue any cause within our school or society, our SRC team had to be firm. To accomplish this, we all had to build our character. These characteristics are abbreviated as CORE - 'C', confidence with humility; 'O', others focused; 'R', reliability; 'E', empathy. Each of these aspects is vital for leaders to efficiently perform their duties to the student body and contribute to building positive school culture.

While our school has been able to donate and adopt causes that interest some students in our school, this program specified how we could further engage students with causes that can increase their enthusiasm to participate in events. As leaders, we should be able to work towards involving as many people as possible through focusing on the people rather than the event. We should be able to target student’s interests and needs through widening the appeal and strategically promoting and being creative with events to ensure student attendance.  While being able to target students is essential to the success of the SRC, creating a bond of trust between students is critical, as is including students to the team that can help create social influence and create a positive school culture. Leaders can gain trust and get ideas from students via suggestion boxes as well as building personal relationships through being active and visible to all year levels.

Change can only happen when leaders are equipped with the knowledge and skills to make necessary adjustments. Attending the GRIP Leadership Conference as school leaders was a form of individual and collective improvement. We are looking forward to implementing all the strategies that we learnt to help further strengthen the fabric of CESC and to leave a legacy of student voice and agency for years to come.

Waad Salih

CESC School Captain

SRC President

Culture Club

The Culture Club have been busy preparing for the Close the Gap and Harmony Day whole school assembly on March 21st. They have created a Power Point presentation where they explain what Close the Gap Day means, what it represents and how they have been working towards closing the gap between Non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians. Additionally, during the month of March, in honour of Close the Gap and Harmony Day, the club has been running a whole-school project where students and staff have been invited to draw on paper plates and wooden cutlery their favourite food from their country or any other culture. The club chose to do this to celebrate Multiculturalism at our school. Below are some photos of students working on this project on a Wednesday during Culture Club and at the Swimming Carnival. This will continue to run all of March every Wednesday in OR07 at lunch and at the end, the club will display the finished product on school grounds.