Student Leadership & Student Voice
At Seacliff Primary School, student leadership is a whole school priority that includes every student having a voice with opportunities to initiate learning and have input into whole school initiatives and directions. Some of our school processes include the co-design of learning inquiry, class meetings, Student Representative Committees, and Environmental Focus and Action groups. In addition, students in Years 5, 6 and 7 comprise our Student Voice in Learning project team. Our students are empowered to fully and proudly participate in school life. By building in student voice opportunities across all aspects of learning, students can engage, participate, lead and learn.
Student Voice in Learning Project 2021
Our initial Student Voice in Learning Leaders for 2021 are Nicolas Von Vogt, Ava Kavenagh, Stella Hosking, Riley Williams, Harveen Kaur and Imogen Kertes.
On Wednesday, 3rd March our leaders met with other schools in the Marion Coast Partnership for their first meeting for 2021 at Seaview Downs Primary School.
For two hours our student leaders collaborated and worked hard to complete a number of tasks that encouraged them to engage in ‘stretch-thinking’, while being in ‘the learning pit’ at times and counteracting this with a ‘growth mindset’.
One of the tasks was the non-routine task. Task: Fred’s Safety Tower
There have been too many accidents at the beach and Fred is upset by this. He wants to become a ‘safety observer’. Can you build an observation tower for Fred where he is at the top moving about and observing for safety?
CRITERIA: Fred must:
- Have a stable shape where he can move to view different parts of the beach, not just one spot.
- Move about on a structurally sound shape.
Material choices included: skewers, plasticine, newspaper, paper clips, pop-sticks & string
‘What is a non-routine task?’ you may ask. A non-routine task is a complex problem that requires some degree of creativity and originality to solve. There may be a range of solutions.
Students were observed by what could be seen and heard. These observations were recorded and sorted into evidence of stretch thinking and growth mindset then refined to provide feedback to the group.
Commitment to Action: Back at Seacliff Primary School, our SVIL leaders will conduct their own observations of students in other classes working on a non-routine task. They will then synthesis their observations to provide feedback to students that moves learning forward.
Ruth Cameron – Student Leadership and Wellbeing Coordinator
