Year 5 Leadership Day

Last Friday all Year 5 students went over to the Micah Centre to participate in the Year 5 Leadership Day. The purpose of this day, was to begin to focus students attention on their upcoming role as Leaders of SSP in 2022 and the qualities and strategies they would need to be great Year 6 leaders. They began the day celebrating Mass with Father Richard Leonard SJ who spoke to the children about the most important leader for us all, Jesus. Father Richard's message was two-fold to the students. He spoke to them about how Jesus was a leader himself, guiding and encouraging people to follow him, even when it meant that they had to make sacrifices to do so. Father Richard also highlighted the kindness of Jesus and said what an incredible quality this was to have. He challenged the students to live kindness in everything that they do.

After Mass, students enjoyed various activities designed to focus their learning on the qualities of leaders and the strategies of teamwork. The students enjoyed STEM activities, problem solved, worked in teams and reflected on their learning. The Lego Challenge and Saving Fred were two popular activities. Mrs Smith was there to highlight the importance of teamwork and used Lessons from Geese to explain the benefits and strategies of teamwork. The students heard important messages from Dr Pat Coughlan, who visited them and spoke to them about being leaders. His message to the students was to always do the right thing even when no one is looking. He also gave students insight into how as leaders, they couldn't always expect to be thanked for their role as a leader but their contributions would always be important regardless of whether they were personally acknowledged or not. Miss Sleba was there to give the students the benefit of her experience as our school leader. She explained to students that sometimes leaders have to make tough decisions that are not always popular. She also used examples of famous leaders to demonstrate and explain the important contributions all leaders make and challenged students to set goals for themselves and to aim high.

Overall, the students had a very positive day, which was enjoyed by all. Mrs Cooper and I were very impressed at how the students immersed themselves in the tasks and challenges. A big thank you to Mrs Smith for helping to organise such a lovely Mass for us and to Mrs King who helped support the Year 5 teachers and students throughout the day. The Year 5 Leadership Day was just one step in the process forwards to becoming a Year 6 leader and the students will be able to continue to demonstrate their skills and talents in the coming weeks as they nominate, write speeches and then vote for their Year 6 leadership roles.

Year 5 Teacher

Natalie Lancuba