4 minute read
Rethinking Leadership
RETHINKING LEADERSHIP IN 2020
We spoke with some of our student leaders about their experiences of being a leader during 2020 – a year of lockdowns, Learning at Home, and incredible leadership through a period of great uncertainty.
Our Guardians and staff members on one of their leadership Zoom meetings during Learning at Home in 2020
HAYHOE HOUSE
What a year! When given our role as 2020 Hayhoe House Captains, we were excited to take on the responsibility of leading our House and all the opportunities that came with it… but we could not have predicted what this year would bring.
What is usually a very practical and hands-on role now had the added challenge of keeping the spirit, positivity and connectedness of our boarding house alive via Zoom.
Throughout Learning at Home, our role involved keeping the girls engaged with fitness challenges and encouraging them to participate in the House Bingo nights, celebrations, and ‘vlogs’. While they were completely different, these activities provided a great opportunity to gain a much deeper insight into the lives of our sisters in Hayhoe.
We were disappointed to have missed some of the opportunities that leaders have had in previous years, but we were honoured to be given the opportunity to lead such a positive and encouraging group of girls. We were so proud of how well our House stayed connected throughout what has been a challenging year.
Phoebe Sheehan and Lucy Clarke, Hayhoe House Captains 2020
ROBIN HOUSE
The start of 2020 began very similarly to other years: the men of Robin completed House activities together and ate together. Then lockdown happened, and running a House was a lot more challenging.
We organised House Zoom sessions a couple of times and did activities such as ‘Kahoots’, Scavenger Hunts and Trivia. These activities allowed us to maintain some contact with the other members of the House. Our Year 11s also helped run a couple of House sessions over lockdown, and it was great to see their leadership emerge.
Even when we returned to school, we were still unable to meet as a full House due to restrictions. However, we tried hard to make our House activities engaging and enjoyable by bringing fun to the House which brought us closer, even though we were apart.
It was great to be able to have House Chorals amongst the chaos that was 2020. Seeing the House spirit and the support from each tute group in learning all the moves and lyrics was awesome.
It was an absolute spectacle and a terrific Robin/Cuthbert performance. Overall, it was great to see the men of Robin grow and the Year 11s stepping up to take the reins and become the new leaders of Robin.
Oliver Meakin and James Barker, Robin House Captains 2020
- Rebecca Cuff and Sally Rehfisch
FROM OUR ROUND SQUARE CAPTAINS
As this year has been one like no other, Round Square at Ballarat Grammar has been significantly altered.
We went from planning a huge Round Square International Conference, hosting students from around the globe, to all student learning at home isolated in their own town.
However, with all this change and challenge, Round Square has managed to push through as we have found alternative ways to incorporate Round Square into the Grammar community. Learning at Home has challenged our minds to think outside the box to generate new ideas. For example, Community Care Day was a whole school event where we collected items such as sleeping bags / mats, nonperishable foods, as well as sanitary items for organisations in Ballarat that help people in need in the local area. This generated a great outcome for several local charities and we received many generous donations from families across the whole school.
We also worked to create a “Race around the Globe” with a Round Square theme, where each House was challenged to get outdoors and partake in exercise where their minutes created kilometres travelled to reach certain destination points. It was a great motivator to get our exercise in!
Prior to Learning at Home in Term 2, we were fortunate to host a wonderful International Women’s Day event where we had dynamic Old Grammarian, Dr Emma Spinks (Dalkin, 1994), speaking about her life, career and being a role model in today’s society (pictured above). This was an inspiring Round Square event. Thank you to you all for your help and special thanks to Mr Tim Adams who helped guide our activities and rethink our leadership through 2020.
