Breathing Life Into the Summit

YOUTH MALE SUMMIT 11TH MARCH ANNAND AUDITORIUM

Mr Karel Bos

Deputy Headmaster - Head of Senior School

The Southport School hosted students and teachers from 26 public and private schools across Brisbane and the Gold Coast at a Youth Male Summit ‘Men of the Moment’. The Summit provided workshops, and explored current programs and ideas in various schools.

TOMMY HERSCHELL Tommy Herschell is an educator (B.Ed) with 14 years experience in Australia, India, and the United Kingdom. He is a journalist who has worked in print, television, and radio over the last 21 years.

For the past five years his interest has moved into the role of facilitation: running workshops that support the emotional and mental health of men and women across the country.

His role is to assist people to challenge the stereotypes that hold us back when it comes to reaching our full potential.

He is a proud ambassador for Raise Foundation, a mentoring organisation working with 1500 students annually Australia wide.

MATT HAYDEN The saying, ‘You can take the boy out of the country but you can never take the country out of the boy’, is certainly applicable to Matt. Matt loved growing up in Kingaroy, country Queensland and to this day is still enjoying getting outside to adventure in Australia’s countryside or going home to his family property which is full of rich, wonderful memories.

He is extremely proud of what he has personally achieved as a professional cricketer, but at the centre of his life is family.

He is passionate about building a legacy beyond the famous sporting grounds of the world and replace his 20 year mantra of ‘watch the ball’ with ‘doing, sharing, being’. Focusing on projects which continue to inspire him as much as cricket but on different fields; thought leadership, media businesses, public speaking and humanitarian endeavours.

CURTIS MCGRATH Curtis McGrath OAM served in the Australian Army as a combat engineer for six years where he fought with honour in East Timor, Indonesia and Afghanistan. On 23 August 2012 Curtis stepped on an improvised explosive device which detonated, taking both his legs and severely injuring his hand.

Since losing his legs Curtis has not looked back.

Eighteen months after this fateful day, Curtis was crowned World Champion at the 2014 Paracanoe World Championships in Russia. In 2016 he made history in becoming the first Australian to win a Paralympic Gold medal in the Paracanoe event in Brazil. Curtis continues to strive for excellence in his pursuit to win gold and is equally as passionate about the healing power of sport.

DARREN LEHMANN Darren Lehmann is a former Australian cricketer and former Australia Cricket Team Head Coach. He played 27 Tests for Australia and 117 One Day internationals. He rose to prominence in the ODI team in the year 1999. He even got the honour to hit the winning runs in the World Cup Final at Lord’s. He was the highest run scorer in Sheffield Shield/ Pura Cup history, with 13,635 runs at an average of 54.97. Lehmann declared his retirement from international cricket in 2007.

Post retirement Lehmann commenced a successful coaching career. After coaching the Deccan Chargers to an IPL win in 2009, he then coached the Queensland Bulls to a Sheffield Shield title, One Day Championship and the Brisbane Heat won BBL 2.

Lehmann then became the Australian Cricket team Head Coach in 2013 taking the team to a World Cup win in 2015, Ashes 5-0 series win, number one ranked Test team and number one ODI team in the world.

Lehmann stepped down from the Australian team in 2018 and is now the Head Coach of the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League.

The Summit highlighted the need to learn from each other and share programs that have had a real ‘cut through’ at Senior Schools. Many of the schools that support a co-educational environment spoke about the necessity for listening and conversations where both males and females had an opportunity to explain their perspectives on behaviour, attitudes and modelling respectful habits towards each other.

Our relationship with our sister school, St Hilda’s needs to be encouraged and fostered as we explore the seven characteristics that were highlighted in the summit.

1. COMPASSION 2. GRATITUDE 3. HONESTY 4. AUTHENTICITY 5. KINDNESS 6. LEADERSHIP 7. COURAGE

A sincere thank you to all the emails and votes of support from our community in the wake of the Youth Male Summit. There were many highlights on the day but one stood out personally for me as the young men who represented the 26 schools listened to both Palm Beach Currumbin and St Hilda’s young women as they described, ‘what they currently see from our young men in society’ and ‘what they want to see’. The comments from these young women evoked compassion, honesty and courage and allowed a dialogue that was authentic and transparent.

We are hoping to organise future workshops with St Hilda’s that promote the necessary dialogue and conversations that will encourage healthy and positive relationships between the young men and women of both schools. Furthermore, our annual Year 10 workshops will begin next term and we are trialing a Year 7 introductory program that will explore vulnerability and support around mental health and belonging. Both our Deans, Mr Oneto and Mr Stansbie are continuing to explore these concepts in other year level meetings where we explicitly teach consent, disclosure, student protection and healthy relationships.

YEAR 7, YEAR 10 AND ST HILDA’S SHARED WORKSHOPS

On reflection from the Youth Male Summit in Term One we made it a priority to include more female voices and perspectives this term when we plan our Healthy Masculinity Workshops. Last week we invited 20 senior girls from St Hilda’s to share their insight on:

“What they currently see from their relationships with young men” “What they want to see from their relationships with young men”

The shared workshop allowed both school students to share and be honest in a safe environment. The students discussed the pressure they face at school, online and on weekends and it was encouraging to see the support and empathy from both brother and sister schools. There was a commitment and dialogue that embraced change in areas and this initial step gave staff involved an insight into how we should approach and plan for further workshops and socials in the future.

Further to this shared space, last weeks focus for our assemblies and morning program themes explored the special women in our lives and healthy relationships through our annual ‘Man Up’ workshops. Led by TSS staff and Mr Tom Herschell from the ‘Find your Feet’ program, our Year 7 and Year 10 cohorts explored the vital components of healthy masculinity and relationships.

Please see some of the responses from Year 10 and 7 students below:

“I think if the same energy that was applied in the workshop today was transferred to everyday life we could be our true selves.”

“I really enjoyed it. Very different and was good to see others sharing.”

“It was good to see others going through same issues I have.”

“Wearing the masks is real and I don’t want to anymore.”

“The workshop today allowed me to see vulnerability from my mates and realise they are going through the same stuff.”