Spring 2013 Edition GRIP Gold Newsletter

GRIP

GOLD MEMBER NEWSLETTER

spring 2013

Registration Now Open for the GRIP Student Leadership Conference!

See inside for details

How Do You Select Your Student Leaders?

Pages 6-7

INSIDE THIS ISSUE OF THE NEWSLETTER NEW Conference Programs Pages 2-3

Leadership Through Listening Pages 4-5

GRIP Leading & Teaching Conferences a Success Page 8

Registration now open!

Register now for the GRIP Student Leadership conference near you!

Lock the date into your school calendar now and register online to secure your school’s booking.

Secondary Conferences New South Wales Sydney (Option #1) Sydney (Option #2) Tweed / Coolangatta Coffs Harbour Tamworth Newcastle Albury / Wodonga

1st Nov 13 25th Feb 14 28th Oct 13 29th Oct 13 30th Oct 13 31st Oct 13 6th Nov 13

Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre Tweed Heads Civic and Cultural Centre C.ex Coffs Club Tamworth War Memorial Town Hall Civic Precinct Newcastle City Hall Commercial Club Albury

Australian Capital Territory Canberra (Option #1) 4th Nov 13 Canberra (Option #2) 24th Feb 14

Australian Institute of Sport Australian Institute of Sport

Victoria Melbourne Wodonga / Albury Ballarat Mildura

7th Mar 14 6th Nov 13 7th Nov 13 8th Nov 13

Melbourne Conv. & Exhibition Centre Commercial Club Albury Ballarat Lodge & Convention Centre The Setts Function Centre

South Australia Adelaide

25th Mar 14

Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Queensland Brisbane Coolangatta / Tweed Cairns Townsville Mackay Toowoomba Rockhampton

28th Feb 14 28th Oct 13 11th Feb 14 12th Feb 14 17th Feb 14 20th Feb 14 21st Feb 14

Sleeman Sports Complex Tweed Heads Civic and Cultural Centre Pullman Reef Hotel Casino Mercure Inn Townsville Mackay Ent. & Convention Centre Highfields Cultural Centre Rockhampton Leagues Club

2013-2014 secondary Program

Western Australia Perth Geraldton Bunbury

10th Mar 14 14th Mar 14 21st Mar 14

Perth Conv. & Exhibition Centre Queen Elizabeth II Centre Quality Hotel Lord Forrest

10:30am Morning Tea Break Optional Session: What Makes a Successful School Captain?

Tasmania Hobart Launceston

31st Mar 14 4th Apr 14

Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart The Tailrace Centre

Northern Territory Darwin

3rd Mar 14

Hilton Hotel Darwin

All sessions include main presentations, interactive activities, discussions, leadership games and entertainment.

8:40am

9:00am Session 1 Being a Leadership Group of Influence

10:55am Session 2 Leadership Everest: Succeeding in Student Leadership Electives (choose 1) Option 1: How to Maximise Student Involvement Option 2: How to Maximise Fun from Fundraisers 12:30pm

register online now: www.gripleadership.com.au

Doors Open & Arrival

Lunch Break

1:00pm Electives (choose 1) Option 3: Creating Unity at School - Lessons from Nelson Mandela Option 4: Creating House Spirit - Lessons from Cathy Freeman 1:45pm

Q&A With GRIP Leadership Team and Final Review

2:30pm

Close

(Program subject to change at any time)

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grip Student leadership conference

Primary Conferences

2014 Primary Program

New South Wales Sydney (Option #1) Sydney (Option #2) Armidale Tamworth Moree Coffs Harbour Tweed / Coolangatta Forster Dubbo Bathurst Newcastle Wollongong Wagga Wagga Albury / Wodonga

26th Feb 14 22nd May 14 5th May 14 6th May 14 7th May 14 8th May 14 9th May 14 12th May 14 19th May 14 20th May 14 21st May 14 23rd May 14 27th May 14 28th May 14

Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre Armidale Ex Services Club Tamworth War Memorial Town Hall Moree Memorial Hall Coffs Harbour Racing Club Twin Towns Clubs & Resorts Club Forster Dubbo RSL Memorial Club Bathurst Memorial Ent.Centre Newcastle Panthers University of Wollongong Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga Albury Entertainment Centre

South Australia Adelaide Mount Gambier Port Augusta

24th Mar 14 1st May 14 30th May 14

Adelaide Entertainment Centre Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre Lea Memorial Theatre

Queensland Brisbane Cairns Townsville Gladstone Mackay Bundaberg Emerald Nambour Rockhampton Toowoomba Coolangatta / Tweed

27th Feb 14 10th Feb 14 13th Feb 14 17th Feb 14 18th Feb 14 18th Feb 14 19th Feb 14 19th Feb 14 20th Feb 14 21st Feb 14 9th May 14

Sleeman Sports Complex Pullman Reef Hotel Casino Mercure Inn Townsville Boyne Tannum Community Centre Mackay Ent. & Convention Centre Brothers Sports Club Emerald Town Hall Nambour Civic Centre Rockhampton Leagues Club Highfields Cultural Centre Twin Towns Clubs & Resorts

Western Australia Perth Geraldton Esperance Albany Bunbury

11th Mar 14 13th Mar 14 18th Mar 14 19th Mar 14 20th Mar 14

Perth Conv. & Exhibition Centre Queen Elizabeth II Centre Esperance Civic Centre Albany Town Hall Quality Hotel Lord Forrest

Victoria Melbourne Sale Ballarat Bendigo Wodonga / Albury Mildura

6th Mar 14 28th Apr 14 29th Apr 14 30th Apr 14 28th May 14 29th May 14

Melbourne Conv. & Exhibition Centre Sale Memorial Hall Ballarat Lodge & Convention Centre The Capital Theatre Albury Entertainment Centre The Setts Function Centre

Tasmania Hobart Burnie Launceston

1st Apr 14 2nd Apr 14 3rd Apr 14

Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart Burnie Arts & Function Centre The Tailrace Centre

Australian Capital Territory Canberra 26th May 14 Australian Institute of Sport Northern Territory Darwin

4th Mar 14

Darwin Entertainment Centre

All sessions include main presentations, interactive activities, discussions, leadership games and entertainment.

8.45am

Early Access for GRIP Gold Schools

8.55am

Doors Open for Remaining Schools

9.15am Session 1 The Schoolyard Superhero Many students see leadership as an opportunity to give instructions and enjoy privileges. In contrast, this session uses the analogy of a superhero for students to see that leadership is actually an opportunity to serve other students at their school. Students will discover the four roles of a schoolyard superhero and realise that leadership opportunities are available to them every day.

10.45am

Morning Tea

11.10am Session 2 Lead Like a Strawberry Not Like a Watermelon This popular session was originally presented a number of years ago and continues to be talked about today in schools all over Australia. By popular request, the updated version will be presented as part of the 2014 program. This session uses the metaphor of these two fruits to look at the important element of ‘integrity’ in leadership and communicates to students the importance of being the same person on the inside that they project on the outside.

Leadership Everest: Succeeding in Student Leadership Like the journey to the top of Everest, the leadership journey is both rewarding and challenging. This session will identify many of the common challenges that student leaders face and then suggest ways to overcome them. The list of challenges includes; going against the crowd, getting back up after failure and surviving criticism.

12.30pm

Lunch Break

1.00pm Session 3 Bringing Our Ideas Alive Student leaders often discuss great ideas that miss out on being implemented and achieved. As well as sharing in discussion with other schools, this session gives students practical tools to help them follow through on their ideas and bring them to life. This process involves generating new ideas, effective goal setting and implementing a simple planning method.

Q&A With GRIP Leadership Team and Final Review 2.30pm

Close

(Program subject to change at any time)

register online now: www.gripleadership.com.au Newsletter

GRIP GOLD MEMBER 3

leadership through

listening M

any of the students who attend our leadership conferences seem to be under the assumption that leadership and public speaking are the same thing. Obviously public speaking is a useful skill for some people in leadership roles, but it is not at all the pinnacle or heartbeat of leadership. This misunderstanding is probably formed due to the frequency in which politicians and community leaders communicate with society through the television.

It is important that, from a young age, people understand that leadership and public speaking are not the same thing. If you are a teacher that works with student leaders, you have a unique opportunity to help young people see that leadership is so much more than standing up and ‘giving a talk.’ You also have the challenge of structuring things in your school such that student leaders themselves understand that their role is far more than public speaking.

When a student is able to understand that leadership is more than public speaking it can be freeing for them in a number of ways. Firstly, the shy student begins to think that maybe they can indeed be a leader at the school.

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Secondly, students begin to see that they can influence others one-on-one and in a small group setting, rather than having to be the person who gives a talk at a whole school assembly. Thirdly, it allows students to explore ways in which leadership can be practised through actions, rather than only through words.

One way to help bring about this paradigm shift in your student leaders is to encourage them in the principle of ‘leadership through listening.’ Listening is obviously the opposite to speaking, and therefore is an effective approach to allow students to see that leadership is far broader than what they might have previously thought.

Leading by listening suggests that the important opinion is the person speaking, not the leader. This too is a valuable revelation for student leaders, as they begin to understand that leaders are effective when they place the focus on those they lead, rather than on their own opinions and interests.

As student leaders listen to their peers and place value on what they are hearing, only then will they truly be leading in the interests of others. >>

As student leaders listen to their peers and place value on what they are hearing, only then will they truly be leading in the interests of others.

Below are some very practical ways that you can encourage ‘leadership through listening’ in your students:

1. Broaden who you listen to.

4. Have a suggestion box.

Encourage your student leaders to circulate through different groups of students in different year levels. Spending time with others is the best way to show care and to understand the thoughts, issues and ideas that exist right across the school.

This idea has been around for years, but if students in the school are made aware of it and utilise it then the suggestions placed in the box can be discussed at the next student leaders meeting.

2. Hold open forums.

5. Share the thoughts of others.

From time to time, hold ‘open’ leadership meetings in which any student in the school can attend and be encouraged to make a genuine contribution.

Challenge students to share opinions in meetings that are definitely the thoughts of others, not just the leader themselves. This is obviously hard to police, but continually reminding leaders of this reminds them that they are representatives of a much larger group.

3. Ask students for their input.

Suggest to your leaders that they announce their ideas and then invite students to approach them with suggestions in advance of when a final decision will be made.

Putting some of these practical ideas into action will be of great benefit to both the school and the student leaders themselves. The student body will develop a deeper appreciation for the efforts of their leaders and those in leadership roles will be continually reminded that being a leader is not about public speaking but rather the service of others.

Newsletter

GRIP GOLD MEMBER 5

How Do You Select Your

Student Leaders?

By Ronan McGinniss

T

his is one of the most frequent questions that I hear from the conversations that teachers have with each other when they attend our student leadership conference.

“How do you select your student leaders?” Some people who ask this are simply interested in the topic, whilst others appear to be on a genuine quest to identify the foolproof way of selecting the perfect group of student leaders.

Having been involved in these discussions many times, and working with hundreds of schools, I have come to the realisation that there is no universally perfect answer to this question. It is like asking the question “what is the best way to teach a class?”

The answer to this question depends on a variety of factors unique to the school, the leadership structure, the students, and the environment.

I have heard a huge variety of opinions in this discussion of late. Some schools have done away with leadership roles altogether, either because they want to treat a whole year group as a class of leaders or because they want to see the natural leaders rise to the surface and lead, without having to appoint positions. >>

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I know of one principal who says that he gives every student in the school an equal vote for their student leaders and he insists that the result should never be tampered with, as the students will follow the people they have elected regardless. Other schools invite nominations and then put students through a very structured selection process involving interviews, candidate speeches and student and staff voting.

Different again, some school principals reserve the right to select the student leaders themselves.

After navigating through this conversation for some time, I am able to recommend some general suggestions and principles to keep in mind when creating the ‘selection process’ at your school.

Small schools are in a unique situation.

Sometimes selecting leaders is made easier if there are only a handful of senior students who automatically take on this mantle, but other years there may be no senior students at all and the structure needs to be approached differently. For a variety of reasons, some schools find it difficult to find students that are interested in filling leadership positions, which requires a long term strategy of leadership development rather than a short term selection process.

2. Avoid campaign speeches.

Assembling the students to listen to candidate’s speeches often results in the election of the candidate who delivers the funniest or wittiest speech. It also results in potential student leaders thinking more about campaigning than about leading.

If you do like the idea of speeches, encourage the candidates to lead a charity project in the twelve months leading up to student leader elections.

During their project they can deliver a speech to the students focussed on

1. Ask the student body for their input in some way.

This may or may not involve a traditional ‘voting’ process.

Student input may be in the form of inviting students to nominate others or themselves.

the project, not on themselves, so that the student body can hear this person speak within a context.

3. Require some action from the potential student leaders before they are selected.

It will help reinforce to them that leaders are required to take action and not simply sit back.

This could be as simple as asking the students to write a paragraph about ways they feel they can help the school community.

4. Communicate the process clearly to the student body.

If you use a voting system, inform the students how the voting will work. The last thing you want is students feeling that the process is clouded in secrecy or corruption... this sounds extreme but this is often what they think!

Newsletter

GRIP GOLD MEMBER 7

GRIP Leading & Teaching Conferences A Success

I

n recent months the GRIP Leadership team has completed the successful launch of our new conference just for teachers. The ‘GRIP Leading & Teaching’ conference was held in five locations around Australia and brought together approximately five hundred educators for a day of leadership professional development.

“The GRIP team presented a thought-provoking and inspirational day. I am returning to my school re-charged with a new way of viewing leadership.”

Dianne Cowderoy (Sherwood Ridge PS) “Wow, it’s just what I needed to hear. Relevant, genuine and it just really spoke to me.”

Emma Sisley (Halls Head PS) “Highly informative, useful ideas and tools to inspire and equip colleagues and students.”

Phil Tarrant (Pedare Christian College) “An excellent program, it’s not very often you come across a PD that has so many practical applications.

Well worth attending. Thank you.”

Louise Judge (St Stephens School)

In the coming months, we will announce full details and the brand new program for next year’s conferences for teachers, which will be held toward the middle of 2014.

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