What is Round Square?

In late March, nine Year 8 girls travelled to Redlands with Bridget Kovats Head of Year 8 and Penny Hewett Head of Year 10, to participate in the first Round Square Ethics Collaboration.

Students across 4 schools learnt about the fundamental tenets of ethical reasoning that form the basis of Round Square ideals, particularly internationalism and democracy. 

All students in attendance had the opportunity to exchange ideas around topics related to morality and ethics, such as:

• At what stage does a child develop moral awareness?
• What are the stages of moral development through which individuals attain increasingly complex skills in ethical reasoning?
• Is morality a set of core principles/laws that are universal? Or are those principles shaped and dependent on different cultural perspectives?
• Should moral principles be focused on the consequences of actions or the intentions behind them?
• Should moral principles focus on achieving absolute justice/ equity for all, or on maximising happiness for the most people?

Through engaging with these complex questions and designing their own ethical principles for a more fair and just society,  students developed independent, critical thinking skills as well as their ability to solve problems collaboratively. Discussions and activities were facilitated by Year 10 to Year 11 Redlands students who are part of the School’s Round Square Committee under the direction of Redlands teachers and staff from other Round Square schools. 

After the seminar students were asked to write a couple of sentences about what they enjoyed, their observations and learnt from the attending:

“The Ethics Seminar at Redlands has led me to think about possible solutions and alternatives to ethical and moral dilemmas that don’t necessarily have a right or wrong answer, these questions have challenged my thinking and hinted that perhaps the best way to resolve certain problems that don’t have a good solution any way is to prevent them from happening in the first place. I really enjoyed this day and got to socialise with lots of new people with different perspectives.”

“I really enjoyed the Ethics Seminar as it challenged my thinking and pushed me to my limits. It was nice to talk to people outside of school as it helped me socialise more.”

“I really enjoyed working my brain and thinking about morals and the reasons behind our actions, mainly since I wouldn’t really think about this on a daily basis. I also enjoyed talking with new people and understanding their opinions on it as well.”

“At the Ethics Seminar, I learnt about the Hienz Dilemma and the stages of moral development. The stages of moral development included, avoiding punishment, self-interest, good boy attitude, law and order morality, social contract then the universal principle. Based on the seminar, it really made me challenge to think about when a child first begins the moral development and what it would be like for them, and to back up opinion with three cons and three pros.”

“I enjoyed that we got to socialise with other schools and see how they work and how they see things. At the start of the day, I had no knowledge of what ethics or moral meant, and by the end of the day I had a full understanding of what each of those words meant with examples.”

– Xavier Maling
Round Square Coordinator

Round Square International Women’s Day Postcard

MLC School had the opportunity to host the annual Round Square International Women’s Day postcard. A postcard is a weekly online student-led event, where schools around the world are given the opportunity to host a 60 minute call on a decided topic of the host school. 

Students from up to 30 different schools come together to engage in discussions and presentations in breakout rooms. Each breakout room has a group called a ‘baraza’, each baraza host is responsible for facilitating conversations and questions around the decided topic. This initiative was developed by Round Square in response to the conferences and events that were affected by the pandemic in order to keep students connected and allow them to continue having valuable discussions.

The focus of our postcard was the International Women’s Day (IWD)’s 2025 campaign theme, “Accelerate Action”, and was planned fully by the committed Round Square committee. Students brainstormed sub-topics, ideas surrounding our theme and formed insightful questions for the postcard. Seven amazing baraza leaders from Year 11 to Year 12 stepped up to lead these barazas and managed conversations around difficult but important topics.

Here are some personal experiences from the baraza hosts:

‘The conversations that were had in my group were incredibly insightful. We started by discussing what the theme “accelerating action” meant to each of us. We spoke about initiatives that were run at our respective schools and our conversation was focused around what we as individuals and our schools could do in the future in terms of working towards gender equity and equality.’
– Amy (Year 12)

‘Leading a baraza group for the IWD postcard was a rewarding experience. My baraza group consisted of students from different schools across the globe. We discussed the campaign theme “accelerating action” for gender equality and what that meant to us as individuals in our generation. We discussed current issues and policies that cause setbacks in women’s rights today. Additionally, my group had a very insightful discussion about what initiatives we have taken at our respective schools and inspired each other with different ways we can actively promote gender equality.’
– Elizabeth (Year 12)

‘Our baraza group for the IWD postcard was an intriguing and fulfilling experience, to learn from schools across Australia and India about their perspectives on gender equality. We engaged in meaningful discussions, and explored the challenges and progress in achieving gender equity in different cultural and social contexts including quotas, the gender pay gap and the opportunities for the new generations to ‘Accelerate Action’. It was inspiring to hear diverse viewpoints and initiatives, reinforcing the importance of collective action. Ultimately, we found it to be a great experience, we gained valuable insights into how schools are fostering inclusivity and empowering young people to advocate for change.’
– Jordan and Crystal (Year 11)

‘The baraza sessions were a great opportunity to talk about pressing gender rights issues with students our age. My baraza group were very insightful as our conversations ranged from the negative impact of new policies on women’s rights to discussing the increase of the anti-feminist sentiment. We also discussed possible solutions we can implement in our schools and education system to help support future generations with gender equity issues. We ended the thoughtful baraza with asking ourselves one takeaway we can leave with. Overall, it was a great experience, thanks to the baraza hosts and Mr Maling for setting everything up.’
– Khushii (Year 12) 

– Amy, Anita, Elizabeth, Hattie, Jordan, Crystal and Khushii
Students

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Year 5 Library Leaders Join a Global ‘Show and Tell’

At the end of this term, some of our Year 5 Library leaders joined schools from India, Melbourne and Sydney for the April Round Square Worldwide Show and Tell. This was an opportunity to meet other Round Square schools online and share things  about ourselves and our schools.

This month’s topic was ‘Our favourite book / nursery rhyme / folk tale’.

Our library leaders shared the favourite book for each MLC School grade, from Kindergarten to Year 5. The eight girls involved spoke very well and were able to share our favourite books as well as listen to the favourite stories and folktales from other schools.

After sharing the girls had the opportunity to ask and answer a question. The other schools were curious about what library leaders do and enjoyed listening to our answer.

– Joanne Sharpe
Deputy Head of Junior School – Wellbeing

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