Student Leaders’ Retreat Reflections

Last Friday was the Student Leaders’ Retreat for the new 2022/2023 Prefects. All 19 of us were very lucky to be able to use Yirranma Place as the space for the day, which is an incredible location filled with inspiring people making a difference within the community. 

The aim of this day was to help us become better leaders, to understand our responsibilities as SCEGGS Prefects, and to begin brainstorming our vision for the year ahead. 

The day began with conversations regarding the concept of servant leadership, with Rob Caslick (the founder of social enterprise Two Good Cafe) speaking with us about how he is actively helping the community by providing employment to women who have experienced disadvantage. Mr Lee-Lindsay built on this, by explaining that our role is one of service to the school and to the community. 

With Ms Marrero and Ms Connolly, we then discussed the importance of mindfulness and supporting each other’s wellbeing. Ms Satchell then led us in a reflection of strengths and weaknesses that leaders hold and assisted us to discover our own. To help us work together as a team, we brainstormed ways to overcome challenges and discussed our strengths to find ways to fully utilise them within the group. 

Ms Allum then shared some of her wisdom with us, allowing us to ask questions about our role. From her valuable insight, we understood the impact past prefects have had on the community, and that the best leadership will happen when we work collaboratively.

We then reflected on the words of former prefects to develop a better sense of what the role entails and to learn from their advice. Following this, we had the incredible opportunity to hear from young leaders based in our community, including representatives from Franklin Women, the Ramsey Foundation, Youth Action, and Stepping Stone House. 

Charlotte and I then introduced our thinking about a vision for 2022 – 2023, discussing with our team the impact our Prefect group would like to leave on the school and on the community. We then all started to plan what we want to achieve in the year ahead.

All the Prefects would like to express our gratitude towards Ms Allum, Ms Gyton, Ms Connolly, Ms Walters, Ms Satchell, Mr Lee-Lindsay, and Ms Marrero for making this day so rewarding and enjoyable.

We all left feeling very excited for the year ahead, as well as confident in our ability to work together and the potential our Prefect group has to benefit the community.

Bibi Kuo and Charlotte Taylor
Head Prefect and Deputy Prefect