The Students Who Changed Our Thinking
I wonder if you had the opportunity to capture any of the State Funeral Service for Neale Daniher this week? It is not an exaggeration to say that Neale Daniher has inspired a nation. I was particularly drawn to the expert leadership that Master of Ceremonies, Hamish McLachlan displayed throughout the service. In the introduction, Hamish shared a number of quotes from Neale Daniher, or pearls of wisdom, that captured some of the inspiration Neale provided for all of us.
One quote that particularly captured me from Neale was, "If you don't like something, change it, if you can't change it, change the way you think about it". The more I've pondered this, the more I've dived into the abyss of leadership ramifications to it.
At Iona, we have always prided ourselves on the way we engaged student voice. We are committed to a culture that empowers our young women to have the courage to speak up, to stand for justice and better our world. Ionians do this everywhere. However, as a leadership team, we have been reflecting on our listening. Do we always capture everyone's voice? Who aren't we hearing? Do our structures allow for us to capture the collective?
A gap we found was in the "quietly compliant". Those students who go about their daily activities, never put a foot wrong, choose to lean in and lean out when needed, and focus on doing their best, all of the time. They aren't elected leaders or loud voices.
We worked with a group of staff to identify some of these students from Year 4 to 12. We then formed a purpose and framework to develop a Student Advisory Council - a group of students to meet with our Executive Team a number of times a term to share the voices of those we might have been missing.
Having launched this at the start of the year, this has been such a significant success for the College. Our Strategic Plan calls us to establish the conditions to allow our girls to be empowered for this ever changing world. These girls are thriving in sharing their voice.
One lesson our Executive Team have learned through this journey so far, may seem insignificant to some, but was really important to these students, was in the function of our canteen. The girls shared that they experienced an inequity in the offerings to support different dietary requirements, they wanted faster options in the morning before school after being engaged in Co-curricular activities to fuel themselves for the day ahead, and our Junior School students had a desire to have a more comparable menu to the Senior School.
Our Canteen Team offered the opportunity to then meet with the girls and co-construct solutions. This has led to a number of changes to the canteen.
As an Executive Team, we spend most of our time in the bigger picture. This is the importance of our function, but the value in hearing what matters these students has been empowering.
We have an exciting journey ahead to continue listening to all of our students at Iona. We want young women who are encouraged to tackle the world front on. We might not be able to change everything, but we can change the way we think.
Mr Ryan Shelton
Deputy Principal Learning & Innovation
