Leadership
One of the major purposes of the House system is to provide opportunities for students to further develop their leadership skills. This is seen as a developmental process, with students gradually taking more responsibility for organising and managing House activities.
Many of the opportunities focus on the interhouse competition and many of these events provide even the youngest students with opportunities to develop the kinds of skills that are necessary for effective leadership.
In the Junior School, a boy and girl captain of each House are assisted by the other Year 6 students to motivate the younger students in their House to participate in the sporting and cultural activities that occur throughout the year.
In the Middle School, a boy and girl captain of each House are assisted by the other students in Year 9 to build on House spirit, endeavour and enjoyment. Year 7 students are assigned a buddy from Year 12 and various events, starting with a Year 7/12 Games night at the commencement of the year, are designed to hasten the students' assimilation into the House and the Senior School.
Responsibility for the overall organisation of each House resides with the Seniors (Year 12 students). The two House Captains (a boy and a girl), assisted by the Senior students are responsible for ensuring that the House functions effectively and provides opportunities for all students.
The House Captains and Seniors must ensure that students/teams are organised for the full range of House activities. These include:
- team sports as scheduled;
- interhouse debates;
- a drama production;
- an instrumental music performance;
- a choir performance; and
- a musical performance.
They must also plan for a House week where the purpose is to raise funds for a charity of their choice, and organise a variety of activities for the students to enjoy during the lunch break. The Seniors do this using only positive methods of encouragement to attain the required level of participation.
They are provided with two 20 minute time tabled slots each week for House meetings, which they use to motivate and organise students.
House staff, Dean and tutors, are always available to provide advice should students seek it, but otherwise will quietly observe from a distance unless a major catastrophe (which has never happened) seems likely to occur.
Because of the demanding nature of the Seniors' leadership roles, a great deal of time is spent preparing them while they are in Year 11. This takes various forms and includes numerous sessions with the House Dean, starting in Term 1, a progressive handing over of duties from Year 12's to Year 11's in term 4, and a weekend retreat for House Captains at the start of Year 12.
