School: Corinda State High School (QLD)
Partner: yLead and Volunteering Queensland
Established in 1960, Corinda State High School is a co-educational secondary school located in the western suburbs of Brisbane. Corinda SHS enjoys a well deserved reputation of academic excellence and is strongly dedicated to supporting students in a safe and disciplined environment. The student group, approximately 1550 students, reflects a high level of cultural diversity, with 51% of students from countries other than Australia. The size, multicultural and multilingual nature of the student group, presents major challenges for the school. Corinda SHS is therefore committed to developing young people who can participate in a dynamic, culturally diverse society, take responsibility and be resilient and contribute to the stewardship of the Earth.
In 2008, the school commenced a three year strategic planning and review process. The wider school community was invited to participate in the process over three workshops. Attendees included school community representatives, P&C representatives, local Members of Parliament, business leaders, youth workers and yLead, the school’s project partner. One of the themes identified was the need for students to demonstrate leadership skills and at the same time be encouraged to take more responsibility for the world in which they live.
A key contributor to these workshop sessions was yLead, a youth-focused group that seeks to inspire and engender strong leadership skills in today’s youth. In identifying through the review a need to actively encourage positive student behaviour, Corinda SHS embraced yLead’s program: i.e. the act of volunteering promotes leadership skills and therefore encourages individual positive student behaviour. Corinda SHS was determined to create a program which developed students’ values system and educational aspirations through a commitment to community and global volunteering. The school leadership course aligned with yLead’s commitment to creating strong leadership skills in today’s youth.
As part of their commitment to develop formalised training and education, Corinda SHS subsequently set up a pilot program organised by Volunteering QLD, which offers a Certificate II in Active Volunteering through schools. Over a series of meetings in the second half of 2008, yLead worked with school representatives to develop a framework for a Student Leadership Program to be initiated in 2009. The aim being students able to gain reward points, through a commitment to volunteering, which contributes towards their Certificate 2.
The program is now in its pilot delivery phase, with the first group of participants currently involved in active volunteering in the local community. A thorough review and evaluation will be undertaken, involving all program partners, to decide on the future direction of the program.
The program has also embraced a three tier model approach. Students go through a personal journey of volunteering which begins in Year 8 and finishes in Year 12. Year 8 students undertake “internal” volunteering within the school grounds. Year 9 students then go the next step and undertake volunteering in their local community. Finally, Year 11 and 12 students undertake a global volunteering task. This program strongly encourages students to select their volunteering journey based on their personal interest rather than friendship groups. The school believes students will gain leadership skills from the confidence they acquire in being able to move into interest areas and build up friendship groups based around those interests. The school believes this approach improves student behaviour towards each other and builds young people’s resilience to cope in different environments.
The program offers a structured and supportive way for students to become involved in their local community. Across Years 8 to 12, students undertake a range of activities including an introduction to the concept of leadership; leadership ‘in action’ with projects outside school boundaries; career knowledge and development; projects incorporating a global focus; and a mentoring system for assisting younger year levels. The program has clear community benefits and the potential to engender students with important leadership skills that will be useful in their future careers.
Corinda SHS has identified ten indicators of success, six of which can be assessed using data already collected and four of which are specific to this program and will be evaluated separately.
Corinda State High School has shown excellent initiative in setting up this project with much of its own funding, and will use the Schools First Awards money to build sustainability and initiate partnerships with additional community organisations.
