Never too young to be a leader

Kings Park Primary School teacher Phana Phoumin said visiting Parliament was an opportunity not often afforded to students in the outer western suburbs.

‘It’s really nice for them to get out of their suburb and just see what’s out there,’ she said.

‘I wanted the program to help the students understand that we can all be leaders, no matter what our background is and what schools we are from.’

Ardeer Primary School ran an expression of interest process for grade five and six students who wanted to come to Parliament House and were inundated with interest.

Ardeer Primary principal John Mifsud said he wanted the program to show students that becoming a future leader was not beyond the realms of possibility.

‘This day is up there with one of my fondest memories in my educational career,’ he said.

‘It's that understanding that we come to this space that is just aesthetically so beautiful, but the function and the possibility of them pursuing a career as a member of parliament is very real.’

Ardeer year five student Lincoln is running for school captain next year and was excited to be in the same space as the state’s decision makers. 

He said he was planning to talk about his time at Parliament in his school captain speech.

‘I think a good leader is happy, kind, sees both sides and gives everyone a voice and that’s what I want to take back to school with me,’ he said.

Throughout the day, students participated in a number of workshops that prompted discussions around different ways of making decisions and using leadership skills.

Coburn Primary School teacher Andrea Pitman said the key messages around pursuing a passion and taking on a leadership role resonated with the students.  

‘I'd love for us to continue some of the work and the discussions that we've started here today around issues specific to our school,’ she said.

‘I think one of the great joys of a day like today is it allows the time to actually sit and listen to their ideas.

‘As they talk around the table, they often come up with the best solutions to those problems and I think if we really take the time to listen to our students, we could learn a lot from that too.’

Charlee is a year six school captain at Coburn Primary School and said leadership was about being a voice for others.

‘I wanted to come to expand my knowledge of the skills of a leader and how to be a good leader so that I can use all of this in future.’

She said the program taught her there was no better day to start being a leader than today.

The pilot program was delivered by the Victorian Parliament’s education advisers together with co-design specialists from Swinburne University of Technology. It was supported with funding from the Department of Education’s Strategic Partnerships Program.

For more information about leadership and advocacy in the classroom, visit the Teach and Learn page.