At Garran Primary School leadership beings in the classroom and develops as students progress through the school. Leadership opportunities are designed to foster confident enthusiastic successful learners. These leadership opportunities involve formal leadership programs and practical leadership experiences. The approach recognises that students can be leaders in different ways. Buddy writing, peer mediation, public speaking and involvement in school extra curriculum activities are some of the ways in which leadership is encouraged at Garran.
School Leaders
The School Captains are role models for our school. They play an important part in organising and presenting at school events. Two School Captains and six School Leaders are elected through a preferential election process at the end of each school year. The boy and girl with the most votes are elected school captains. Their first role is to emcee the Year 6 graduation ceremony in the last week of the school year.
Our school leadership team have the important job of setting up, running and emceeing our fortnightly whole school assemblies. They also formulate a performance for each assembly that aligns with our school social and emotional learning program, Bounce Back.
House Captains and Leaders
Garran Primary has four sporting houses: Dennis, Palmer, Gilmore and Hudson. They are all named after famous Australian Poets (C.J. Dennis, Nettie Palmer, Wilfred Hudson and Dame Mary Gilmore). House Captains and Leaders are elected by students each year. These elected leaders then assist their house during the 3 major sporting carnivals being Athletics, Cross Country and Swimming.
Each week all students across the school have opportunities of collecting ‘Eddy the Teddy’ tickets. Children demonstrating the values of the school may receive a ticket from a teacher who has observed great work, effort or achievement. These tickets are posted by children in their ‘house’ mailbox. Before each school assembly these tickets are counted. The house with the most tickets is announced as the winning house. Points contribute from the carnivals and Eddy the Teddy tickets towards the winning house at the end of the year.
Sporting houses help in building school spirit, with children eagerly participating in school events to support their sporting house. Children wear their house colours with pride and enjoy all activities relating to their sporting houses.
Garran Government
Students are elected by their peers, which each class having representatives in the Garran Government. Children meet with a teacher to collaborate with others to impact their school environment and community. The aim of the group is to involve students in meaningful, purpose-orientated activities and providing a forum for student opinions, interest and desires so these can be shared with the school community. Participation in the group also encourages the development of a sense of personal responsibility and earned self-respect. Elected students meet regularly to work towards fund-raising goals, and solving problems identified by students and overall have a role in making school a happy school.
Eco-Rangers
The Garran Eco-Rangers are a team of dedicated students who are passionate about caring, beautifying and improving our school grounds and educating our school community in more sustainable practices. The group consists of a representative from each class K-6, and meet to discuss ideas that contribute towards improving sustainable procedures at Garran. Following discussion time, the students break off into small groups to rejuvenate, plant and harvest many garden spaces which may need attention. They also prepare and practise skits and speeches for assembly that inform students, parents and staff about upcoming events and remind students and teachers to keep up positive sustainable practices. The group also proposes projects to submit to our executive staff, P & C and Garran Government.
Garran Eco-Rangers maintain several vegetable gardens throughout the year as well as run, operate and monitor our Thursday Nude Food Day (Tuesday for the Joey’s preschool group) and are developing a community garden, a forest play area, worm farms, and a garden compost area.
Additionally, Eco-Detectives roam classrooms at lunch time switching off unnecessary lights. They also crush aluminium cans that students bring in for our ‘Cash for Cans’ project, which raises money towards our gardens, and manage the collection of used toothbrushes and other old oral hygiene items for recycling with Terracycle.
Being an Eco-Ranger is a real opportunity for student leadership within the Garran community and brings our students' environmental passions to life.
Peer Support
Placing students at the centre of their learning, we empower them with practical skills and strategies to positively navigate life and relationships. Year 6 children engage in two days of training to learn the skills in how to teach and lead others. Children are in small groups that are multi-age. All children in Years 1-5 combine in these small groups to learn strategies to build and maintain friendships, to work and play together successfully. Year 6 children lead the lessons each week. Participating in this program supports the development of better connectedness across age groups in the school, improves resilience and abilities to navigate conflict and challenges with friendships and growing up. The Peer Support Program helps children to build and sustain;
- Positive relationships
- Agency
- Sense of self
- Responsibility and care for self and others
Peer Mediators
Peer Mediation is designed to contribute to a positive, caring and safe school environment. The program supports students to identify issues in the playground and provides ownership to students for resolving low-level problems or conflicts. It allows children to discuss their problems with the guidance of trained Year 6 students and come to reasonable resolutions. While many things require staff attention, there are many smaller issues that can be dealt with by trained older students.
Working in pairs, Peer Mediators have duties in the playground supporting teachers with mediating low level student concerns by using listening skills, assertiveness, brainstorming and empathy to navigate raised concerns. It gives younger students someone they can come to for support. All Year 6 students have the opportunity to be Peer Mediators.
Reading Buddies
Year 5 students each year are excited about the opportunity to support new Kindergarten students with their reading program. A program is delivered to support the Year 5 students in how to support their younger peers. Each Year 5 student has the responsibility of meeting with their younger buddies each week, and supporting them with their reading and literacy activities each week. Older students sit with younger children as they read and complete their work, giving praise, feedback and support as needed.