Our 2024 School Captains, Joy and Sam (affectionately known as JAM) sparked a new idea: the creation of a Student Leaders Network.

“This initiative brought together student leaders from various schools in Melbourne for an afternoon of engaging conversations, collective problem-solving, and enjoyable activities,” remarked Head of Senior School at Korowa, Karlie Stocker.

As Joy and Sam explained, “We initiated this event with the aim of facilitating meaningful connections and fostering relationships among school leaders. Our goal was to create an event where we, as leaders of our respective schools, could share ideas and strategies that benefited our schools and the broader community.”

Hosted at Korowa on Tuesday 30 April 2024, leaders from eleven schools gathered to participate in this event. Attended by Camberwell Grammar School, Methodist Ladies College, Caulfield Grammar School, Lauriston Girls’ School, St Columba’s College, Melbourne High School, Xavier College, Scotch College, Melbourne Grammar and Sacré Cœur.  The afternoon began with a trivia session to break the ice, followed by discussions on topics submitted by the attending schools. These topics included strategies to manage schoolwork and leadership responsibilities, methods to manage larger groups in meetings, ways to balance everyone’s needs and desires when making decisions, how to encourage participation in school events, and ways we could collaborate as a range of schools to benefit the wider community. The event concluded with valuable networking time that fostered connections among participants.

Korowa’s leadership conference was a great opportunity to network with student leaders from a variety of schools. We all met with the shared purpose of building a stronger inter-school community, and we hope these connections will last and extend to new leadership/school collaborations!” – Pippa, Lauriston

“The afternoon was an exchange of ideas, where student leaders addressed challenges specific to their roles, shared valuable advice, and learned from each other. The impact of this event was evident when one of the attending schools expressed sincere gratitude for the opportunity, as they were not often invited to attend such experiences which allowed them to collaborate with other schools,” commented Karlie Stocker.

Joy and Sam reflected, “The leaders who attended all got along well, and by the end of the event, everyone had forged strong connections with one another. Altogether, we had formed a network that would be able to assist each other throughout the year. The discussions sparked fresh ideas, offering valuable insights into various aspects of school leadership. The event was such a success, it left us inspired to implement innovative ideas within our respective communities.”

“It was very well organised and a really successful opportunity to network with leaders at other schools.” – Sophie, Caulfield Girls Grammar

As Karlie Stocker observed, “Initiatives such as this encourage students to step out of their comfort zones, lead with empathy, and build a community that thrives on shared knowledge and support, helping each other as they navigate leadership roles in their various schools.’

Karlie further noted, “By offering a variety of networking events, whether student-led or part of a broader program, we aim to instil in our students the understanding that networking is not just about building a contact list. It is about creating a web of relationships that can support them throughout their academic journeys and well into their futures. We believe this is an important part of the Korowa offering in which we provide these opportunities so that we can continue to support our students, not just to become successful in future pursuits, but also to understand the value of working with and supporting others.”