We provide many activities that assist students in developing leadership skills.
High School
All students at IGS are encouraged to recognise that the best leadership comes from within the group and is not imposed on them. Our leadership activities allow students to consider social responsibility both within and outside the school community.
The tutor system is vertical, allowing senior students to mentor junior students in a group. Year 9 students also mentor Year 4 as part of their curriculum. Links are also made between specific senior and junior students for extra support.
Year 11 students are given responsibility in the House system and in House assemblies, and attend a mid-year Leadership Development Day. At the end of Term 3, students in Year 11 are elected as School Leaders for the House’s Art, Music, Language, Sport, Community Service and co-curricular activities.
IGS has been where I have spent most of my days for the past 14 years of my life, and I can wholeheartedly say I’m glad it was. Whether it be the enriching Language program, the plethora of diverse yet equally engaging co-curricular activities available to all students, or simply the excellent teaching staff, I have enjoyed all of my time at the School. And that is why I was so eager to put myself out there for the position of Head Boy.
If I had to sum up my ambitions for my time as Head Boy, it would be to strive for student empowerment, to make our school an environment which is not just run for the children, but by them as well. I want to give students input into what they learn and how it is taught, and I want to encourage feedback from our school community as much as possible.
Another one of my focuses for 2018 is to make languages more accessible for students, especially in early High School. I hope to take languages out of the theoretical and into the practical, by giving more opportunities to use languages, such as through a pen pal system and language excursions.
I think my philosophy on the teaching of languages extends further than just the study of language. I believe strongly in learning through experience, and so I want to bring the learning process at IGS out of the classroom and into the real world as much as possible, and will spend this year working to do so.
Lukian Adams, Head Boy 2018
A message from IGS Head Girl 2018
I am proud to be the first Indigenous Head Girl of IGS. Our culture and people are simply extraordinary and it never fails to baffle me all of the milestones and obstacles we’ve overcome over the tens of thousands of years – an ice-age, many unforgivable droughts, colonisation and the list goes on.
I am an example of when equal opportunities are given to Aboriginal students, when there is an environment of the same expectation of Indigenous students as that of non-Indigenous Students, we can achieve amazing things and tear down countless barriers. This time that I have as Head Girl is an amazing opportunity to break stereotypes and prejudice.
In 2018, I want to enhance IGS’s Stage 5 Australian History course, through the involvement of community, allowing students to hear first-hand the stories of Indigenous people of the local inner-city Aboriginal community. The stories and experiences of our Indigenous peoples are invaluable. I am also continuing ‘Girl Up’, a UN initiative that advocates for girls’ rights all around the world. We will be fundraising and advocating against injustices and girls’ lack of access to education in developing countries.
I hope to help IGS set the benchmark for the rest of Australia on inclusivity, diversity and innovation. 2018 is going to be an exciting year and I am beyond grateful to have this opportunity.
Mi-kaisha Masella, Head Girl 2018
Primary School
Our primary school program provides opportunities for students to develop their individual capacity to lead and influence others in a responsible manner.
Leadership activities link strongly with learning about citizenship and the the democratic process. They assist students to learn about, and exercise, the rights and responsibilities of participating in a community that values social justice. IGS provides processes and structures that allow student representation, and incorporates students’ views into decision-making and the life of the school.
Every student in Year 3 to 6 has the opportunity to be selected as a class representative on the Student Representative Council. Democratic class elections are held twice a year. Each class may select two representatives each semester.