Recently Leah Cristiano and I had the opportunity to take a group of Year 9 students to the Altitude Leadership Day. The students were wonderful representatives of the students of our College, showing their strength and kindliness throughout the day to each other and to students from other schools who they met on the day. Rather than hearing my voice about this day, Scarlett Presnell, Kara Gurung and Celeste Healy have written their recount of the day below.

Student Reflections

On Tuesday 27 May, I was lucky enough to take part in the invaluable Altitude Leadership Day. We arrived and began with a ‘Find Someone Who’ activity, which helped me meet students from other schools and form new connections. We then explored the ‘Elements of Excellence’ (a set of leadership principles) through a range of fun activities. One of the principles that stood out to me was ‘Progress Over Perfection’. We were given the task to complete a puzzle in timed rounds. We got to see the different ways people went about it and the progress that was made throughout the rounds. It was an excellent example of progress over perfection and how progress is not perfection but rather a step in the right direction and if we stick with it, we can achieve great things. After a short break, we had the privilege of listening to the guest speaker, Krushnadevsinh Ravalji. He shared with us the importance of respect and inclusion and emphasised the small but powerful ways we can make a difference. There were many opportunities for questions and sharing opinions throughout the day which encouraged everyone to step outside their comfort zones. We also got to hear Ben Pettingill share his journey with blindness and the challenges he has had to overcome. The bus ride home was filled with chatter about the people we met and all our favourite parts of the day. I gained a lot from this day and learned many different leadership skills that will help me not only throughout my time at Kilbreda but also outside of school and beyond.

Scarlett Presnell

Year 9

We had such a great time at Altitude Leadership Day! We got to meet lots of people during the networking lessons that we did as part of the program. And we even had lunch with some of them and exchanged numbers so we could keep in contact.

We learnt a lot about leadership and one of the best parts of the day was listening to the two guest speakers who discussed how they had overcome their challenges that they faced in their lives. Their stories were relatable and very inspiring. We both highly recommend this excursion!

Kara Gurung and Celeste Healy Year 9

Jane Cowan

Learning Leader: Year 9