The Ruyton Reporter - Spring 2016

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11 spring 2016
High Resolves – Discovering the Leader Within
‘Being lucky enough to live in a city such as Melbourne, and study at a wonderful school
such as Ruyton, the level of resources, support and education that we receive is often
taken for granted. Thus, it was decided that the cause we would dedicate ourselves to
[over the course of the project] would be access to education for those in underprivileged
communities.’ Angelyn Neoh.
During Term 2, 15 Year 9 students were given the opportunity to take part in the
newly-introduced High Resolves Leadership Programme. The aim of this programme
was for participants to learn to organise initiatives that advocate, educate and donate
to a cause of choice. The group settled on ‘better access to education’ as its focus –
a decision fuelled in equal measure by their awareness of the difference education is
making in their own lives, as well as the desire to extend similar opportunities to
others. Under the guidance of High Resolves presenter, Ms Alexandra Hilvert, a series
of intensive planning sessions followed at intervals throughout Terms 1 and 2, with
mentors from Deloitte and NAB offering helpful advice to the girls on how to bring
their awareness and fund-raising goals to fruition, despite very tight deadlines.
At Senior School Assembly the Year 9 student leaders brought to the School’s
attention the reality that not everyone in the world has the same access to education.
The animation shown in Assembly demonstrated how to put across a powerful
message in simple, accessible terms.
home Raise your hand for Education May 26)
A week of action was launched and community members were encouraged to sign
a petition in support of giving remote Australian children access to affordable and
equitable education. In addition, money was raised for an international organisation,
the Malala Fund, whose focus is that ‘education is the right of every girl.’ Other
initiatives included selling wristbands and a school-wide drive to collect donated
books for the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation.
‘High Resolves has taught me so much about giving back. It really is important
for many young people to recognise that they have the ability to make
a change if they successfully plan, educate and take action.’ Olivia Schaefer.
The High Resolves Leaders’ Project exceeded all
expectations, in terms of consciousness-raising,
the donations generated and the latent leadership
it tapped within our dedicated and capable girls. It is
our hope that the seeds of life-long volunteerism,
leadership and altruism have been planted and that
the fruits of this will be evident in the wider
community for years to come.
Angelyn Neoh, Year 9
How Technology helps us understand Human Rights
The core components of the Year 7 and 8 LEAP programme are Innovation, Diversity,
Equality, Active Citizenship and Sustainability. During Term 2 the girls looked at
Human Rights and invited a number of guests to speak, representing different
organisations who work to protect the rights of the most vulnerable. These were
Jasmin fromMercy Ships, Jim fromMany Rooms Homeless Services, Terry from
Mission Educate and Simon from the Australian Federal Police. The Human Rights
Forum was an opportunity for the girls to think critically about these issues and for
them to engage with other students around the world. For the first time at Ruyton,
we live-streamed our forum to schools throughout Asia and Australia, with schools
joining us from China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Queensland and Tasmania. The other
schools were able to hear from our amazing guests, while participating via online
questioning and collaboration tools. Our girls thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to
hear from various people working in Human Rights, as well as experiencing
perspectives of peers from different cultures and backgrounds.
Mr Brett Moller, Director of Digital Learning
Our LEAP topic regarding human rights began with an insightful and inspirational
Human Rights Forum. This forum was not only for the guest speakers to talk about
their experiences, but it was also for us, the students, who were able to participate in
a variety of ways. We had opportunities to host guests, ask questions of the panel,
and even work backstage, filming the event to be live-streamed to schools around
Australia and Asia. A website was provided especially for the event, with everyone able
to interact with the panel, ask questions, leave opinions, and air potential solutions to
these human rights issues.
The topics covered were confronting but gave
everyone in the room new perspectives and
stimulated feelings of empathy, gratitude and
determination. The issues included: the importance
of education for children all around the world; the
value of having access to medical services; the impact
of safety and security; and the privilege of having
a home. After listening to these engaging speakers
I felt as though I had the ability to help all those less
fortunate people around the world, and I know
many others felt equally passionate about helping.
We understood the difference between privileges and
rights and the true meaning of being human. The forum
was definitely an eye-opening experience that will
never be forgotten.
Susan Fang, Year 8