Authentic student voice at Asquith Girls High School goes beyond giving students the opportunity to communicate feedback; we nurture a culture that empowers students to influence change in their learning, in their school and their community. Mechanisms for amplifying and responding to student voice, as well as mechanisms that allow students to work alongside leaders to co-design solutions to challenges that affect them is a fundamental part of our school culture. Asquith was recognised as a finalist in the 2023 Australian Education Awards - Best Wellbeing Program category for our approach to Student Voice.
Asquith Individualised Mentoring
Our school’s Asquith Individualised Mentoring (AIM) program creates a culture of aspiration, agility, and agency where all students are known, valued and cared for. Each teacher is a Learning Coach to up to 14 students and through individual and small group coaching sessions develop Learner Agility. Agile Learners not only understand they are capable of growth they also understand how to go about achieving this goal.
Agile Learners:
embrace challenges as opportunities to grow,
they persist more effectively,
they value effort as a pathway to mastery,
they value the role of feedback and mistakes in learning, and
they surpass resilience to become Anti-Fragile.
Through effective coaching, students, teachers and families share a language of learning (incorporating the Habits of Mind) that allows students to advocate for their needs, articulate their aspirations and are empowered to take greater responsibility for their learning. This ownership is demonstrated at Student Led Parent Teacher Conferences. By articulating their own learning needs, students are able to evaluate their progress, plan for future growth and identify the support they require from their families and the school.
Student Voice in School Planning and Improvement
Student voice means that students actively participate in decision-making at school on things which shape their educational experiences. Each year, students are involved in evaluative processes which ask representatives from Y7-12 to share their views on important initiatives and programs at our school and identify areas for further improvement as we plan for the future. When new policies are introduced, student voice is sought at the outset of the planning process to identify solutions that best meet the needs of our community. Our school’s approach to Mobile Phones in Schools, for example, was developed in partnership with students and as a response to student voice, the school expanded our offerings in lunchtime clubs (such as creating a robotics club and a crotchet club).
Students have also led panel discussions during staff meetings to address our teachers and describe their realities, aspirations and strategies for improvement in their learning. Hearing directly from stakeholders results in greater consensus and a shared commitment to our school’s culture of understanding student perspective and how to raise the bar in teaching and learning.
Students at Asquith are also provided the opportunity to evaluate current school practices and processes by participating in Instructional Rounds and the External Validation process. Students use internal and external data sources, including lesson observation to assess the impact of school programs, and make recommendations about future directions. Students have also been involved in panels for Expression of Interest (school created) teaching positions for executive staff including relieving Head Teachers, Deputy Principals and Relieving principals.
Student Voice in Curriculum
At Asquith, student panels collaborate to decide which school-created Electives will be offered each year. Students are asked to critically analyse proposals for prospective electives, making recommendations about their suitability. This helps foster an innovative curriculum provision where students are active agents in their own learning and more likely to display a sense of engagement and motivation in the classroom.
Student Voice in Leadership
Leadership is one of our school’s core XCEL values and the school provides opportunities to develop leadership capacity at all levels. The opportunities include: the Student Representative Council, the Prefect Team, Peer Support, the Social Justice and Environment Committees, leadership of creative arts ensembles, sports leadership and the Sisters in Schools program. Sisters in Schools is an innovative wellbeing curriculum, co-designed and delivered by students and wellbeing professionals targeting age-appropriate social and emotional development. Asquith is represented on the Minister’s Department of Student Voice in Education and Schools Council (DOVES).