Wagga School Leaders Program Module 7

Forward as an Ambassador for the city of Wagga Wagga

The students prepared for the final module by starting the day in pairs on the bus trip to Charles Sturt University. During the trip they explored the following questions.

What are your emotions as we start our final day of WSLP?

What are you most looking forward to today?

How would you describe your leadership style?

How are you feeling about the graduation and your speech?

Is there anything that we can do to support you today?

On reflection, what are you most proud of achieving as part of the WSLP?

What have you learn’t about yourself during this program?

The final module of the Wagga School Leaders Program for 2024 focused on putting the skills developed throughout the program into practice and reflecting on the lessons learned through each of the previous modules.

Jum Lamont began a session with the students to warm their voices up in readiness for the practice run of the Graduation presentations. The students approached these exercises with excited anticipation.

The run through of the Graduation presentations was a chance to hear feedback, to be critiqued by their peers about the quality of delivery and their non-verbal communication techniques. Jum spoke about the significant improvements in the group based on his observations, noting that all students have progressed significantly and developed a strong understanding of the link between effective communication and leadership.

The students began the mentoring session over lunch. The mentors spoke with their mentees for 45 minutes and shared some valuable life experiences, passing on messages about their experiences and discussed what effective leadership means to them. The students were able to ask questions and learn from the mentor during the time.

Students and mentors

At the close of the session, everyone was asked to speak openly and honestly about an experience or message, with no time limit or set structure to the talk. The opportunity was designed to be impromptu and allow the students to speak freely about what they had learned during the course of the program. Importantly, the students reflected on how differently they might have spoken if given the same opportunity in front of the group at the beginning of the program.

Upon leaving Charles Sturt University there was much anticipation and excitement about the graduation dinner being held later in the evening.