Diverse leaders at Twin Rivers

Twin Rivers assistant principal Jacob Johnson said the variety of roles allowed students to find one they were comfortable in.

“The diversity that we have in our leadership groups — being our school leaders, dog squad leaders, cultural leaders, sustainability leaders — it just means that everyone can pick a niche they might be interested in,” he said.

“It boosts their self-confidence; it’s amazing to see how well students step up into these roles, to improve their sense of responsibility.

“It gives every student an opportunity to showcase their individual skills and to be able to work in a team.”

While some leadership teams are more traditional roles such as school captains and house leaders, others are more unique, such as the dog squad.

The dog squad’s main role involves taking care of the school’s two therapy dogs, Frankie and Bernie, including toilet duties and helping any students who may need some time with the two dogs.

The majority of the leaders are in Years 5 and 6, except for the hands-on learning team, which includes Year 4 students, and the SWPB leaders, which is made up of two students per class.

So far, the students are still settling into their roles and enjoying their new sense of responsibility.

One of three school captains, Billie Joyce, said she wanted to be a captain to “be a role model to young children”.

Similarly to Billie, Rhianne Gualvez said she became school captain to be a role model, help others and to help build her confidence.

Samuel Nicart said he became captain because he had “looked up to” his own school captains.