Leadership is an integral part of the Wilderness spirit and deeply embedded in our girls’ journey.

We have recognisable leaders in formal positions and those whose small acts of kindness, empathy, effective communication, and responsibility combine to make them great leaders.

Our vision of leadership is aligned with our motto, Always True, and is based on the model of Authentic Leadership (George, 2007). This model describes leaders who are self-aware, open minded, act with integrity and build high-quality relationships. They use their influence to enable others to achieve change for the social good.

At Wilderness, we aim to offer all our girls the opportunity to lead through our Learning to Lead program. Starting in the Junior School, we encourage girls to play active roles as leaders in various positions, including Year Level Representatives.

As they move through Middle School, our girls lead committees and clubs so that when they reach their senior years, they are well equipped to guide our younger girls and positively contribute to our community.

Over the last two weeks, our Year 11 girls have prepared and delivered speeches to their peers describing their vision for the School and the strengths they would bring as student leaders next year.

It gives me great pleasure to announce the new Student Representative Council Executive as Amolika Bhatia (President), Harriet Craig (Vice-President) and Eliza Corbin (Secretary).

In their election speeches, the girls epitomised the values of Wilderness and shared their aspirations for their peers and the year ahead of them.

“Each year the SRC has a theme, and I feel like ‘passion’ is perfect for our amazing cohort. Passion in our work, passion in our sport, passion for this school and passion for each other – passion in everything that we do. We must never lose this passion and keep the Wildy spirit firing and roaring forever.” Amolika Bhatia

“I want nothing more than to see our incredible cohort of girls develop their sense of adventure over their last year together at Wildy. Together I want us to learn how to be resilient and cope with adversity. I want us to take risks; not just in our learning but also in every aspect of our lives and most importantly, together, I want us to be optimistic about our futures and have confidence in our abilities because we have a wonderful adventure in front of us.” Harriet Craig

“Throughout the year I will aim to create a school community that builds on each other’s kindness and pushes us to be better versions of ourselves, following on from the legacy of previous Wildy leaders.” Eliza Corbin

I have no doubt that our SRC Elective will be outstanding student representatives and will lead their school with distinction

I would also like to congratulate the following girls elected as our SRC Representatives and House Captains for 2022:

• Amaryllis House Captains: Tulip Burns and Amelie Rawes-Ryan
• Antholiza House Captains: Suneli Athukorala and Georgina Birchall
• Carob House Captains: Madeleine Jose and Catherine Portolesi
• Cedar House Captains: Victoria Lane and Sophia Lockie
• Sparaxis House Captains: Isabel Graham and Mollie Rowntree
• Boarding House Captains: Safara Moyse and Jessica Schultz
• Careers Representative: Isabelle Yu
• Citizenship Representative: Mia Jersmann
• Digital Technology Representative: Toni Pham
• International Representative: Canyu (Alice) Jia
• Library Representative: Trishna Ramkumar
• Media and Magazine Representative: Inika Weber
• Music Representative: Jacinta Chronowski-Wong
• Sports Representative: Sachi Syme
• Student Foundation Representative: Annecy Cheung
• Year 12 Representative: Holly Binks

Every girl who nominated for the SRC should be commended. The speeches were unreservedly thoughtful and articulated with passion and consideration. Each girl exemplified the Wilderness School value, a true and courageous self.

Because of this, I know that Wilderness is in extremely capable hands and that while not every girl will wear a badge, every girl in Year 12 will lead.

As we head into the weekend, I am looking forward to connecting with our Boarding parents in Robe for the annual Boarder Parents Weekend. Our Boarding families are an integral part of our school community, and it will be wonderful to see you in person.