Last Wednesday after school, the Student Representative council, or SRC, came together to discuss various matters regarding student life at the College. The SRC is made up of Year Leaders from Year 7-12, and anybody is welcome to raise matters for discussions. Today, I have the Year 11 (2023) Leaders to tell us about what happened at the meeting and what we could see in the future for our school. 

 Firstly, could you give us a recap on what the purpose of the SRC is? 

Kieran L: “Well, the purpose of the SRC is to give the students in secondary school an active voice in the decisions made by the college. The SRC allows each student’s wants and needs for the college to be heard and discussed. It contributes to the development of the College’s policies and procedures and helps to further build the culture of Christ-centred leadership in the school. The SRC also advocates for meaningful and effective change on behalf of the student body through communicating with the staff executive team.”   

The Community Problem Solving team that we saw in Assembly last week had a presentation for you. What did they present? 

Shreya M: “In assembly and in SRC, the Community Problem Solving team presented a solution to the ever-growing plastic epidemic within our school. They proposed to start a ‘Return & Earn’ system by placing 10 clear bins around the school to collect plastic bottles and cans. From there they will take it to the Kellyville Village Return & Earn centre, swapping the rubbish for money. The money will be put in a fund and once the fund reaches certain milestones, the first one being $500, and the student body can vote for where the money should go. The project was designed to both solve an aspect of the plastic problem and provide the school a long-term method of giving back to the community. The team wants to remind everyone that the project is going live in 2023 and they hope that everyone participates in helping make the school a better, cleaner place.” 

What a positive program for our school! The first main item on the agenda was trousers for ladies, a question on the lips of We Are writers and readers alike. What did you discuss? 

Jessica S: “The Student Representative Council discussed a few ideas surrounding ladies’ trousers with Mr Clarke and the College Captains on Wednesday. Firstly, we all agreed that if pants were to be introduced, they should be navy like the boys, and fitted to a girl, similar to women’s workwear pants. Next, the idea of a belt for ladies was discussed. Many agreed that if the trousers were to be designed like workwear pants, they would include a zipper, button and two hooks and potentially an internally adjustable waist, just like the said corporate attire. This would mean a belt wouldn’t be needed for the girls uniform which would still keep a distinctive difference between the two gendered uniforms. Lastly, the concept of a tie for the girls was proposed to the SRC. We all discussed in Year Leader teams our thoughts, and overall, there were mixed opinions between some grades. Majority voted against a tie as it would mean the entire girl’s uniform would likely have to be changed, and it would also mean the two uniforms would appear to be very similar. However, some thought the idea of a tie would make sense as it would mean that both uniforms would be alike. In conclusion, the matter of trousers for girls is a positive, ongoing conversation which seems to be leaning in a great direction!” 

Wonderful! A great part of the SRC is how it is designed to bring together the various views of the Student Body and come to a united consensus on how we can move forward as a school. Following this, I was pleased to see Harmony Day as an item on the agenda. Can you elaborate on what this day is and what we could see at WCC in the future? 

Dimitri N: “For those of you who do not know, Harmony Day is an event where all cultures are celebrated within Australia. In essence, it is the celebration of multiculturalisation in Australia. There are also many ways of celebrating Harmony Day and each school that does celebrate it does so differently and thus, at the SRC we were tasked with discussing whether or not Harmony Day was a viable option for William Clarke and if so, how we could run it. Whilst I will not go into the details of the discussions that took place, I will say that no final verdict was reached, as there were many benefits to a Harmony/Culture Day alongside many concerns. The final decision on Harmony Day will be made at the next SRC meeting in Term 1.” 

Thanks Dimitri. The final item on the agenda for this meeting was listed simply as “bells”. There has been a diverse pool of views on the various bells of recent years. What’s next? 

Kieran R: “The final item on the agenda for this meeting were the bells. The Year Leaders and their corresponding prefects had a chance to discuss and collect thoughts on the current bell, as well as what it might look like in the future. The response was a resounding no for the current pink panther theme song and after further discussion, the consensus was as follows: Christmas carols for the weeks leading up to the end of term, and when we return next year, it will go back to the regular bell tune with the possibility of each year group rotating choosing a song for Fridays.” 

I am sure that many students will be pleased about this.  

Thank you to the Year 11 (2023) Leaders for their time, and for the whole SRC for being a part of student voice at the College! If you have any matters that you think should be raised at the next meeting, you can let one of your Year Leaders know, and they will raise it for SRC Term 1 next year.