Introduction
To assist students through year 11 and prepare them for the challenges that are faced in year 12, William Clarke offers these students to join the ‘Community Mentorship Breakfast Program’. As the name suggests, it’s a mentorship program featuring members of the community as the mentors with an added bonus of breakfast. These mentors could be parents of students at the school, friends of school staff or the staff themselves, or anyone remotely connected to the college. After term 3 when the year 11 students move up to become year 12, the mentees and mentors got to present their experience of the program to the other mentees and mentor’s. Which is the purpose behind this ‘We Are’ article, my mentor Mr Wong who is staff at this college and myself decided to conduct our presentation on ‘We Are’ to showcase this program to the wider college. The rest of this article will be split into the different perspectives of Mr Wong and his mentee Aaron each part being written without communication between the two. |
Introducing Daniel Wong
Daniel Wong is the head of strategy and research at William Clarke college, being recognisable from his signature spikey hair style you may have seen him around the place. He is organised and curious, asking questions about details I hadn’t considered which serves a bonus of deepening thought and digging deep in conversation. |
jkj……… |
Introducing Aaron
Aaron is a son, a middle child, a Year 11 student, a Christ follower, a thinker, a scientist, a creative, and a logophile. He’s also a mentee as he’s been part of the College’s 2025 Community Mentoring Program. |
What We Discussed
In my time with Mr Wong, we mainly discussed topics of career, habits, and leadership. These topics helped me develop my possible career pathways after I graduate, focusing on my current admiration for education we talked about the university courses available and the choice between a bachelor’s in education and a master’s in teaching. After laying that foundation, we started to talk about good habits and leadership; Mr Wong reflected on past leaders and what they did well, and while I wasn’t badged as a leader for 2026, I still try to implement the traits and habits of one. After every session, I would leave with something to do before the next session, if that be reaching out to someone else so I could get a different perspective or implementing helpful habits and routines. |
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What We Discussed
In our breakfast mentoring sessions, I asked Aaron lots of questions because the program exists to help the mentee expand their thinking about their life at the College and beyond. I followed Aaron’s interest in teaching and Christian ministry with questions about training pathways and people from whom he might seek advice. At one point, Aaron was giving much thought to leadership. Consequently, I asked him about the leadership skills he wanted to develop, how they connected to his understanding of biblical virtues, and the small steps he would take to exercise those skills that very week. In the next session, I then asked about his progress. In a nutshell, I tried to let Aaron give direction to our dialogue. |
The Shadowing Day
During the two weeks of year 11 preliminary exams at the start of term 3, I had a 7-day gap between my two clusters of exams, so I scheduled a shadowing day with Mr Wong during this time. We found a time during the 2nd half of the day where he had two meetings, one with staff regarding how they should use AI and the other a one-on-one meeting with Mr Wong and Mr Kosh the headmaster. I cannot share what was discussed, but these meetings allowed me to build a better understanding of the regular operations behind a school. Also being shown his schedule, I got to understand Mr Wong’s role in this school greater and see the responsibilities that follow. With getting to know the headmaster and having a slice of cake from the staff fridge, this shadow day was a helpful experience. |
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The Shadowing Day
One day, Aaron emailed to say that he had a break in his Year 11 exam timetable. He strategically wanted to use that time to shadow me in my role at the College. Going behind the scenes into the world of teachers, Aaron contributed to a lunch meeting on how teachers are using AI and stepped into my fortnightly one-on-one with Mr Koch. I also shared with Aaron the way I use my Outlook calendar to organise my tasks and to remain focused with my work. |
The Benefits
From my experience in this mentor program and the shadow day, I have walked away with greater insight into career and education but also tips on how to improve character and importantly connection with someone who can always lend a helping hand. While it wasn’t a major focus of our discussions, we did often relate our discussions back to Christian faith; how to be a guide for others and a helpful asset to the Christ centred community here at school. This program was also great for giving me accountability, making sure that I do what I said I would between sessions and communicating frequently through email. The food provided for these breakfasts was a very nice touch too, giving variety to my breakfast diet rather than always having a plain bowl of cereal. |
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The Benefits
I congratulate any student (or adult) who puts their hand up to participate in mentoring. It takes courage and an open mind to have an ongoing conversation on how you can develop as a person. Another key benefit of the program is that it broadens connections across our Christ-centred community. It is fantastic to have volunteers who are current parents of students, friends of staff, and the employees of businesses with whom the College engages– such a diverse range of expertise that our students can benefit from! |
Reflection
I’m very glad that I signed up to this community mentoring breakfast program and I’m very glad to the people who made this possible: the mentors and mentee’s, the caterer’s, the event organisers, and Mrs Greenwood who tied us all together. If you are heading into year 11 or swiftly approaching it, you wouldn’t want to miss this opportunity to have a personal mentor who can give you insight into your desired career or give you tips to survive the rest of school. The mentors here are great and have bountiful wisdom to share with you. |
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Reflection
WE ARE very fortunate to have something like the Community Mentoring Program. I wish the program was available for more than just a handful of Year 11’s because I see how it might positively contribute to not just individuals, but our larger experience of community at William Clarke. I also wonder how some of our students might serve in a mentoring-type role with a younger student, as an opportunity for fostering connection and growth. |
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