Student Leadership Development

OBJECTIVES

Develop in every Westwoodian the necessary leadership knowledge, skills and competencies that would enable them to:

• engage in a continual process of self-reflection and self-regulation, 
• lead self and others to make positive contributions to improve the lives of others, and
• handle complexity and ambiguity in the world with confidence.

PROGRAMMES

Westwood designs its 4-year student leadership development programmes based on 3

main beliefs:

• Every student has the potential to grow as a leader
• Leadership is a journey, not a destination
• Leadership development needs to be intentional

The school adopts a spiral approach to leadership training and development.  Each year, students go through the three Leadership Domians – Self, Team and Thought Leadership, and are exposed to pre-defined knowledge and skills which are explicitly taught in customised training programmes like Cohort Leadership Training.  Knowledge and skills acquisition is followed by reinforcement and extension of learning where structures have been put in place to create opportunities or leverage various platforms to enable students to apply knowledge and skills in actual contexts, within school and beyond.  Students are empowered to organise school events like Secondary One Orientation, Camps and Teachers’ Day Celebrations.  The process of collaborating in teams or project groups enables students to develop their leadership and personal competencies, and sharpen their collaborative, communication and interpersonal skills. 

While the school attends to a baseline leadership development, the developmental needs of specific student leader segments are also addressed and closely monitored. In Westwood, there are five defined student leader segments comprising Student Councillors, Peer Support Leaders, CCA Leaders, House Leaders and Class Leaders.  Each segment is represented by their leaders on the Westwood Student Leadership Board which oversees student leadership development under the advice of teachers in the Student Leadership Development Committee.  The Board works closely with the school to build a strong sense of affiliation and positive school culture. It encourages bottom-up initiatives which are taken up with School Management, where appropriate.