Our incoming school captains Nathan Thiele and Keira Sparshott will be inducted into their roles early in Term 3. In the meantime, we thought our community would like to find out a little about them.
Why did you choose to apply to become school captains?
N: I viewed the school captain role as one where you get to meet a lot of people. I’ve seen how connected student leaders are to teachers and students from across the grades and I thought you could do a lot of good in the position.
K: For me it was all about serving the school. I came to the school in Year 9 which was quite daunting but I was struck by how welcoming everyone was. I definitely wanted to give back to the school that has made me feel so welcome and has given me so many opportunities.
What do you hope to bring to the position?
N: First and foremost, I want to be responsible and reliable. Also, I feel like we do need change, because COVID has changed us and we have a new principal. The school is different now and that signifies it’s a time for new ideas. I personally want to introduce some ideas to that end.
K: We are a team. Nathan and I have our roles, but nothing would be achieved without the wider leadership team so building a sense of teamwork is important to me.
So what would you like to achieve?
N: Keira and I haven’t yet started to talk about what we want to do but one thing comes to mind for me – COVID has changed us. People are a lot more disconnected than they used to be. An initiative which encourages people to connect face-to-face in meaningful ways would be really interesting.
K: St Andrew’s Cathedral School is a wholistic school, so I really think emphasising what we have on offer is important. Sometimes you need a reminder and an encouragement to take part in what the school is offering.
What makes SACS a unique school?
N: The School is adaptable and it can change. Through online learning, we’ve seen that the school can work on its feet and keep up the same level of care and education in an unusual context. I think that’s been imbued into the students and we have also become more adaptable and resilient.
K: The fact that it is a ‘vertical’ school means you’re always bumping into people and streaming past each other in the hallway and that develops a real sense of closeness in the school between teachers and the student body. I think that’s really beautiful.
