It’s super important to start nurturing leadership skills in children from a young age. Read on to see how Global Indian International School does just that.
Leadership skills are one of the most sought-after soft skills by universities and employers. In fact, research shows that job candidates with leadership experience in high school are paid up to 33% more than those without. Recent research also identifies strong correlations between leadership skills and strong academic performance.
As such, it goes without saying that it’s super important to cultivate leadership skills in our children. And you don’t have to wait till they’re in high school to start! These skills can be taught to students starting in primary school or even earlier. It’s also better to start exposing children to leadership roles and traits when they’re young as this is a time when they can pick up skills quickly.
No child is too young to be a leader at Global Indian International School!
The educators at Global Indian International School (GIIS) understand the importance of nurturing leadership skills in their students from a young age. Thus, the school strives to offer its students leadership opportunities from when they’re as young as in Grade 1. Examples of student leadership roles at GIIS include Student Council positions as well as heading clubs and societies.
The IB Primary Years Programme at GIIS fosters agency in students, enabling them to make decisions about their learning which are meaningful and relevant to them. This encouragement of independence in students in turn develops their leadership skills. Informal leadership positions like a class monitor, board monitor or line monitor also give students an opportunity to get a taste of leadership.
Through these positions, students learn that being a leader also means being a positive role model to their peers. They are also taught that to lead is also to help and support their peers whenever possible.
As students progress to Grades 4 and 5, they’re given the chance to choose and campaign for elected positions of their choice. These include Student Council roles of Class Prefects, House Captains, Green Captains, as well as Primary School Head Boy and Girl. As they campaign for these positions, students pick up communication and collaboration skills along the way. GIIS allows its students to campaign for these positions in various creative ways, including giving speeches, putting up posters, or even publishing their manifesto in the form of a video.
Students who aspire to take on Student Council roles in the Secondary School go through a similar but more vigorous election process. Not only do they need to campaign for their chosen positions, but they will also be interviewed by a panel. Students are made aware that leaders need to demonstrate accountability, integrity, as well as dependability. Once they’re in office, Secondary School Student Council members are given the opportunity to organise large-scale events, such as GIIS’ Law Summit, Model United Nations sessions, TEDx Talks and more.
Leading through co-curricular activities
GIIS has over two dozen clubs where students from Grades 11 and 12 play leading roles. Each club has about 25 to 30 members, with five to six members holding key leadership roles like President, Head of Logistics, Director of Design, and other roles based on the club’s needs.
These clubs range from being passion and interest-driven like Astronomy Club and Creators Club, to those supported by local agencies like Co-op Club (under Singapore National Cooperative Federation NTUC) and GIIS Law Society (under Law Society of Singapore). There’s also the TEDx Club, a grassroots initiative that’s part of the global TED community.
Guided by the teacher community at GIIS
While students exercise a significant amount of freedom and independence in the running of clubs and its activities, they’re not left without guidance. GIIS assigns teachers-in-charge for each club to provide support in the form of subject guidance, arranging logistics for events and outings, as well as preparing reports and maintaining the clubs’ budgets.
Putting skills to the test through GIIS’ Real World Convention Challenges
On top of exercising leadership through classroom and school club roles, GIIS’ students can sharpen their skills through the unique Real World Convention Challenges (RWCC). This is an inter-school competition that brings students from GIIS campuses around the world together. It provides them with a platform to not only share their leadership experiences with each other but to also challenge themselves to be better.
A number of competitions are held during the course of RWCC to teach students the importance of Respect, Integrity, Skill development, and Entrepreneurship. Competitions are open to students of all levels: kindergarten and lower primary students join the drama-based “Lil Mavericks” to develop short skits; while more senior students can participate in a Student Conference to discuss real-world issues that are relevant to the countries they represent.
Learning through Leadership Lecture series
Aside from the above-mentioned forums, GIIS’ Leadership Lecture Series gives students a first-hand chance to learn from world leaders themselves. Some of the renowned guests the school has hosted include Indian music maestro A. R. Rahman; wildlife cinematographer and inventor Dr. Jim Frazier; as well as Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands to Singapore and Brunei Margriet Vonno.
Your child can embark on their leadership journey today
Your child is never too young to be a leader – and GIIS firmly believes this! Parents who are interested to learn more about the many opportunities at GIIS for their children can book a campus tour via the school’s website. Alternatively, you can reach out to the Admissions Team for more information as well.
This post is in partnership with Global Indian International School.