Corio’s St Francis Xavier Primary School presented badges to its student leaders for 2023 in a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Corio member Richard Marles on Friday (May 5).
Families and staff gathered to celebrate the students and witness the badge presentation, which included a smoking ceremony conducted by David Tournier and assisted by two students who lit the fire and laid the leaves.
The Deputy Prime Minister addressed the students to share his thoughts on what makes a good leader.
“Courage and kindness, to me, are the two great elements of great leadership,” Mr Marles said.
“To me, leadership is having the courage, for example, to understand that if a kid is being bullied by others, that you go and help them. And that is, in its essence, kind.”
Mr Marles said events like the badge presentation were important to both celebrate and promote budding leaders in our communities.
“I think they’re really important, I really like doing events like this in schools around Geelong and talking with young people about leadership,” he said.
“The truth is that in the world there are good leaders and bad leaders. Leadership is important, but good leadership is what really matters.
“And that’s why for me, encouraging kids to think about their courage and their kindness as being the essence of good leadership is really important.”
St Francis Xavier deputy principal and religious education leader Lucy Vassallo said the presentation was great for the school, the students and their families.
“It shows that we’re a very tight-knit community and that our students here deserve to have these wonderful opportunities all the way here in Corio; to have people like the Deputy Prime Minister help them to see that they are valued and that they too can show leadership,” she said.
