Posted on March 6, 2018 / Boys' Junior
Our Boys’ Junior School Assembly yesterday provided us with the opportunity to celebrate and discuss this year’s International Women’s Day. We specifically discussed each of the action points that are part of this year’s theme, PressforProgress
We highlighted a number of facts on the information sheet to the right 
to discuss Maintaining a Gender Parity Mindset, and then spoke about female
representation in our own parliament (32%) and those of other countries such as
New Zealand (39%), the US (20%) and The Netherlands (36%)
Challenge Stereotypes and Bias saw us discussing language and comments that are
‘stereotypical’; “…you kick like a girl…” (which while designed to be a put down, in
this day and age, is actually a compliment!), “..man up..”, “…you’re screaming like a
girl..”, “..boys don’t cry..”
We highlighted the list of ‘boys and girls’ party themes that can be found on many
Party Shop websites, and spoke about the ‘limitations’ and negative messages these
themes send; boys are adventurous and heroic, girls are fantasy and sparkles!
Stereotypes can prevent both genders from fulfilling their aspirations and limit their
potential, as per the Hugh Jackman experience. 
We celebrated women’s achievements by discussing Amelia Earhart, as both a
pioneer and a courageous woman, who stated that “Women must try to do things as men have tried.
When they fail, their failuremust be but a challenge to others.”
We were then delighted to have Louise Smith, who completed her VCE last year, as our This Is Me
special guest. Louise initiated and led our Big Brother Big Sister program last year, and continues to oversee
it this year. The program connects all of our Year 7 students with a Year 12 ‘brother’ or ‘sister’. Lousie was
also a School leader, is a passionate member of the Wooloomai Surf Life Saving Club, is studying paramedics
and has always demonstrated courage, resilience, strength, positivity and respect for herself and others.
She spoke about her life experiences, her friendships, her passion to ‘have a go’, and how she coped with the
tragic passing of her father when she was in Year 10.
Her inspiring story was a wonderful example of positive visibility of women.
We were also joined by Jack Read and Ruby Ameer, two of Year 12 leadership team, who complemented Louise’s presentation with their own examples of respect for others.
I hope that all families will continue many of these Assembly discussions in their own homes, not just during International Women’s day this Thursday, but continually.
Kind regards,
