Narrogin and Lake Grace students to represent their peers in inaugural WA Student Council

Two students from the southern Wheatbelt have been selected to represent their peers in WA’s first Student Council.

Narrogin Senior High School’s Dakoda Bolton-Black and Lake Grace District High School’s Madison Mathews were among 38 students from around the State offered positions on the inaugural council.

Year 11 students’ Dakoda and Madison will represent their peers and offer Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery their perspective on policy and reform.

The students will attend ministerial meetings and leadership activities as well as liaising with other students and schools in the southern Wheatbelt.

They will also be expected to provide feedback, enabling the Department of Education and the minister to respond to the needs of students and school issues.

“Immediately, I felt grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of such a moving initiative,” Dakoda said.

“It’s awesome to know that I can be the voice for my peers and genuinely be an advocate for change in our schooling system.”

Dakoda said she was hoping to advocate on a range of issues impacting students.

Two of the issues she was most passionate about were increasing graduation rates for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander students and mental health support for students in schools.

“I’m looking forward to being able to connect with other kids from WA to work together as a team to have a positive impact on the education system,” she said.

“It’s going to be exciting to see the impact that we will have on not only the school community but our communities in general.”

Lake Grace DHS principal Teresa Wigg said Madison was always looking for opportunities to support her peers.

“Our school is immensely proud of Madison and we congratulate her on her willingness and effort to step up and represent the student voice for WA,” she said.

“We have no doubt that Maddie will represent the Wheatbelt with a great sense of how students feel and what they would like to see in the future.’’

Education Minister Sue Ellery said the newly councillors would provide a student’s point of view on important issues in education.

“It’s fantastic that these young people have expressed an interest in representing the voice of students and engaging with education policy, to help shape the future of young people in our State,” she said.

“The council will help us to develop a more responsive and agile education system that acknowledges the accomplishments and challenges that young Western Australians face in our schools.

“I look forward to hearing the views of our councillors and working together to make a real difference to school students and our communities.”