From 7 to 8 September, five students from Hennessy Catholic College Young, joined more than 100 students from across the state at the NSW Junior Leadership Weekend. The weekend residential conference was hosted by UN Youth Australia in Narrabeen.

Congratulations to Year 7 and 8 Hennessy College participants – Tayliah Butcher, Elisabeth Hall, Magella McGrath, James Payne and Grace Taylor.

This year’s theme, ‘Putting Gender on the Agenda’ centered on the issues of gender inequality and bias. The vision was to empower young people to facilitate positive change in their local communities. Students also learned about communication, leadership, diplomacy and advocacy through structured skills workshops.

“I really enjoyed diving deep into the theme of gender equality. We learnt in detail about the importance of being equal and allowing others to feel equal,” reflected Year 8 student, Grace Taylor. “It was an overall great experience and I would definitely recommend it to next year’s, Year 7 and Year 8s,” she said.

Year 8 student Elisabeth Hall enjoyed the experience immensely. “It was so much fun. The leadership weekend had group workshops, trivia and an out-of-this-world themed disco. The weekend was jam packed and a great way to meet new people from across NSW,” she said.

By the end of the weekend, students had an insightful understanding of some of the issues facing marginalised groups in Australia and were equipped with the tools necessary to be confident in their ability to create social change in their local and wider communities.