At Yeronga State High School, Student Summits have become a powerful, sustained model for embedding student voice at every level of school culture. Since our first summit around Black Lives Matter in 2020, students have taken the lead in shaping school priorities, raising concerns, and co designing solutions to issues that affect them directly. The summits have evolved over time to offer structured, safe, and dynamic platforms for students to not only speak—but to lead.

Each summit is created, led, and actioned by students. Following the BLM Summit, students identified the need for additional forums to discuss representation, identity, and inclusion—including a Uniform Summit, which directly influenced policy change. Students successfully advocated for updates to the uniform policy to allow hair of any colour and a single nose stud—changes that reflected what they identified as meaningful markers of representation and self-expression.

Since then, Yeronga has hosted regular summits including:

• School attendance and engagement

• School rules (resulting in a second summit to completely redesign them)

• Global Competence and intercultural leadership

• An annual Women’s Summit, leading to the Horizon Women’s Hub

• Year 7 Transition Summit, supporting younger students’ wellbeing and confidence
  

Each summit identifies what’s important to students, the areas of need, and, most critically, focuses on solutions. Students generate recommendations, create action plans, and present these to school leadership and relevant stakeholders. These recommendations are not symbolic—they are implemented, tracked, and celebrated.

Student Summits are now an integral part of our strategic planning cycle. We don’t just collect voice—we elevate it, act on it, and sustain it. This initiative is not a project—it’s how we do school.

Student Summits at Yeronga SHS place student voice at the centre of school decision-making. Over the past five years, an estimated 600 students have actively participated in summits as facilitators, contributors, or student leaders—driving conversations on school policy, wellbeing, identity, equity, and engagement.

But the reach of student voice goes far beyond the summits themselves. Many more students have engaged in student-led surveys, interviews, and consultation activities that feed into summit planning and school recommendations. For example, following the School Rules Summit, a team of student in year 10 designed and administered a survey that reached over 400 students, collecting feedback on how rules are experienced and whether alternative avenues for voice were needed. This process wasn’t driven by staff—it was created by students, for students.

One critical insight from this work was that students often don’t feel comfortable raising sensitive issues directly with adults. This led to a student recommendation—supported through the Summit process—that the school adopt an anonymous reporting platform. In response, Yeronga SHS implemented the STYMIE program, which allows students to anonymously report harm or concerns online. STYMIE are now delivered directly to school wellbeing staff, helping to stop harm early and safely.

This is just one example of how student voice has not only been heard—but has led to meaningful structural and cultural change. Through these summits and related actions, students are building their skills in data collection, communication, policy influence, and advocacy. They aren’t just raising issues—they’re designing solutions and working in partnership with staff and external organisations, including UniSQ and Together For Humanity, to create lasting impact.

This initiative demonstrates that authentic student voice is more than participation—it’s leadership, collaboration, and the courage to make change.

The Student Summits initiative at Yeronga SHS has had a transformative and measurable impact on school policy, student engagement, wellbeing, behaviour, and culture over the past five years. This is not a symbolic or occasional practice—it is a student-led engine of change.

Policy & Program Changes

A direct change to the school uniform policy was implemented following the Uniform Summit. Students advocated for inclusive representation, resulting in permission for students to wear hair of any colour and one nose stud—symbols they identified as meaningful to identity and representation.

A series of summits on behaviour and engagement led to the complete redesign of the school rules and the creation of new Universal Expectations around Respect, Empathy, and Effort—values co-designed and endorsed by students.

The annual Women’s Summit led to the development of the Horizon Women’s Hub, an ongoing, student-driven initiative for young women and non-binary students to explore wellbeing, leadership, and intersectionality.

Following a student-led research project involving over 400 student interviews and surveys, students identified the need for anonymous reporting pathways. This led to the implementation of STYMIE, an encrypted, anonymous online reporting platform, now embedded in the school’s wellbeing framework.

Global Competence Summit & Year-Long Action Plan

The Global Competence Summit became a springboard for a wide range of student-led initiatives designed to celebrate diversity, foster inclusion, and deepen intercultural understanding. Key outcomes included:

• Establishment of a Languages Lounge as a space for multilingual students to share and maintain their language and culture. This initiative is ongoing and is still being run by students at the school.

• Creation of two new weekly assembly time slots:

  • Catch Up with Culture – spotlighting stories from different cultural backgrounds.

  • World Wide News – student-curated international updates and global perspectives

• Development of cultural bunting displayed at the school’s multicultural festival, Yeronga Celebrates, designed and created by students.

From the 2025 Women's summit, students generated a powerful list of issues they wanted the school to address this year:

• More cultural opportunities in school life.

• Anti-racism training for new teachers (and clearer communication of existing programs).

• Messaging for boys that “it’s okay to ask for help.”

• A Men’s Summit and further forums for underrepresented groups.

• Gender equality and gender bias education.

• Student-created debates, podcasts, and content on identity, religion, and assertiveness.

• Conversations about toxic masculinity and mental health.

• Opportunities for community involvement and volunteering.

These insights directly shaped the school’s 2025 Horizon Hub calendar, which includes:

• 30 April: Workshop on intersectional identities

• 7 May: Art workshop exploring cultural and gender identity

• 23 July: Assertiveness and confidence-building session

• 30 July: Creative follow-up workshop

• 15 October: Student-led session on gender topics

• 22 October: Final celebration and art showcase

This sustained action demonstrates how student voice not only sparks ideas—it drives implementation.

Student Experience & Engagement
The School Opinion Survey and internal feedback data show marked improvements in student perception and school climate:

• 90.9% of students agree the school encourages them to respect one another.

• 89.8% agree respectful student relationships are fostered.

• 90.9% feel encouraged to participate in school activities.

• 94.6% agree expectations and rules are clear—directly tied to their role in co-creating them.

Attendance & Behavioural Improvements

Student-led summits and actions have contributed to long-term gains in behaviour and engagement:

• 45% reduction in suspensions over the past three years.

• Substantial growth in behaviour and effort ratings:

  • 2021: 91.3% of students A–C for behaviour/effort; 34.1% achieved an A.

  • 2024: 94.5% of students A–C; 49.6% achieved an A.

These improvements reflect a more respectful, engaged, and student-connected school culture.

Cultural Shift & Leadership Development

Students now experience a greater sense of ownership, trust, and agency in shaping their school environment.

Students have moved beyond “consulted participants” to trusted collaborators—designing and delivering real change.

Staff culture has also shifted, with:

• 90.8% of staff agreeing respectful relationships are fostered.

• 90.7% agreeing diversity is valued and respected.

External partnerships with organisations such as UniSQ and Together For Humanity have flourished, supporting student-led exhibitions, storytelling projects, and leadership development.

Perhaps the most powerful aspect of this approach is its unpredictability. Staff are often surprised and challenged by the directions students take the summits. We never truly know what will emerge—which means we must stay open, responsive, and ready to pivot. This flexibility is part of the model’s strength: it honours student agency, embraces innovation, and ensures that the school continues to evolve with its students, not just for them.

In short, the impact of the Student Summits is school-wide, sustained, and student-led. It’s a model that transforms student voice into student leadership, and student ideas into meaningful action.

This initiative should be recognised because it is student voice in its most authentic, powerful, and sustainable form.

At Yeronga SHS, Student Summits are not token consultations or one-off events—they are a long-term, student-led structure embedded in the fabric of how our school listens, learns, and leads. Students have initiated change, shaped school policy, built leadership programs, and created safe pathways for others to be heard. Over five years, more than 600 students have participated directly in summits, with many more contributing through surveys, interviews, and collaborative projects.

These summits have redefined leadership. Students don’t just raise issues—they design solutions, gather data, present recommendations, and follow up with action. Their ideas have directly led to:

• Tangible policy change, such as updated uniform rules to reflect student identity and inclusivity.

• The co-design of new school-wide behavioural expectations grounded in respect, empathy, and effort.

• The creation of new wellbeing systems, like the Horizon Women’s Hub and the implementation of STYMIE, providing anonymous reporting options for students who feel unheard through traditional channels.

The initiative has also delivered measurable results:

• Behavioural improvement (45% reduction in suspensions)

• Increased engagement (rising behaviour/effort A-ratings)

• Elevated trust and belonging, confirmed through School Opinion Survey data

This model is replicable, scalable, and driven by courage. It shows what’s possible when schools don’t just give students a seat at the table—but hand them the pen, the agenda, and the voice to shape what comes next.

Recognising this initiative affirms that when student voice is done right, it doesn't just influence culture—it transforms it.