Spotlight Session #1 – STUDENT LEADERSHIP IN ACTION

Stop announcing leaders. Start activating them.

This session focuses on one big question:

How do we ensure student leadership actually leads to action?

EVENT DETAILS

Title: Spotlight Session #1 - STUDENT LEADERSHIP IN ACTION

Date: Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Time: 1:00pm (QLD time) or 2:00 (NSW/VIC time).

Location: Online via Google Meet.

Format: Interactive spotlight session.

Who should register? This session is ideal for primary or secondary school educators who are:

  • Passionate about student leadership development

  • Involved in the selection, training, mentoring, or development of student leaders at their school

Cost: $100 + GST per person (available until Monday, March 9)

Bonus for Registered Schools of Leadership Excellence - your school ticket is free.

Includes:

  • Live access to the masterclass

  • PDF copy of the presentation slides

  • Electronic copy of Making The Shift: Becoming a Leader Worth Following (2022) by Luke McKenna

  • Access to the recording for those unable to attend live

In This Spotlight Session, You’ll Learn:

1. The Leadership Rhythm

How to structure meetings, term projects, and handovers so leadership doesn’t drift.

2. From Idea to Action

A simple 5-question filter that moves students from brainstorming… to doing.

No more endless talking. Clear execution.

3. Skilling Leaders for Impact

How to intentionally build the micro-skills of leadership through short, structured, ongoing inputs that strengthen confidence, clarity, and capability over time.

4. Creating Momentum

How to avoid leadership fatigue and build consistent wins across the year.

When you get this right, leadership stops being an event and starts becoming formation.

Schools leave with clarity, practical tools, and at least one structural change they can implement immediately.

Meet your presenter

Luke McKenna is the founder and Director of Unleashing Personal Potential (UPP) and a respected educator, speaker, and author. Over the past decade, his work has positively impacted more than 400,000 Australian students, with a focus on leadership, wellbeing, growth mindsets, and grit.

Luke has worked across primary and secondary schools in Independent, Catholic, and Public sectors, serving as both a classroom teacher and Assistant Principal. He holds degrees in Business and Education, a Master of Educational Leadership, and a Professional Certificate in Positive Education.

He is a regular presenter at education conferences and has been published in the Australian Journal of Middle Schooling, Happy Schools, and The Positive Times. Luke is the author of:

  • THRIVE: Unlocking the Truth About Student Performance (2015)

  • Making Wellbeing Practical (2019)

  • Making the Shift: Becoming a Leader Worth Following (2022)

Authentic Student Leadership Development Master Class, from the author of Making the Shift

MAKING THE SHIFT outlines the personal shifts that are required to first lead our own lives. It then busts some of the myths about leadership, by describing the leadershifts that are essential for being a great leader. In the final section, the process for Authentic Student Leadership Development is shared that can be tailored and used in every school.

If you are an educator who wants to make a positive difference in your life, in your school, with your student leaders and in the world, join us at this webinar and make the shift!

THE 10 STEPS FOR AN AUTHENTIC STUDENT LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

  1. Create genuine leadership development and opportunities to lead in informal ways.

  2. Define what good leadership looks like with the whole cohort

  3. Develop and communicate a selection criteria

  4. Share the leadership structure and roles with the whole cohort

  5. Conduct a nomination process

  6. Allow candidates to demonstrate competence

  7. Voting / Preferencing / Endorsing

  8. Selection Process / Assigning roles

  9. Announce roles

  10. Continued leadership development and taking action as a leader