Students undergoes leadership training to boost cognate skills

With much commitment to raising leaders, which will fit into dynamic global society in the 21st century, Olashore International School has taken up leadership trainings for its students and has just concluded the grand finale of its inaugural curriculum based student leadership training for this academic year.

The Social Change Project Presentation, which is part of the signature leadership programme and anchored by a United States based consultant, John-Ubong Silas, was organised for Year 7 to Year 11 students.

Derek Smith, Principal, Olashore International School while speaking about the initiative observed that in the rapidly changing and increasingly complex global society that we live in, there is a need to develop students with the mindset and capacity to lead and deal with this change.

Smith pointed out that as this is something the school has taken on as one of their key responsibilities to students.

Abimbola Olashore, Chairman, Board of Directors, of the school reiterated that the future of Africa nay the world depends on the connections made between leaders at a young age and their ability to share ideas, identify opportunities and build dynamic organisations.

According to him, “To achieve this, children need to be given structured leadership training as early as possible and the opportunities to apply the skills learnt. The School was founded on the values of academic excellence, discipline and leadership, and having recognised that change is a constant factor in life, it strategised its education needs to encourage students development of leadership skills to excel in a change oriented environment. Leadership, which is embedded in the fabric of the school, has remained one of the key qualities that make our graduates stand out.”

On his part, John-Ubong Silas, the Leadership and Social Responsibility Consultant observed that the School has a rich tradition of developing leaders and believes strongly in the value of service to others and society.

“We live in a world of constant change, challenges, and opportunities. Students learn the Social Change Model Leadership Theory through lessons covering 7 key dimensions which are Consciousness of Self, Congruence, Commitment, Common Purpose, Controversy with Civility, Collaboration and Citizenship. We are using a trainer to trainer approach. Through this process, the plan is to have a completely embedded sustainable leadership development programme at Olashore for all students within a 5 year timeline.” He said.

The School has committed to raising leaders for the future. They prepare the future leaders to explore their potentials so as to create widespread change in the world. The School’s mission statement, “Olashore International is a learning community committed to academic excellence, nurturing each child to their full potential in a safe and serene environment, developing leaders for the dynamic global society in the 21st century.”  captures the timeless values on which the school was built whilst placing them in a 21st century context, and further drives home their emphasis on leadership development.

The group had to devise a service project addressing a societal issue, make presentations, and a panel of esteemed judges would evaluate them based on their presentations. The projects were assessed against the quality of students’ research, and the sustainability of the project.