David Burton, Deputy Principal , Woodleigh School

Leah Davidson recently designed and delivered a program at Woodleigh School over a number of weeks entitled ‘Thinking Outside the Box’. This was part of the school’s Activities Program, for which students select from a range of options. The focus of the program was on mindset, with the aim of helping the students understand their own thinking and how to shift their mindset to help achieve their goals. The program was aimed at Year 10 students, and the group also included students who were quite disengaged at the school and had not submitted any choices as part of the Activities balloting process. This presented a challenge for Leah but she was able to work productively with the group as result of her own force of personality, good humour and through meticulously planning a range of interesting games and fun activities for the students. Leah constantly evaluated the program as it was delivered and was very open to feedback from students and assisting teachers throughout.

The final class with the students as well as the student feedback revealed how much the students had learned during the program. What students most appreciated was the trusting relationship that had been developed with Leah as well as the huge effort Leah put into the program to ensure full student engagement.

We would love to continue to work with Leah in the future and recommend her to schools considering a similar program.