Celebration of the Australian Flag: Leadership program

Trinity Beach State School, Queensland

By Deb Robins, Teacher

Background

The Trinity Beach student council and interested school personnel celebrated Democracy Week by learning about the Australian flag.

Thanks to the Australian Government’s contribution for the flagpole and a grant from the Celebrating Democracy Week committee of the Department of Education, Science and Training, students and staff were able to celebrate the relocation of the flagpole, the acquisition of a much-needed shade marquee for school events and their own busy year as vibrant citizens of an inclusive school community and lively national democracy. Mr Moller-Nielsen, the principal, taught the assembled students some little-known facts about the Australian flag, which were provided by the Hon. Warren Entsch, MP. We then sang Advance Australia Fair before acknowledging our sponsors and our own contributions to the school.

The ceremony ended with refreshments, which included a piece of a cake resembling the Australian flag. School leaders cut the cake, which was shared among the assembled student council, who were also instructed in the proper care and management of the Australian flag.

Stakeholders

In recent years, our student council, under the leadership of Year 7 teacher Vanessa Hopkinson, has conducted a vibrant programme of curricular and extra-curricular activities. The school leaders not only elect to be good role models and represent their school officially, but carry out duties and responsibilities to earn their rights.

Throughout the year, the student councillors bring the real world and the life of the community into the school by getting behind various charitable campaigns and good causes. Whether it is for the protection of the sick and homeless, or even defenceless animals, our student council constantly reminds us of our responsibilities as good citizens by fundraising for many good causes as well as the school.

In 2004, the student council donated funds to the library to purchase more senior fiction, and even helped to select the books at the bookshop. They have also sold CanTeen bandanas for cancer research and Have-a-Heart ice-creams for Duchenne muscular dystrophy research in their lunch hour. For these reasons, we chose to use Celebrate Democracy Week to acknowledge more than 30 hardworking school leaders, each of whom is a representative of their particular class at Trinity Beach primary school.

The following people contributed to our celebration:

Mr Ian Moller-Nielsen read a faxed message from the Hon. Warren Entsch, MP, about the Australian flag, and spoke to the students about leadership and democracy.

Ms Sharyn Kyle decorated the cake. Sharyn gave more than two hours of her time to make our cake look like the Australian flag, which is a symbol of Australian democracy.

Mr Robert Reddacliffe, the school groundsman, has relocated the flagpole to the circular drive, and raises the flag every morning. Bob instructs the students in proper flag etiquette and ensures that the facilities, like the marquee and flagpole, are properly used.

Mrs Vanessa Hopkinson energetically coordinates the locally acclaimed Trinity Beach student council.

A Year 2 student who waits after school for a ride home with his mother, the school’s administrative officer, has been given the job of lowering the flag at the end of the school day by Mr Moller-Neilsen

Mr Shane Brogden, head of the Special Education Department at Trinity Beach, supplied additional funds to purchase the marquee and celebrated with us.

Ms Margaret Greentree, tuckshop convenor, made up a refreshing drink to keep up our fluids in the tropical climate.

Mr Nathaniel Train, deputy principal, relieved Ms Hopkinson by supervising her class so that she could join in the Celebrate Democracy Week festivities with the student council.

Ms Lydal Lowth, deputy principal, assisted Ms Deborah Robins, teacher librarian, with organisation and photography.

Learning Outcomes – The Australian Flag

The following facts about the Australian flag were supplied by the Hon. Warren Entsch, MP, through the Hon. Pat Farmer, MP, parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Education, Science and Training.

History of the Australian Flag

The Australian flag with which we are familiar has only legally been the Australian national flag since the passage of the Flags Act in 1953.

• Before Federation, the colonies flew the Union Jack and the red, blue and white UK ensigns.
• In 1900, the Melbourne Evening Herald held a competition to design a national flag, with a prize of  £25. The winning design had stars and stripes rather like the US flag.
• In 1901, Australia’s first Commonwealth government announced another competition, with prize money of £200. There were a staggering 32,823 entries. Five people came up with the same winning design – the now familiar blue ensign – and shared the prize money.
• The flag flew for the first time above the Exhibition Building in Melbourne on 3 September 1901. The first sitting of the nation’s new Parliament had taken place a few months earlier in the same building.  
• In 1950 cabinet formally approved the adoption of the Australian blue ensign as the national flag. King George VI gave his approval a year later, and two years after that the Flags Act was passed.
• There are many conventions around flying the flag:
  • it should always be flown higher than other flags
  • it should never be used to cover a statue, monument or plaque for unveiling
  • it should not be used as a tablecloth or seat cover
  • it should not be allowed to touch the ground.

Conclusion

Our flag is a continuing reminder to our school of who we are, where we have come from, and the values which we, as a school community, strive to uphold. Trinity Beach State School acknowledges the Australian Government for its support in funding the erection of the flagpole.