IGNITE Cohort Leadership Training Workshops for Sec 1 to 3 Students

As Nelson Mandela once said, ‘The youths of today are the leaders of tomorrow.’ At Regent Secondary School, this vision takes shape through our Community Youth Leadership (CYL) Learning for Life Programme (LLP), where students are given opportunities to lead and become catalysts for change in their communities. To cultivate leaders at every level, our students undergo a series of cohort leadership workshops yearly, through which they learn important leadership and communication skills. The programme ends with a capstone class Values in Action (VIA) project, where students advocate for and rally their peers behind the causes that they care about.

This year, our Secondary One students embarked on an exciting journey of self-discovery, learning more about their strengths, interests, and preferred learning styles. They also picked up organisational skills and strategies for enhancing personal effectiveness, such as goal-setting. Building upon the foundations laid previously, the workshop for our Secondary Two students delved into the intricacies of team leadership. Drawing upon the Leadership Challenge Model, this phase of “Enabling Others to Act” emphasises collaboration and communication. Our Secondary Two students thus learnt about the art of public speaking and effective communication, which will prepare them for engaging with diverse audiences as they carry out their VIA projects.

At Secondary Three level, the focus of these workshops then shifts towards thought leadership. This phase equips students to lead with purpose and foresight. Our Secondary Three students learnt how to apply decision-making tools and make critical judgements in terms of project management. As participant Olivia Yun Yong Sze (S3-Gratitude) shares, ‘Through the leadership workshop, I’ve learnt that an effective leader is not one who works alone but rather one who is able to rally the group to achieve their goals together as one. I’ve learnt how to better manage my time—which is something I struggle with—and these are transferable skills which I can definitely use in my daily life too. Overall, the cohort leadership workshops were insightful as the lessons were meaningful, and they have helped build my confidence as a leader and thinker.’