One of All Saints’ many partnerships is with Nulsen Disability Services and the opportunity for Year 10’s to take part in their Nulsen Youth Patron program. This was a joint program with Mercedes College and Hale School, all completing similar workshops and activities.

'The Nulsen Youth Patron Program instills an understanding of how individual and collective social responsibility shapes a civil society in which we can all live and work. The program extends way beyond the students, reaching parents, teachers and alumni in the school community; Nulsen staff and supporters; and the broader population.'

House Visits

An opportunity provided by the program was to participate in fortnightly house visits to the various homes. This was a medium that allowed me to develop my awareness of disabilities in the real world and gain a deeper understanding of how the lives of those affected are different to my reality. Experiences like such allowed me to build a new and unique connection with the people I met over the year and form memories like no other. In addition to the home visits, we were able to invite the residents within the ASC campus to hold different events to cater for all types of residents. This included painting sessions in preparation for an art exhibition or inviting residents to partake in the annual Twilight Carols for some Christmas spirit.

These experiences we were able to share with countless residents were truly one of the most insightful opportunities in my life. My knowledge and understanding of disabilities were significantly improved through integrating myself within spaces where I realised that I could treat them as any other individuals and that disability does not truly need to draw a barrier between ‘groups’. I had never connected to my community in such a way and I am more than grateful to the Nulsen group for allowing such experiences to occur.

Workshops

Nulsen group takes a balanced and holistic approach to youth leadership and fosters the personal development of its’ patrons through the various workshops and leadership sessions that were hosted throughout the year. We worked with Gavin Bain, the managing partner at Wunderman Thomson, who explored ‘vulnerability’ and its significance in a true leader. He helped us understand the importance of vulnerability and how it sets apart those with impactful leadership as being more than just leaders but also relatable individuals. Future Institute of Australia, a leading leadership training-focused organisation, spoke to us about emotional intelligence and the importance of having a grounded relationship with emotion. The workshop focused on self-realisation and how the flow of effects of efficiently managing our changing emotions can become a strength rather than a hindrance to effective leadership.

Margo Halbert, an award-winning keynote speaker on effective communication and leadership, took our group on a short series of public speaking workshops to strengthen our confidence and communication skills. This included how to manage your notes for presentations to maximise engagement and success, the ‘secrets’ to performance and how to strengthen ourselves through our stance and body when presenting. This series of workshops and presenters were definitely valuable for each student because each of them presented an unexpected or ‘forgotten’ side of leadership and showed us that leadership is so much more than just the ability to complete a group project or delegate tasks within a group.

Nulsen – Panel Lunch

As an addition to these programs, a few students from the program were invited to present to and partake in a lunch with the Nulsen board to showcase the important lessons we had learnt over its time. I was privileged to be offered this opportunity and I can confidently say that it was an inspiring and uplifting experience to be part of. I had written in the speech I prepared and presented:

There have been valuable skills and capabilities established and developed, and I am beyond grateful for this. If there is a program or position that I had to recommend to the years below, I know that I would choose Nulsen Patrons. I doubt I could find another initiative that is both so fulfilling and informative about key skills, and I appreciate all the efforts by the team behind it and their success in building this.

I was able to testify how important this program is to each student and the various lessons we learned from taking part in the house visits and workshops over the year. The other students and I were also able to interact with a group of very influential and encouraging members of the Nulsen panel who were able to offer their support and advice. Overall, this program is highly effective and I have developed so many skills through the varying opportunities offered within.