Secondary Captains reflect on the COMPASS Leadership Retreat

At the end of week 4, We as school captains, as well as Mr Brown and Mr Knight, attended Compass, a Christian leadership conference for students held annually in Canberra.

The conference went for five days, Friday the 28th to Tuesday the 4th. Over the course of the event, we met other school leaders from all over the country, discussed the role of our leadership at Calderwood, and heard from the Bible what leaders look like and how God wants us to lead.

On top of the leadership training, we also participated in various activities, including attending the War Memorial, Parliament House, plenty of free time to hang out, and a bush dance on the final night.

Overall, Compass was a great and insightful experience, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together learning about our role as school leaders.

Leadership: Be, See, Do

Compass taught us about leadership—not just as a title or position, but as a calling given by God. Leadership is often summed up in three words: Be, See and Do. As leaders we are often so oriented by the ‘See’ and ‘Do’ that we forget about the most important aspect, the ‘Be’. When first chosen as a leader at Calderwood Christian School, the 'Do' aspect was overwhelming. What am I going to do as a leader? How am I going to change the school? What's my first step? I forgot about the concept of being a leader.

Leadership is not about power or authority; it is about character. History has shown us that leadership without character leads to destruction and disaster. Take Adolf Hitler – he commanded millions, held immense power, and yet his leadership was built on fear, lies and cruelty. His lack of integrity led to devastation.

Compare that to Jesus – he had no political power, no military force, and yet led with love, humility and truth. Today, one is remembered with horror, and the other is worshiped as the greatest leader of all time.

True leadership is not about status; it’s about who you are at your core. ‘Be’ is about who you are – your faith, your integrity, and your commitment to God's will. Jesus was a leader who wouldn’t just act like one when people were watching, he got on his knees and washed his disciples' feet. Why? Because he was a loving, caring Son of God: leadership starts with who you are, and the vision and actions are the result.

At Compass we were asked a question; "who are you?". Even Moses, one of the greatest leaders in the Bible, doubted himself. When God called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he said, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?”. God wasn’t looking for perfection; he was looking for obedience.

So why should others follow and look up to us at Calderwood Chrisitan School? The truth is, we have just started our leadership journey to find out. But we know these things for sure, we are children of God made in His image. We are imperfect and we make and will make so many mistakes. However, God has chosen us to be leaders and our first step in this calling is here at Calderwood Christian School.

So, we aim to both personally get closer to God and grow our faith, as well as get to know and serve our peers more. We hope that through our personal growth as leaders we will someday be able to lead like Jesus did and that our actions will flow from our beliefs, values and character.

Claire Kadwell, Jackson Taylor and Reilly Thomson

2025 Calderwood Captains