Redcliffe State High School: Captains leading the way

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Redcliffe State High School’s 2025 School Captains plan to use their roles to further develop as leaders, promote school spirit and foster community involvement.

The Redcliffe Peninsula sat down with Lucy Mather, Amelie Angus, Lucas Crosert and Asha Glen to talk about how they plan to make a difference and what makes a good leader.

Redcliffe State High School Student Executive Co-ordinator Rachel Lowe says each student has demonstrated commitment and enthusiasm for the school community and increasing connections with the wider community.

“They have shown high levels of initiative and lead the student body through example, involving students in house spirit and upholding the culture and values of Redcliffe State High School. They are excellent role models, showing maturity and a positive attitude that inspires others," Ms Lowe says.

“We were very impressed by each of them at the interviews. They each talked about how they wanted to help make the school a better place, commenting on the culture and increasing school spirit.

“They were not in it for themselves, they were school-focused. They came with real ideas, and had already been leading in this space - being involved in Interact, or helping out at events, being an active member of the school community.

“They were confident and clear in the direction they felt school needed to go, which matched our direction.”

Ms Lowe says taking on leadership positions at school helps students develop skills such as communication, problem-solving, decision-making, and accountability.

“It teaches teamwork, time management, and conflict resolution, while boosting self-confidence and leadership qualities. Students also gain a sense of purpose and contribute positively to their school community. These experiences prepare them for future success.”

Meet the leaders Q&A

Lucy Mather, 17

How have you been involved in school leadership previously? In Year 9, a teacher nominated me for a junior leadership position – junior prefect. That first foray into leadership, started me on the journey to School Captain. I joined the Interact Club where I went from a member to treasurer with (fellow captain) Lucas Grosert for a little while, then secretary and last year I was president.

How will you be a good leader? Show up. Just be here every day with the best attitude you can have … trying to take every opportunity that you can at the school.

How will the role help you develop? It’s already helped me with my public speaking. I currently work in customer service, so being able to talk to people is a little bit important … just developing people skills and the ability to also work well with others.

What are your plans for the future? I want to go to university and study pharmacy and eventually, once that’s done, go into the Air Force as a pharmacist.

What makes a good leader? I think mainly just the willingness to not only step into that leadership role but also sacrifice things like your personal time. Just being willing to try everything and to do things to make sure people are having a better experience.

Amelie Angus, 17

How have you been involved in school leadership previously? I actually didn’t even consider leadership until Year 11. I realised a lot of people in our grade wanted things done but they didn’t have the means or didn’t know how to have a voice in our school. I wanted to take the opportunity to step up.

How will you be a good leader? I really wanted to make our school a community where everybody had a say, where everybody had a voice.

How will the role help you develop? School Captain is more than just a role. It shows people that you’re a person that they can talk to if they’ve got an issue. It tells people that you have the means to step up. I think it shows a lot of initiative, not only having opinions of what you want done but then actually doing them.

What are your plans for the future? I want to go to university to study engineering.

What makes a good leader? I think the ability to listen to people is definitely the most important thing … not only listening to people but hearing them and really putting what they’re thinking into motion.

Lucas Crosert, 16

How have you been involved in school leadership previously? I wasn’t a ‘good kid’ in primary school and Year 7. I was getting pretty average grades. I wasn’t doing anything outside of school. One day, I sort of just said to myself … is this the person I want to be? It wasn’t, so I just started acting like the person I did want to be and I found myself here. I’ve practically put my hand up for anything I can … I’ve been a part of Interact, I’ve been a part of cadets for three and a half years, I’ve been a part of the junior leadership team, I was a junior vice-captain and even before that I just would help out with anything I could do … anything at school, anything outside of school.

How will you be a good leader? I have some ideas of my own but I think the main point is to listen to what the students want because this is everyone’s school – students and even parents. We need to listen to all parties and find what’s best for everyone.

How will the role help you develop? My goal is to become a politician in the future. I feel like this is my preparation for that. At my age you can’t really be a politician, but you can be a school captain and that’s basically a politician in the school world.

What are your plans for the future? I want to go into the military. I want to become an officer and just improve my leadership skills to a level that Australia deserves before I go into politics. I want to figure out if that is the career for me.

What makes a good leader? Listening. Treat people you meet with the same respect you want and give them that respect until they lose it.

Asha Glen, 16

How have you been involved in school leadership previously? Two years ago, my older sister was school captain and on the night of her celebration dinner I was asked if I would follow in her footsteps and I said, “absolutely not”. She would come home and tell me about all the people that she met and all the stuff she did and I thought, OK that’s kind of cool. So, I applied for it.

How will you be a good leader? I think it’s important to be able to connect with other students, so they do feel comfortable.

How will the role help you develop? I’m currently in the process of becoming a general service officer in the Australian Army. It looks good, but I also do get the experience … to not only be able to talk to people but also connect with people.

What makes a good leader? I think it’s really good to be able to make connections with people, so they feel more comfortable coming and telling you things. I think kindness is really big as well.

To find out more about what's on offer at Redcliffe State High School, visit the website or phone (07) 3897 1111