AISNSW Creating Cohesive Communities Podcast

SNIPPET:

We can all talk about caring for others, but we need to demonstrate through action because our young children are very impressionable. And young children will call you out. Young children are the ones will say. Well, look, we're saying all these things. But what are we actually doing on the ground?

JULIA:

Welcome to the AISNSW Community Cohesion Podcast, developed by the Association of Independent Schools New South Wales.

In this episode of the creating Cohesive Communities Podcast, we are joined by Osman Korolia, principal at Arcana College. Osman has close to 30 years of education experience across the diversity of leadership roles including deputy principal head of senior school. IBA director and head of community engagement.

Osman has a passion for service, learning leadership, interfaith and intercultural student experiences, as well as steam programs in schools, and is driving the culture in those areas at Arcana College. This includes volunteering and engagement program that is inclusive of students, staff, parents, alumni and the wider community. Osman advocates for student LED volunteer programs, including supporting homelessness in Sydney and programs with young people living with a disability. Osman recently travelled with his students and staff to the URC World Robotics Finals in Japan, where Arcana College represented Australia in the primary schools division.

Join us as we explore and experience firsthand the importance and positive impact of school leadership, championing community cohesion.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY:

Before we begin, we would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands and airways in which we are meeting and broadcasting today as we share our learning, we also pay respect to elders both past and present, as it is their knowledge and experiences that holds the key to the success of our future generations.

JULIA:

So, we're here talking about cohesive communities today, the focus on school leaders. Osman, what does leadership mean to you and what does it look like in your school community?

OSMAN:

Leadership is a term which we mention, discuss and throw around a fair bit, but when we unpack what leadership means and when we unpack the impact of leadership, leadership is all about creating more leaders. With your staff. With your students, your alumni, and certainly your school community. And ideally, as part of leadership is providing opportunities for everyone in your school community. So, in their own way in their own space. And where lies their passion, they can be the leaders of the future and do a much better job than what I as an individual will ever be able to do.

JULIA:

Well, I love that motto about good leaders are ones that create further leaders. That's just so profound.

OSMAN:

I I. Was in a seminar many years ago. And something really stuck in my head and that is that a good leader works their way towards redundancy. And that's something which had a profound impact on me. And it's certainly shaped the lens by which I look at the workplace that I'm in, where it's about empowering individuals. From the youngest child in kindergarten. Up to your senior staff so that they really do become the leaders of the future and it's my position to be accountable to them. So when I when we talk about leadership, we cannot talk about leadership without talking about accountability. And each morning, a leader should ask themselves, am I the best person for this job? Yeah. And if I'm not the best person for this job, what can I do to make sure that the institution that I'm in has got the best placed person to drive the institution forward?

JULIA:

Well, yeah, but that practice and reflection on practice and self also motivates and grows stronger leadership within that individual as well.

OSMAN:

It does. It also drives you towards humility. And humility comes about when you have the realization that as we evolve as an institution, as we evolve individually, as we evolve as a society, we are always going to get people with a wider skill. Set a more technical skill set and better learnings, and it's about paving the way. For them so that we can hand over the baton and we need to instill that not just in our staff and planning for a a chart a way forward, but also in our students that they can all be leaders. They all have got a gift. They all have got something which they can contribute. And everyone in their own way is welcome to make the contribution. So, leadership is also about being inclusive.

JULIA:

100% love it and I think that really speaks to something that happens quite a bit in this school and that's service learning and it's a really important part of the learning experience, not only for students but for teachers as well and families that are involved with our kind of college. Can you tell us more about why? Service learning is so important and which service-learning initiatives are you most proud of?

OSMAN:

Service learning is an opportunity for schools to carry out and deliver on the values which they preach, so. A lot of. Schools will always talk about their school values and you'll find the values on the website and you'll find it on notice boards and that's a. Great thing. And ask the question as school leaders, what are we doing to ensure that our school values are a lived experience and? Part of the values which we want to pass on to our students is. Responsibility to community. And as part of responsibility to community and we talk about citizenship and we talk about civic duty, it also ties in with our broader values as a faith-based schools that can be linked to the values which we also align with our faith teachings.

So, we talk about compassion. We talk about forgiveness. We talk about mercy, we talk about charity. But what does that mean? And in my own experience, certainly growing up and I went to a public school which I loved and the experience was a lot of this was just about fundraising. You'd have the sausage chisel. You'd sell some cakes, you'd raise some money for a cause and you felt really good about it because that's what we did to help other people. And there's nothing wrong with that.

JULIA:

Right.

OSMAN:

Challenge that I've always put to myself is what can we do beyond that? What can we do beyond the gold coin donation? What can we do beyond the sausage sizzle? And that's active service learning service learning, where young people can get out within the school community beyond the school community? And even get involved regionally globally in making an impact in having a physical difference. And being involved in the process. So that's where the whole service learning inspiration came from. The service learning journey at previous schools has been quite broad, so it's gone from helping out at local community centers and in the past I've taken, I've been fortunate to have taken numbers of students. Upon finishing the HSC Southeast Asia to work in really impoverished rural communities where it's all about legacy, it's all about leaving a contribution in the form of physical assets, physical. Resources in different communities, which range from helping to build water worlds which serve communities. Painting spools putting floorboards into different premises. Delivering sporting equipment and delivering humanitarian aid, humanitarian aid in the form of food drops, and we've even dropped off medical supplies so that had a profound impact on what young people. Will do. The one at Arcana there's several projects which we run as part of service. Learning is each term we take students and sometimes it's more than once a term occasion. It's twice a term are we are the students have the opportunity to go down to Martin Place on a Saturday night and deliver either non-perishable food. And at other times, hot food, which they prepared during the day, so you cannot be more involved when you're physically doing the shopping. You're physically doing the packing and on some instances you're physically doing the.

JULIA:

Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah.

OSMAN:

Taking that down, put them into packages and with a smile and in small groups delivering all of all of that to the homeless community, and in doing so, it does a few things. Students learned gratitude. They learned appreciation, but they also learn. This is really important compassion that a lot of the individuals they meet on an. Instance such as the homeless outreach program. I'll probably know different to people they know. These are moms. These are dads. These are someone, sons. They're someone's daughter. That's someone's brother, someone's sister. Life has just thrown a curveball at them, but essentially they're still the same person. The landscape changes, but it's still the same person, and our children really enjoy having a good talk. With members of the homeless community, and they'll talk about sports. They talk about what they doing at school and you just see the faces light up of both elder students and the members of the homeless community who we happen to be assisting on that particular evening. And that's what the you can't teach in the classroom. That's what you can't teach through a textbook. That's what you can't teach through a computer program. It has to be a lived experience. We also have programs where we work with young people living with a disability, particularly Down syndrome, where students get to engage in several in the initiatives and exercises with young people a bit older than them who are living with Down syndrome. And it may be preparing food. Engaging in some art or some sort of modified sporting activity and it's a real highlight for everyone involved. There is so much love. There is so much passion. There's so much joy from all sides, it it it? Brings about an inner peace. When you're able to impact and deliver that sort of happiness to someone else, and the students really come back very, very, very reflective, you know?

JULIA:

Amazing. Yeah, it sounds transformational. It's service learning that's transformational learning and.

Speaker

It is.

OSMAN:

It is because it's highly personalized.

JULIA:

Yeah, absolutely. And having that opportunity to reflect and go beyond the self, I just want to say where I can see some wonderful photos up on the wall here which really you know demonstrates you know how much value and emphasis and positivity there is around the service learning that goes on in this school community. Did you want to speak about any of the examples that are happening here on? The walls, yeah.

OSMAN:

The pictures on the wall tell the story of the growth of the school from what was a single house? Yeah, many years ago and how that's evolved and grown into the school that we have today with in our school hall and the canteen and specialist buildings and playgrounds regarding the.

JULIA:

Ohh OK.

OSMAN:

Service learning. We have an opportunity through that program as well of involving mums and dads because we opened it up to. The community.

JULIA:

Yes. Yeah.

OSMAN:

It's also been a wonderful way to keep in touch with alumni and graduates, so we've got students who have graduated or former students have graduated. A decade ago. Some of them are our dentist. Some are now parents at the school themselves and others doing wonderful things with their lives. So we've reached out to our former student and we have this large group, this, who are just so interested in reconnecting with the school again, in making a contribution to do something. For others, and in doing so, they provide some mentoring. And their serve as role models to the current students. So the service learning program has been a wonderful opportunity to involve mums and dads to involve our alumni, and it's also been a wonderful opportunity to reach out to the wider community. So quite often we'll have members of the wider community come along as guests we've had. Everyone from you know, sports stars to local business people and others who just come along again.

JULIA:

Yeah, yeah.

OSMAN:

We have the opportunity to present itself. They can provide a bit of mentoring to others, but more importantly, it's an opportunity for our school to serve as a. Vehicle for goodness. Yeah, to those beyond our school gates.

JULIA:

Yeah. Incredible. Thank you for sharing all those incredible and diverse pockets of opportunity to build a wonderful, strong, cohesive community that goes. Inside and out and outside and in. And that's really. And as you said, that sort of sustains itself as well. It's a life for some upon itself. And thank you. Sorry. I thought they were further photos in regards to some of the opportunities where because when we're here last time. But having said that, the roots of this school. Community is still based on those principles as well, so it really does. It started at the roots and at the heart. And so it makes sense as to why this is still an ongoing thing because it was part of the foundations.

OSMAN:

That's right. So the school has always been very vested since it established itself in 1986. The schools got a long history, like many schools do, of assisting those who are going through a hard time, whether it be bushfires, whether it be floods, you know, or whether it be something local or something abroad. The schools always been really interested and really involved and really engaged in improving the fortunes of others wherever we can with by the means which. We have the service learning program. We're just taking it to a level where it's beyond just a contribution. Yeah, it's now physically delivering. It's also been an opportunity for us as a school to demonstrate through action that we've got responsible citizenship and we are making a difference. I also think it's important that as an Islamic school, it's a vehicle, it's an opportunity where. We are demonstrating through. Initiatives which are quite broad that we do make a difference that we are part of the fabric of this Community. We don't live in a silo. We don't, we don't restrict or isolate ourselves from others. We are wholly engaged. We are wholly inclusive. Nice, nice for me to say. All those things. But unless we demonstrate it, it's hollow. It's just words, regardless of who is indeed, regardless of. Which person will help with their background where they from? It's our duty as young Australians, it's our duty as a school, as an Independent School, to make a difference, to be involved, to be engaged and you can't claim to do those things. We can all talk about being inclusive. We can all talk about caring for others, but we need to demonstrate through action because our young children are very impressionable. And young children will call you out. Young children are the ones will say. Well, look, we're saying all these things. But what are we actually doing on the ground? So do we need to establish our own integrity, particularly as a faith-based school, as an Independent School that we don't just do all the talk, we actually practice what we preach. So the service learning has been a wonderful way to demonstrate to the young people that this is what we do. This is what we our values are. This is how we deliver on those values. And we'd love you all to be involved.

JULIA:

Amazing. And on that note. Walking the walk, talking the talk and demonstrating that integrity, there's a phenomenal program that's been running for many, many years here at Arcana with another Independent School, and that's the Inter school program. Can you just tell us more about that? We'd love to hear more about it. And how does it contribute towards the development of those stronger connections and interfaith understanding among students from diverse backgrounds?

OSMAN:

The relationship with the Mount Sinai College, Mount Sinai College is, the school, which we're referring to here stretches back to 2008. So in 2008, there was a lot of noise and a lot of media around an incursion into the Palestinian-occupied territories. But Israel, there was a lot of strong words. There was a lot of heated debate. Talk back, radio. It was quite the issue. And at the time I just started that that comment was my second stint at Arkana and there was a lot of talk in the playground. There was a lot of talk amongst parents and one of the questions I posed at the time was what does that mean? For us. What? What, what? What does it mean for us here in Australia? I'm hearing a lot of angry talk. I'm hearing a lot of talk, which I suppose we could call it divisive and again it's all driven by hurt. But it's also driven by misunderstanding. But what does it mean for us as a responsible school leader, what does it? Mean for me? And at the time I reached out to a school that's of similar size. It was a school recommended by a a friend, Linda Ben Menashi. Linda was amazing. She was at the time at the Jewish Board of Deputies and Linda and I had a a friendship stretching back a number of years with crossed paths in different spaces and places.

So, I reached out at the time to Mount Sinai College, and they were so, so welcoming. And we had a discussion about what can we do to ensure that this cycle of hurt this rhetoric of hate stops. We've got a responsibility and Monsanto have been amazing. Partners for with our partner college. It's been a very strong collaboration. The program is now in its 15th year, it's 15 consecutive years and I think that's just a wonderful reflection on. Schools. It involves students visiting each other, schools, but also it involves a lot of social justice projects. So there's been occasions where students from Arcana College and Montana College have prepared food together and that food is distributed by Oz. Harvest again to the homeless in Sydney. They've had the mums of the two schools in. Old we've had at traditional times on the Islamic calendar we've had mum's date and staff as well as students from Montana College come to Archana for the Iftar, the breaking of the fast during the month of Ramadan. So again it's a program which goes beyond just the classroom and it's a program which goes beyond. The usual talk that you get at some of this interfaith events, which are. All wonderful. Yeah. When I say gone beyond because it involves sports, it's involves social justice projects, it's involved conversations and it's been delivered by several partners together for humanity probably being the single biggest partner. They've been amazing. The team it together for humanity, putting all of this together. Yeah, and facilitating the days facilitating workshops. So we've had Mount Sinai College at Arcana just recently. And it's wonderful to see young people, young Australians and always we always stress about young Australians getting together. Yeah. And it's about young Australians working together and the last time we were our two schools were together a few weeks ago the challenge was put to them by together for humanity. What are some of the issues affecting Australia at the moment that might be environmental might be the cost of living, all the things which students hear about in their homes, maybe the, the voice debate and what can they do as young Australians to make a positive impact for all those things. And let me tell you, the quality of the conversation and the ideas coming through from young people is something which should be taken to Parliament house. And read out to everyone. So that's the impact of these young people and I couldn't help but look back and say to myself. If these are the leaders of the future, these are the people taking our society into the future. We're in very good hands. So that's been the power of the collaboration with Lansana College that we are young Australians. We work together, we don't let whatever unfortunate incidents happening abroad overseas. In fact, the way we interact with each other, it doesn't diminish the respect that we have for one another, nor does it dilute the strong relationship we've built over the. Last 15 years. And if anything, it's gone from strength. To strength and we look forward to many, many more years in working together with Monsanto College. I think it's really important. The reality is to establish a program continuously for 15 years. It's not easy in schools. You know, the schools landscape continues to change. It continues to evolve. We have new curriculums. But syllabi coming through, we've got so many things to do with compliance. So there's so many distractions. So the fact that a Islamic school and a Jewish school here in Australia, Australian schools, meaning most importantly they've been. Able to keep this program. At 4 interactions a year for 15 years, I couldn't be proud of.

JULIA:

Absolutely. And I have to say, I have experienced it firsthand as well and really was profoundly moved, especially by the interfaith iftar and seeing the connections with all the families, no matter what background and seeing where there's that common ground and that commonality. But celebrating the differences with respect. And it really does flip that journey from hurt to healing. And what we can do together, which is just so effective, yeah.

OSMAN:

And it, it brings us to. The paradigm where you know. We can all be part of the problem. We can all be part of the solution. Really the choice is ours and we choose to be part of the solution, at least in our world, at least in the style that we live in here in Sydney, Australia. We're gonna be part of the solution.

JULIA:

Have there been any other pockets of opportunity that have been provided by our counter college?

OSMAN:

That that there's been no shortage. It may be. Involved in our local neighbours. Or initiatives or events such as your book Big Character Parade, where you invite your local neighbours to come into the school to be judges. Particularly neighbours who are an elder and we've known them for a long time. There's been no shortage of opportunities in terms of what we do with our work, with the environment, with social justice and even recently, things such as the tollways. Which is quite a debate, he and Sydney at the moment and the rising costs of tolls, you know, on top of the rising cost of living generally, where we've actually had the opportunity to have some of the discussions with our local community, our local neighbours, just so that we act as a school where we are representatives, not just of those within our gates. Of those who we share fence line with and it was interesting that the local neighbours approached it. School and asked us to front a committee held by the state Parliament for an inquiry into tollways. That's great. So when your local neighbours, who, who could be from diverse communities, not necessarily from the same faith-based community as your school reaching out and asking you to represent them. At hearings or at committee hearings, or at places where they want their voices to be heard, I think it's a wonderful sign of acceptance. It's a wonderful opportunity to show that we will represent your voice because we know you because we're good neighbors, we've also had the opportunity to. Like many, many different community groups into our school, we've spoken about robotics previously and we've had this tremendous success recently with robotics. There were students who went to Japan to represent Australia at the World Robotics Finals. And what that means in terms of cohesive communities, we are now using robotics as a segue to invite other schools, public schools as well as independent schools to. Have the steam robotics experience not in competition. That's a separate thing which other entities run, but rather to invite them in for robotics slash steam experience. So young people from different schools can work together. Other in developing their skill application around some of those things to do with robots, putting the coding program and et cetera. So I think this is really exciting. This is our big area. We want to focus on in. 2024 in 2025 we've got a planning place. Where the school? Will be some sort of a hub. And will reach out and we've had a lot of interest already from public as well as independent. Amazing. Come down to a karma. This is what we're doing. We want you to have this. We want you to have this experience. This is these are the robotics kits. Let's get our students to work together and build some robots. Let's just put a coding together and let's see where that takes you. For some schools, it might be just a day of immersion into robotics, but for others it may be. They start a robotics program of their own.

JULIA:

I love it being that catalyst of solution and hope and opportunity and care and compassion. It's really remarkable. Thank you so much for sharing that. On that note. Can you tell us about an inspirational or a transformational moment you've witnessed or experienced as a principal regarding your school community?

OSMAN:

The first thing which comes to mind is our current school captain. Who for many years has always been involved, always been involved in wanting to serve others. There's always been wanting to bring about change for the better is watching our this young lady start her own volunteer group outside of school. And reaching out to other schools to get involved and she's doing everything from helping to rehabilitate koalas who've lost their natural habitat, to putting food backs together to for victims of domestic violence. And in in, in, in, in, in refugees. So to have a young girl she's currently in year 6. To see someone. Go to the next level where they actually want to start their own. Movement and bringing other people, other young people from beyond just our school to make the world a better place. That's something which. I can't find enough words talk about in terms of giving me inspiration. I think it's just fabulous that we even have young people who think like that. That's I think the next Twitter Thunberg I start thinking that the journey's got to start. Somewhere. Yeah, and when I look at young at young people like our current captain. And I looked back at my own self when I was age. I was playing the ball all day, so I wanted to do was kick a footy and play handball, you know, and I was. I was happy with that and now I'm seeing in a a young ladies in your 6 preparing to go to year seven and she wants to change the world. She doesn't just want to change the world because she says she wants to. She's actually taking the next step. Says marshalled mum and dad. Mum and dad. I suppose you know. Do their bit to give her a helping hand. As well, and that's great that she's involved. Her family involved her by her family, involved her friends, and now she's involving young people from other schools to say, let's get involved and let's do something. If we aren't happy with something. If we were distressed at watching young koalas, you know, lose their habitat because it's something which is on the news. Yes, she said. Well, I'll do something. About that and. She actually put together a group and they. Out and they help rehabilitate koalas through one of the community organizations, which does that sort of thing, though for me, that that really embodies. Everything and beyond on what you'd want to achieve for your students.

JULIA:

100% thank you so much for sharing that. Is there any other highlights or anything else you wish to share with us?

OSMAN:

What I'd like to share, particularly in the landscape of schools, is it's so important to have the entire school community to be a part of that journey, and it's important to involve everyone from, from your, your, YOUR Board of directs, that helps shape vision. It helps shape purpose. So you try and bring everything back to vision, purpose and matter. It all must align. So you need to have your entire school community in its entire. City. So you've got to think beyond the student and the parents, so you've gotta have your, your governors, your. Your, your, your. Your school directors, your wider community, and you've got to tell your story or a long time people I weren't didn't have the means possibly to tell their story. And telling your story is difficult. It's challenging because you want to tell your story from the space of humility and authenticity. But you always run the risk that if you're telling your story, you could be gloating and then then that changes every. So you gotta tell your story in. A way so that. It's not a marketing story that you're trying to tell any sort of story that you're trying to say. We do this better than others. It's a story where you want others who are touched by your journey. To begin their end journey. So I think I think schools have to look at things through that lens there that if you have. A few 100 schools in NSW, all with their own little projects. Who wins or community wins? Our society wins, and that's the thing. The lengths by which I'd encourage school leaders to take a look at this through it's about inspiring others rather than saying this is what we do. Aren't we great at what we do? And it's really important to always differentiate between the.

JULIA:

My goodness, this has been an incredible journey and I really thank you for sharing your story with humility, with hope and thank you for building a a wonderful, cohesive community. And I I just wanted to highlight, definitely we are in great hands if this is what we've got to look forward to. So thank you so much.

OSMAN:

Thank you. Thanks for the opportunity.

JULIA:

Thank you for listening to this episode. For further information on the AISNSW Community Cohesion Podcast series and project or any of our guests, please see our show notes.