Sydney school demands 11-year-old students write a ‘ludicrous’ TWO PAGE resume for school captain

Primary school sparks debate after demanding 11-year-old students write a ‘ludicrous’ two-page resume if they want to become captain

  • Students at Sydney school are required to submit application for school captain
  • Candidates are required to submit two-page resume and a page listing skills
  • Mother-of-two Natalie Reilly said she was ‘aghast’ when she read the guidelines
  • Many parents said their kids from other schools had to go through same process
  • Another mum said she spent hours helping her daughter, 11, fill out the form

A primary school in Sydney has sparked debate after asking Year 5 students to apply for school captain by submitting a ‘ludicrous’ two-page resume.

Mother-of-two Natalie Reilly told Kidspot she was ‘aghast’ when she read through the strict guidelines set for the children aged between 10 and 11.

Candidates are required to submit a CV, a ‘title page’ listing your skills, awards and summary of your schooling, and ‘supporting evidence’ such as photos that ‘demonstrate how you meet the selection criteria’.

‘If you think you have what it takes to lead the school assemblies, in the playground, in the classroom and in all other areas of school life, then read the selection criteria and apply for the opportunity of your schooling career,’ the application said.

The perfect candidates must ‘display leadership qualities, be self-regulated, demonstrate ability to work as part of a team and have exceptional communication and public speaking skills’.

A Sydney primary school has sparked debate for sending out a lengthy criteria asking students to apply for school captain by submitting a two-page resume (stock image)

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the NSW Department of Education for comment.

Australian parents took to social media to reveal their young children had to go through a similar process to apply for the school captain role.

‘My daughter had to do exactly that. She was told to treat it like she was applying for a job,’ one mother said.

‘All the consequences apply to the role as in a adult employment, written warnings x 3, and then if the role still wasn’t done properly after the warnings, children were ‘let go’ from the position of house captains or a school captain.’

Despite the extreme lengths to apply for school captaincy, the mother said her youngster was able to get a glimpse of the real world.

‘I thought it was quite a lot to expect from children because after all they are children. However after a year in this role my daughter has mentioned a few times that working is hard,’ the mother said.

My daughter had to do exactly that. She was told to treat it like she was applying for a job. I thought it was quite a lot to expect from children because after all they are children

‘She often comments to me that she understands if I come from a difficult day at work. I think it has helped her empathise more, she gets upset if she sees someone being rude to a cashier at the shops etc as she has been on the receiving end with other classmates giving her a hard time.’

Another parent said her daughter was required to fill out an application before doing two rounds of interviews, a speech and then a voting poll took place.

Another mother said: ‘Back in my day it’s more like politics. Whoever wins the popularity contest gets the position.’

But some parents said they preferred the lengthy applications because they thought it was fair for all the kids who applied for the position.

In 2017, an Australian mother revealed how she stayed up all night helping her 11-year-old daughter complete an application for school captain

In 2017, an Australian mother revealed how she stayed up all night helping her 11-year-old daughter complete an application for school captain

In 2017, an Australian mother revealed how she stayed up all night helping her 11-year-old daughter complete an application for school captain.

Her little girl was required to write a full-page letter listing her organisational and communication skills and how she would be ‘open to new learning experiences’. 

‘This bloody thing took us until 11pm to finish… To be completely honest with you, I’m a little concerned. This girl is a high achiever and she works so hard to get there,’ the mother said, along with a picture of the criteria.

She said her hard-working daughter was part of her school’s dance group, senior choir, cheer squad, netball and volunteers to read to preschool kids.

‘So I’m scared. I’m scared of if this doesn’t work out for her, she is shattered (I know, life learning skill that sometimes s*** doesn’t happen how you want),’ she said.

‘I’m scared that if she is awarded school captain that this poor girl is going to run herself into the ground. Ugh, the struggles of parenting.’



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