In the week leading up to Welcome Week, our student leaders and residential staff came together for a week of leadership development, training and planning– commencing with a two-day offsite leadership retreat with the 2026 elected leaders – Junior Deans and members of the Middle Common Room (MCR) and S-Club.

Annual offsite leadership retreat

Now in its fourth year, St Paul’s 2026 offsite leadership retreat took the student group to the Southern Highlands – a peaceful setting before the busyness of the College year would begin. The two days offered something unique and valuable: time to step back, connect as a wider leadership cohort, and reflect on what kind of year they wanted to build together.

The program balanced the bigger questions of leadership and legacy with practical sessions for each leadership team to work through plans for the week and year ahead. Shared meals and fun team activities filled the spaces in between.

Leadership development continues back at College

On day three, the elected leaders returned to College where they were joined by the Peer Support and Welcome Week leaders. Alongside planning for the week ahead, the Leadership Week program was packed full of sessions run by the College and external providers, including mental health session run by Nicole Evans from ConnectLe, alcohol and other drugs by the Matilda Session, as well as sessions on living in community, academics in college, social media and more. 

Together, these sessions gave our leaders a framework for their own flourishing, and for the wellbeing of those in their care across Welcome Week and throughout the academic year.