The role of a prefect was first explained in an assembly by last year’s prefects who  introduced us to the myths and the truths about the role. The first step: to fill in an application form containing the standard questions:  Why do you want to be a prefect? What experiences do you have? As well as asking what our 2 main aims would be if we did become a prefect.

Around 40 students applied, however, only 18 received an email telling them they were successful in the first round. These 18 were then invited to attend a group task and an interview. Neither were as daunting as I thought they would be; the teachers were understanding and supportive. We were asked what we would bring to the role and how we would react in certain situations. It was also an opportunity for us to ask the teachers questions. We then found out whether we had made it to the next round that night through an email.

Only 10 out of the 18 made it through to the voting round. These 10 then wrote their manifestos, including a bit ourselves and what we would change if we were to become a prefect. Then on 27th February the Years 7-10 voted for their preferred candidate. We were all expecting to have to wait at least until the next day for the email to come through, so to say we were surprised when it arrived that evening is a bit of an understatement! 6 of us were elected prefects: Olivia Aram, Meg Hewish, Maddie Fletcher, Heather Dargie (me), Mai Worth and Vinuki Tilakaratne. We were all really honoured to receive the role and couldn’t wait for our first meeting the next Monday.

We all squeezed into Ms Atkins’ office who explained in more detail our responsibilities. We didn’t have to wait long for our next meeting together either, as the following day we met with the old prefects to ask them questions about what to expect. They told us that it wasn’t all about organising the prom and that it was well worth the hard work.

We are all really looking forward to our time as Prefects and we can’t wait to work more with the students and Ms Atkins. I hope this article has given you some more information about the process to becoming a Prefect - I, myself, had no idea what to expect and what the process would be like.

Heather Dargie, Y10 Prefect