By Kiki Akin-Olugbade

Wilby, Brown, Everitt, and now Kay; names that will forever reside on the grand board decorating the walls of the Great Hall. Just reading the names of our school captains should evoke a heightened sense of pride and admiration from deep within … right? Or should we even notice them at all, and are they simply the teacher’s pets – students just like the rest of us, nothing special?

Even the most sceptical readers must concede that our senior prefects have authority. Past the fact that they like to tell you they can give out detentions (they can’t), our prefects are truly respected within the school community, and act as key role models, embodying our school values. The stillness is loud when the school captain calls for silence at Monday morning assembly, and the prefects’ reflections are well received throughout the year. If nothing else, our senior students are key role models to look up to, blueprints to base our own behaviours off.

However, this description reduces them down to impersonal templates for younger students; this couldn’t be further from the truth. In an interview with The 1509 held earlier this month, the School Captain, Alex Kay and Deputy School Captain, Head of Operations, Yuvan Raja told me about the memorable interactions they’ve had with students throughout their term. Alex told me that some of his more menial duties, such as manning the lunch queue, have given him some of the best organic interactions with younger students – relating to them on a purely student to student basis. Yuvan’s responses promoted their role from simply relatable characters, to a representation of and voice for the student body on a whole. “We are trying tirelessly to make the John Brown Bridge two way” he wrote. On a more serious note, “for the 1^st to 3^rd form, [they] have presented multiple assemblies addressing the stigma surrounding mental health”. These were just a small handful of the plentiful examples to suggest our prefects truly have our interests at the forefront of their actions. They balance their responsibilities to uphold school values and maintain authority, with their genuine desire to stand up and benefit the student body in our school environment.

Inevitably, they don’t get everything right. Yuvan indicated that implementing schemes was often a bureaucratic process, and getting the green light from multiple different teachers reduced the efficiency and effectiveness of his role. Alex talked about the struggles he has with his image as school captain: “it’s a fine line of being a “boring” or “strict” prefect, and being a prefect that is a good role model, upholding all the school rules and values.” he told The 1509 in our recent interview.

But what do you think? Ultimately the value of all the teaching staff and other role models, such as the prefects, lies with the students. You are what constitute this school, and as a collective, decide the defining characteristics of this institution; therefore, it is you who decide the importance of our senior prefects and school captain. So what do you think? Let us know down below in the comments section or at the1509@rgsg.co.uk.