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Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere.
Did your school have "Prefects"? And were you one?
My school had Prefects - all fifth year (Year 11) pupils, with the exception of those who had an appalling disciplinary record from previous years were recruited to be Prefects at my school. (A comprehensive in York). This was approximately 250 Prefects, at a guess.
Typically, Prefects had one "duty" each week, on a rota basis. My role was distributing internal/external staff mail (basically taking it from reception and filing it in the appropriate "Pigeon Hole" at the staff room). Those of us chosen for this role were supposed to see this as some kind of privilege, as it was considered the most responsible job to be undertaken by pupils; I found it all very tedious, and while I suppose there was a big element of trust, those of us doing this were really just unpaid admin staff!
Other prefects were given roles guarding the access doors to the school buildings at breaks/lunchtimes (basically, being power-hungry "bouncers" and stopping Year 7 and 8 kids going to the toilet etc
) or distributing and collecting attendance registers from forms. We were also expected to set an example to "Lower School" pupils, which extended to giving them a good "telling-off" for swearing, running in the corridors etc. Although we rarely did!
We received a small metal badge which all Prefects were supposed to wear every day on their school tie, not just when "on duty". Anyone who misbehaved would be stripped of their badge and duties, and this would be recorded on their school record, and presumably would put them out of favour when it came to having written references at the end of the School Year. The other perk we got for doing the menial roles the paid school staff didn't want to do (!) was that we were allowed use of the "Youth Centre" which was adjacent to the school each lunchtime, meaning we weren't stuck out in the school playground, and could play pool, buy sweets and listen to horrendous mid-90's dance (we're talking 1995/96 here).
Did your school have "Prefects"? And were you one?
My school had Prefects - all fifth year (Year 11) pupils, with the exception of those who had an appalling disciplinary record from previous years were recruited to be Prefects at my school. (A comprehensive in York). This was approximately 250 Prefects, at a guess.
Typically, Prefects had one "duty" each week, on a rota basis. My role was distributing internal/external staff mail (basically taking it from reception and filing it in the appropriate "Pigeon Hole" at the staff room). Those of us chosen for this role were supposed to see this as some kind of privilege, as it was considered the most responsible job to be undertaken by pupils; I found it all very tedious, and while I suppose there was a big element of trust, those of us doing this were really just unpaid admin staff!
Other prefects were given roles guarding the access doors to the school buildings at breaks/lunchtimes (basically, being power-hungry "bouncers" and stopping Year 7 and 8 kids going to the toilet etc
) or distributing and collecting attendance registers from forms. We were also expected to set an example to "Lower School" pupils, which extended to giving them a good "telling-off" for swearing, running in the corridors etc. Although we rarely did!We received a small metal badge which all Prefects were supposed to wear every day on their school tie, not just when "on duty". Anyone who misbehaved would be stripped of their badge and duties, and this would be recorded on their school record, and presumably would put them out of favour when it came to having written references at the end of the School Year. The other perk we got for doing the menial roles the paid school staff didn't want to do (!) was that we were allowed use of the "Youth Centre" which was adjacent to the school each lunchtime, meaning we weren't stuck out in the school playground, and could play pool, buy sweets and listen to horrendous mid-90's dance (we're talking 1995/96 here).
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