Torch - Fall 2015

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| FALL 2015 • TORCH 27
The basis of their proposal was that every school Prefect should be
elected by all members of the Upper School and not by any individual
group (for example, a House). It also stated that any changes to the
basic policy should be passed by a vote of the Upper School students
and faculty. The proposal included the following suggestions: Grade
12 students would be elected to take on the leadership of groups
within the school; the weighting of votes in all elections for student
leadership positions should be changed so that the staff vote could
not outweigh that of the students; and the School Captain should
represent the students as votes were being tallied by the staff. In
addition to changes to the voting process, the students also established
that each Prefect would take on a portfolio of duties and give a report
at the weekly Prefect meetings so that the group would have a good
understanding of what was going on in all areas of the school.
As the Prefects explained the new proposal in detail to each grade
and to the faculty and staff, the student leaders used the feedback
offered at these sessions to make amendments to the proposal. Once
everyone had the chance to participate in this reform, the Prefects
held a vote for which 72 per cent of Senior School students, faculty
and staff voted in favour of the new system. “The other independent
schools in the area were astonished by these changes,” says Robson.
“They were even more surprised that this new system had been
developed by students. It demonstrated that Havergal was ahead of
them in allowing our students to voice their ideas.”
Today, Havergal’s Prefects continue to be at the forefront of most
of the school’s events and gatherings, whether it be to help seat all
students at Prayers, lead school spirit or organize various student
activities. The Prefects are currently divided into the portfolios
of House & Clubs, Student Council, Sports, Prayers, Community,
Admissions, Junior School, Boarding, Middle School and Arts.
“Havergal relies on our Prefects to be stewards of school culture and
community,” says Gillian Martin, Assistant Head, Senior School, who
currently leads the Prefects. Her relationship with the student
leadership team is two-way, built on mutual respect and
commitment. The school community relies on the Prefects to be
compassionate and courageous role models for their peers. Our
student leaders rely on the support of the school administrators to
listen to their ideas on improving the civic engagement at Havergal.
This collaboration will allow the democratic system at Havergal to
continue to evolve as it has over the past 112 years.
2015–2016 Prefects