Most students would assume that House Prefects only need to work when House events are near, but in reality, there is a lot more that goes on behind the scenes than simple sports team management. From being responsible for long-term improvements to the house, to developing individual relationships with every student in the house, there is a lot more that goes into the role than winning events.
Being Heads of House requires significantly more involvement from us within the house. Helping fill in the register for boarding staff, relaying information from the Prefect Team to the students and reminding students of upcoming events so they are informed are all part of the role. It also requires developing some sort of relationship with the students in the house, whether through minor interactions throughout the day or spending time with them to get to know them, as this is an integral aspect of the role.
Furthermore, we work with a house student leadership team made up of various captains who help run the house. For example, the Social Captain runs social events for the house on weekends, while the Academic Captain shares study techniques with the rest of the house. As Heads of House, we need to ensure that these captains continue fulfilling their responsibilities in order to keep the house active and exciting.
Other regular events such as House Family Time are completely run by the student leadership team, where presentations on various interesting or funny topics are prepared for the entertainment of the house on alternate Fridays. Our final project during our tenure as Heads of House will be a presentation delivered by the Year 13 students, where everyone will give a speech about another Year 13 student, ensuring that every student both gets to speak about someone else and be spoken about in return.
All in all, despite currently holding last place in the House Cup, we believe that we are very privileged to have been given the opportunity to take up these roles, and that Forest’s founding year has been rather successful. What we lack in House competition placements, we make up for in community, togetherness and a sense of belonging. Any teacher who has visited Forest will tell you that we have the best environment and energy out of any house, and that is something no House Cup placement can replace.
Dylan S. and Thomas D.
Head and Deputy Head of Forest House