School Prefects: every school seems to have them, but very few seem to have mastered the art of using them effectively. So why is this the case? And, more importantly, how can you select the ones who will save you time and improve standards? Read on to find out more.
Time after time we've all seen the "prefect thing" become a "lip service" exercise. where students often gain the title without having to "buy in" to the expectations, or the workload.
Everyone starts out enthusiastically and with high hopes of great change, but in reality this rarely seems to happen. Prefects turn up to the expected Open Evening and dawdle about (frequently checking their watches!), and the only types of questions they ask are: 'When do you think I can go home?' or 'Are there any biscuits left?'
You might be lucky and get one or two decent prefects and you may even get a bit of a classroom display put up for you . wonkily, but still, it counts as something. Occasionally, you may win the 'holy grail' of prefects and think 'this year we'll finally get things done'. to then have them stolen away by the allure of a better school position when everyone finally realises how good they are. (And this always seems to happen partway through the year when you thought 'all your ducks were in a row'!)
It seems that (excluding the rare exception) we never seem to get 'our money's worth' when it comes to "hiring" prefects, especially not in the long term.
