We know that every student who comes to Ridgewood School has the potential to be a leader, and we want to nurture this potential.
To develop student leadership, all students are able to apply to become a prefect. We carefully select a team of committed students to become prefects each year and train them to carry out their leadership role effectively.
Students who hold prefect status are expected to uphold the highest expectations of outstanding leadership in both their attitude to learning and behaviour across school. The prefect cohort is reviewed every half term.
Prefects contribute to many areas of school life and they are pivotal in supporting many events in school such as Year 6 Open Evening and Year 6 Transition Week. The prefect team also organise many fundraising events in school, including coordinating the production of Christmas hampers that are distributed to the needy in our local community each year. We also encourage all students to develop their initiative and bring new ideas of ways in which we can lead and support our school community to be even better.
Prefect Application Forms can be collected from Student Services. All students are able to apply. Applications are reviewed at the start of each new term and new prefects are recruited on a rolling program throughout the year.
The Student Leadership Accreditation (SLA) is an award offered through the Schools, Students and Teachers Network (SSAT). The SSAT hopes to transform schooling through inquiry, inspiration, innovation and having an impact; the SLA recognises the role that students can play through this process. We chose this scheme for our prefects as it recognises a wide variety of leadership activities, some of which our students may have already done or be doing.
Prefects can work towards the bronze, silver or gold leadership accreditation through the SSAT. This allows prefects to demonstrate their leadership capabilities both inside and outside school, working on their communication, teamwork, attitude and responsibility. This accreditation is an excellent addition to their Record of Achievement. Further copies of paperwork needed for the accreditations are available on the school website.
Students can put themselves forward to become a form representative. Each year every form will elect two form representatives to become part of the school council. Two students from each year are then selected to represent their year group at the Executive Council.
An agenda is published each half term and the form representatives; with support from their form tutor, will gather the views of all students in their form to present to the year representatives.
The year representatives then collate all information from their year group and present this at the executive council.
The year representatives prepare for the meeting in advance using notes and information from all of the form representatives in their year group.
They present the views of their year group at a meeting held each half term. The meeting has two representatives from each year group, with year 12 and year 13 students who chair and minute the meeting. At least one member of SLT and the Student Leadership lead will attend the meeting, who are then responsible for feeding back to SLT and Governors.