[Closed] Was anyone on STW headboy ot headgirl at school ? Opinions

I don't recall there ever being such a thing at my school. I'd hazard that it would've been a great way of singling out kids for a kicking.

We might've had House Captains or something like that? I don't honestly remember now, I've slept since then.

Our headboy was a thug who happenend to be best at sports. He is now a bouncer and has done time for robbery. Lolz

I was deputy head girl.

No, but I made it to the giddy heights of Swimming Captain. But that year the bottom of the pool fell out and there was no swimming.

The head boy of the year above me was a well-known "drug dealer" (in quotations as he was only as much of a drug dealer as a 15/16 year old could ever be)

And the head boy of our year wasn't really a dork but was a bit "daddys credit card". I don't think I can mention a single thing he ever did though as head boy.

Prefects were just cheap labour. They were the proper dorks.

I think it might help college or Uni applications if you're applying to the type of place that would take that thing seriously.

I was Quidditch Captain for Ravenclaw.

We had a head girl but I don’t think she was officially appointed, it was more of a hobby for her.

I was Deputy House Captain of Malthus house.

Go me!!

I was a Head Bouy.

Wasn't anything more than show newbs around, loos, rest room, gym, staff room, headmasters office, reception and stuff.
Occasional speech at New Term or End of Term, mainly focussing on Sporting or Literary achievements of pupils.
Occasionally brought into offer advice on problem learning kids, or kids that have been picked on, was more a mentoring thing than anything else.
I sailed a lot a school, so ended up supervising the lessons and organising pupils and kit.

Didn't clash with anyone, no bullies annoyed me, got a few hangers on but mainly they would have stuck to a sticky blanket being so inclined. Had an influence on the Preppies and Nerds though, mainly Preppies and the Cheerleaders Obvz. Nerds tended to want insight to curriculum and where to focus, not that I knew but it was a question always raised at start to term.. suspect the question came from their parents and they were the foil. Preppies, well I was a Preppie at school so it was just a group of mates really.. always invited to house parties and did seem to carry a certain "gravitas" (Yuk, what a crappy term) with the position.

Nominations went up each year, I went for it in my first year and carried it through to the 5th semester.

Think of it as "helping hand" unless you are talking about Eton or some such other old boys penal colony.

Depends on the school I guess.

It's a way of giving a talented kid experience of leadership.

Partly a CV thing, partly learning and development

We didn't have such things at our comp.

Plenty of fights between the Irish gypsy boys to try to discover which of them was top dog, if that's the same sort of thing?

no, but my Daughter was Head Girl of Dumbar Grammar, about 6 yrs ago. Was a good skive for her, she met a few politicians and the like, had to make a few speeches at end of year prizegivings and stuff.

Didn't do her any harm as she moved on, and through, University.

I "interviewed" with the headmaster for it. He asked why I thought I should be considered when I'd been caught smoking. I'd never smoked a day in my life - clearly a case of mistaken identity. Not sure whether I therefore was considered because he thought I was someone else, or in spite of it...

They introduced them at one school i was at, trying to emulate the local catholic school i think.

Head boy and head girl. Lunchtime Prefects as well.
Lasted 2 years, first year they were all selected by the teachers, spent most of the year being targets for assault and many "pranks" (Less vicious assaults) second year we had school elections, resulted in voting for the popular and/or sporty kids. Much as howsyourdad1. One that i know of went to a YOI half way through the year, another expelled and two or three were suspended (fighting/drugs/the usual). Hardly surprising really. One even got caught shagging a teacher.

They did away with the whole thing at the end of that year and went back to being a shitty comprehensive.

One of them was sent down recently for running a brothel/drug dealing.
Not his first run in with the law, or prison.

That school was ace. Really.

[i]Depends on the school..[/i]

Definitely. None of that stuff at my old school, but my son's has Prefects, Headboys, Headgirls, all sorts of fancy badges for their blazers. It's called a "College" too, but it's a comprehensive really.

Yup. I did lots of sports and other stuff in and out of school so something must have counted towards whatever behind closed doors discussions the teachers had. Was never quite sure what counted.

Seemed to be a way of attracting more work on school events and leaving a greater catalogue of (now) embarrassing photos for public consumption.

But it did make a difference in what employers assumed about me in the first couple of jobs I had.

I don't even remember our school having perfects, or house captains (fairly sure we didn't even have houses). I think it's a relatively modern thing state schools have adopted - though I've missed the headteacher's talk at the open evenings I've been to, so not sure how much it's been pushed as a thing.

I was a prefect at our school. Can't remember what it entailed exactly but it was alright. Bit more responsibility perhaps & 'representing the school' at things like open evenings, parents evenings etc.
We had quite a mix of people who were prefects & head boy/girl. I don't remember it being solely the preserve of the nerdy geeks.

A role only a person who would have happily informed for the Stasi would take 🙂

i went to a comp.

we did have head boy/girl but it basically involved wearing a different coloured jumper.

bikebouy's school sounds like a different world!

A role only a person who would have happily informed for the Stasi would take

Quite the reverse in my case, key competence was learning the art of a cover up whilst ensuring there was a firewall!

I was head boy at my school. Didn’t mean that much, had a badge for it, had to join in stupid religious stuff (they tried to make me do communion and I told them to get lost) but also did some good bits: helping with talking newspapers and a few other community things.

I was very important at primary school, I must've been, I always got a desk to myself...

[quote=doris5000 ]bikebouy's school sounds like a different world!

I was expecting bikebouy to start discussing fagging.

Nobeerinthefridge - Member
I was very important at primary school, I must've been, I always got a desk to myself... right out at the front, beside the teacher, away from my pals
FTFY 🙂

Nobeer went to a good school. It must have been good. It was Approved.

That was the suggestion Iain, but as ever, you need the whole lot spelt out to you, Gwurk is right about you... 😆

I was expecting bikebouy to start discussing fagging.

Nah, sounds far too new age for that, you will have to look to others for such discussions.

I did hold the record for the most house points in a week though.

Was Captain of House, which meant running/leading the house teams across sports.

Was also a member of the school First XV, which afforded me all of the privileges of a prefect/head boy with none of the responsibility or work. Which was nice.

perchypanther - Member
Nobeer went to a good school. It must have been good. It was Approved.

Nobeerinthefridge - Member
That was the suggestion Iain, but as ever, you need the whole lot spelt out to you, Gwurk is right about you... 😀

I went to a West Yorkshire Grammar School and we didn’t have anything remotely like that. No prefects or heads, no houses or anything like that. All comes across as a bit odd to me. Not sure why though.

(fairly sure we didn't even have houses). I think it's a relatively modern thing state schools have adopted

We definitely had houses, this was in the mid 80s. Named after local hills. Actually, that's probably a thread in itself.

No head kids or prefects at my schools. My secondary in Leicester didn't even have a uniform. But when I moved to Halifax I had to wear a uniform which I thought was better.
I'd never have made head boy anyway as I was rarely there. 🙄

I did realise I was a **** in later life and eventually got qualifications and a career.

I was schooled in an ExPat school in the USA....

Says a lot.

I went to a rural scottish comp, but it had ideas way above its station. There was a head girl/head boy, deputies an prefects. These were voted for by the sixth year pupils but the result was generally ignored and a farmers son/daughter combo were appointed as heads, prefects were, lets see - ah, mostly farmers sons/daughters.
Every day had assembly in the hall, sixth year sat on the stage above the other years, rabble at the back prefects at the front. We all stood up, the RECTOR (no humble head was he) walked on, surveyed the scene, then when he sat (often with a "humerous" false start) we all sat. By which time several of the prefects chairs had been removed (by the rabble)leading to a frantic scramble to not be the prefects left standing.
Why we had to ape public school behaviour defeats me - ritualised corporal punishment was also the norm.

In my humble experience of being at school at a secondary modern in the UK and an old fashioned semi-public school overseas during the 1980s was that prefects and head pupils were chosen according to their capacity for dodging responsibilities and smoking weed in the toilets (UK) and for their absence of imagination and interpretation of the rules (overseas).

I was never prefect material, but somehow I manage to hold down a proper, grown up managerial job.

my school desperately wanted to be a public school, we had Latin lessons, a cloistered courtyard,the teachers wore gowns, and the most ridiculously weapons grade method of hierarchy. Our ties were the choice of the Head for marking us out, they had various colours and emblems which instantly identified you for either belonging/not belonging. (sports teams mostly)

the head boy was chosen from the select few with the right tie so it was self perpetuating feudal nightmare.

Head boy - prep (tick) - peaked then
Head of House and Cpn 1XV - secured Uni offers (not taken, as wanted to play golf instead)
The good old days 😉

Today it seems that Head Boy etc is a negative in Uni application forms. Seen several HB and HGs get no offers despite being outstanding candidates. Reverse discrimination setting in.

DEp Head was worst role - all the work without the glory!!

We had one v obvious candidate for HB - head and shoulders above anyone else, mature, commanding presence, Oxbridge, First XV, stupidly good looking, respected by all - but they chose a non-entity instead - "who" - to make a change. It was a disaster.

We had one v obvious candidate for HB - head and shoulders above anyone else, mature, commanding presence, Oxbridge, First XV, stupidly good looking, respected by all

That's enough about me - I am getting all embarrassed.

If could be you easily - sensible enough !!

(BD - ring any bells? On the off chance)

bikebouy - Member
I was a Head Bouy.

Your name's Mark then?

Or Bob ?

our comp had a head boy and head girl I have no idea why or what they did the only one I recall was when was from my year in the 6th form he was elected by the teachers and by total coincidence was the Headmasters son.

Was never a prefect let alone headboy at prep school. Always more of an anti-Establishment presence. The only downside of that stance was that prefects got to wear long trousers in winter. I still treat those goody-two-shoe types with suspicion.

We didn't have them at my vying-for-worst-in-the-town comp in the 80s/90s; we only just had a pretence at a uniform.

My eldest is at the same school now and it's all blazers and prefects and head boy/girl. It's gets marginally less shit results now, being 4th best of 8*.

We (sixth form college) will mention whether a student was HB or HG of their secondary school on their UCAS reference. No idea if it genuinely helps, but it's never hindered them, to the best of my knowledge.

*Pleasingly, it beats the free school which was, until recently, a private school ([url= https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=phase&region=841&geographic=la&phase=secondary&for=secondary&basedon=Overall+performance&show=All+pupils&datasetFilter=provisional ]source[/url]).

(BD - ring any bells? On the off chance)

No not me, our head boy pretty much fulfilled your description of your overlooked candidate, other than he (together with another friend) chose to give up football to concentrate on Oxbridge entry. This meant I ended up playing in the XV instead.

No head boy/girl at my school, however I did end up as a prefect*

*Everyone who made it to YR11 was a prefect.
It was the sort of school where the prefects had Alsatians, and stopped people at the gate to check if they had a knife.
If you didn't they'd lend you one.

I got made a Prefect, go me, first day they wanted me to stand in an empty corridor to make sure it stayed empty on my lunch break. Missed the first one to play football and got a warning, missed the second one to play football and got my Prefect status revoked. Sure Head Boy/Girl had to walk the empty corridors at lunchtime to check they were manned. What a waste of lunchtimes!

I only made it to Prefect, which was rather less responsibility that being milk monitor in the infants.

We had Prefects and senior prefects. Didn't really do much other than boss about kids in lower years and act as general snitches.
I wasnt well behaved anough to qualify but here was also a black market in prefect badges, so anyone in the higher years could masquerade as one as long as you didnt get seen by a teacher 🙂

prefect badges

My daughter's school tried to get the "More Able and Talented" kids to wear 'MAT' lapel badges, presumably because they couldn't make the thick kids wear badges. The MAT kids are clever enough to realise this would mark you out, so refused to wear them.

My wife was head girl, apparently. I finally have something to do with this information. She remains the sort of person who gets asked to do things. I'm more a 'gets told not to do things' kind of person.

I don't recall any houses, heads, prefects, monitors or any other similar things at my school. It was a fairly small school though and it was rough as **** so that might have something to do with it. If they did have any of those things and some kid got made or volunteered to be one then god help them.

Yep HB of a large W Mids comp. Votes by sixth form then final decision by snr teachers. I think I straddled the non geek / not a doper divide so was vaguely acceptable to both constituencies !

There was none of this badge / jumper nonesense identifying you thankfully. But I did do a bit of public speaking that helped with confidence in later life.

I was elected by my peers (i.e. the rest of the sixth form) to be on of the two student reps on the board of governors *smug*

The other student rep was Beverley Webb who, if I remember correctly, was quite hot.

Yeah I was head boy.

I don't know why they picked me. My school was absolutely terrible so I think I must have been the least worst option.

I think they sold some of the playing fields to garmin to build their hq near Southampton.

Was house captain, which meant I was not the head boy sort

She remains the sort of person who gets asked to do things. I'm more a 'gets told not to do things' kind of person.

😆

I don't remember it being solely the preserve of the nerdy geeks

That's because you were one? 😈

I was dep head and tolerated it only because it meant that I ended up doing things which resulted in the head girl doing exactly that. Which was nice.

I regarded prefects as the sorts who would volunteer for the sonderkommando.

Not a chance of this at my school, or a uniform, or completed homework for today matter...

Was Head Boy and House Captain. Both taken away from me due to the language I used when disagreeing with Mr Stevens the Science Teacher. I forget which science. Also got a week off school ..... read suspension.

I was the schools sport captain at junior school which entailed giving a speech at sports day and nothing else as far as I can recall. My secondary school had a head boy and prefects who basically had the power of the masters (that is what teachers were called in our school ...and yes we had a geography teacher called Master Bates) and could put children in detention. Prefects were second year students at the sixth form part of the school and they had their own uniform and everything. Turned some of them into right sadistic bastards! I moved to a sixth form college so missed it all.

Deputy House Captain of Malthus house.

Did they occasionally stop feeding the kids or organise knife fights between houses to get the numbers down?

Didn't even get made a prefect in mine. Not that I'm bitter.

Prefects were just cheap labour

At my secondary school everyone in year 11 was allowed to be a prefect if they wanted to, every single person in the year was apart from me 😆

I couldn't see the attraction in wearing a stupid badge and basically doing the teachers jobs for them as prefects had to give up some of their breaks to stand in the corridor and tell people off for running etc.

Even had to have an interview with my form tutor to discuss the reasons why I didn't want to be one 😆

Yeh, but you got a badge.

I was chosen for headboy for some unknown reason. Turned it down. Headmaster was not happy as they already had already got carol concert booklets printed with my name in. Very presumptious of him. I couldnt even sing

Yeh, but you got a badge

All the other kids must have been more easily pleased than me with their shiny badges 😆

I used to take great pleasure in asking my mates what they were doing at break time knowing full well they were on prefect duty, then rub it in by going off to the chip shop or youth centre down the road. This was in the mid 90's when you could still just about get away with going offsite as long as the teachers didn't catch you!

We just had mad bastards, never heard of top boy/girl, that no just private school nonsense?

This was in the mid 90's when you could still just about get away with going offsite as long as the teachers didn't catch you!

We just had mad bastards, never heard of top boy

Edit: Actually I think they were called top man or top guy or similar, 14-15 year olds probably didn't refer to themselves as boys.

Don't know if it's a thing or not, I just assumed all schools were like prisons these days?

Our school gates back then were kept an eye on by the teachers as you weren't meant to go out unless you had parents permission to go home for lunch.