Message from the Headmaster
‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant’
Matthew 20:25-26
Dear Students, Parents and Carers
The rank of Prefect amongst the Senior students at the School has a long history. Shore’s experience traces this role back to the GPS schools of England in the 19th century. At Shore, Prefects have more authority than in any other School in which I have worked. This places a premium on the need to invite highly competent and capable young men into these roles. The problem is always that there are more such young men than we can manage within the Prefect body, which by its nature cannot be too large as to be unwieldy and cumbersome.
Shore approaches the appointment of Prefects in a manner bespoke to Shore. There are in fact usually three intakes. The first sub-Prefects are commissioned and inducted in the first week of Term 4, in a solemn ceremony replete with history and tradition. The appointment liturgy has been used for generations. Assuming these Prefects fulfil their roles well, they will be confirmed as Prefects around the end of the year or early next year, as another batch of sub-Prefects are commissioned, and so the cycle continues.
There are always some mysteries about a process which may appear opaque. My intention, in being descriptive of the process, is to remove some misconceptions, with accurate information.
There are many aspects to the process of appointment. The first is election by students and staff. Considerable attention is paid to these results as by definition, to lead one must have followers, however the voting is an indicator, not the determinant. Students are appointed, not elected, that is they are invited to initially become sub-Prefects on the basis of a host of indicators. The first of these is a series of meetings across a range of Senior Staff, some 20 representing various points of reference within the Senior School. Staff wisdom is applied to the readiness and quality of each boy under consideration. Essentially, we are looking at a record of effort, cooperation with staff, excellent behaviour and uniform compliance and evidence of existing leadership and particularly, service. Ideally, we want to ratify the readiness and worthiness of boys whose track record is such that they demand appointment. It needs to be said again there are more of these virtuous young men than we can manage in the first intake of usually 12 – 13 students from within a cohort of around 215.
A new criterion relates to the digital footprint of each young man under consideration. The inevitable reality is that Prefects can’t stop being Prefects in their own social time, in that they are inevitably regarded, wherever they are, as representatives of Shore. They must carry themselves as well in the Saturday night party scene as they do at School. Of course, we don’t expect perfection, but we do expect consistency and excellence. They are not disqualified based, for instance, on a Friday detention some years ago, however we want to know what such a boy has learned and how he presents now, as the best guide to how he may present into the future.
The nomination for each boy to be considered for appointment as a Prefect is supported by a detailed submission from their Housemaster, prepared in consultation with tutors, teachers, coaches and other staff who have contact with the particular boy. Our Housemasters have the most consistent and deepest knowledge of our boys and will also have been working closely with these senior boys as they appoint their House leadership team, which occurs concurrently with the appointment of our first batch of Prefects.
One particular understanding we look to see demonstrated by potential Prefects is that being a Prefect is not about aggregating glory, grandiosity and pomp to the young man himself; it is actually about service, often unseen, sometimes difficult and usually time consuming. The model is Jesus. He washed His disciples’ feet, thereby shocking His disciples because this was a servile role performed only by a slave. In a sense, that was the point; not self, but others. Jesus was also critical of those in power who behaved with arrogance and self-absorption. In fact he said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles (non-Jewish world) lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:25-26).
As the appointment panel deliberates, we are looking for a mix of personalities: introverts, extroverts, upfront people, “background doers”, those with specialities in performing arts, sport, academic outcomes, those with connections with lots of boys who can be influencers, in fact an eclectic group which, combined, can reach and represent the maximum number of students.
Young people of great merit who have not been appointed in the first round are advised to continue to demonstrate excellence, such that they may be appointed in the second, or even third round of admission. There is room for more, once our pathfinder group becomes established.
Each year when I speak to Year 11 about the appointment process of Prefects, I point out that I was not made a Prefect in my years in Senior High School; I continue with the message that not being so appointed has in fact not ruined my life and nor has it prevented me from having significant other leadership opportunities in life. Some people, students and parents, “overegg” the business of appointment to the Prefectship, where this is mostly about them. The question needs to be asked as to whether they demonstrate the right attitude for appointment.
Spectacular Year 12 Success!
Every year towards the end of Term 3 and early in Term 4, the first fruits of the results of HSC performance and practical examinations arrive incrementally by subject. To this point, we have received the results in four subjects. The general bandwidth of this issue is that usually schools are very pleased when one, two or three students are nominated from a subject for consideration for the state wide exhibition of the best such performances and works in NSW in Year 12 this year. Occasionally, schools may receive more, which is always a cause of celebration. Accordingly, we were stunned when four of the five HSC Music 2 students were nominated for Encore. This is a splendid result and Ms Robertson in the Music department, as well as the boys themselves, deserve a hearty congratulations. In Industrial Technology, a superb 14 nominations were received for SHAPE, from a group of 18 students at Shore. Congratulations are due to these boys and to their teachers, Mr Spratt and Mr Weston. In Drama, we had 29 students in Year 12. 29 were nominated for OnSTAGE! This is extraordinary, remarkable, unbelievable, but this is the result! Congratulations to the boys and to their teachers, Mrs Crompton and Mr Laurence. Congratulations also to one student in a small class, who has been nominated for Design and Technology, with congratulations shared with Mr Liccioni and Mr Prowle, his teachers.
Dr John Collier
Headmaster
