St Mary's welcomes new prefect team in handover assembly

As the Upper Sixth prepares to leave St Mary's, the prefect team led an inspiring assembly, passing the baton to the next team for 2023. We are grateful for all their wonderful work over the past year, and wish the new team the best of luck going forwards. You can read Head Girl Alice G.s speech, and incoming Head Girl Anna H.'s speeches below.

Alice G.

First of all, I want to thank you, the whole school community, for creating such a loving and kind environment that has made the responsibilities I took on last year so enjoyable. I am so grateful that you trusted me with the privilege of being head girl and I have truly loved taking advantage all the opportunities it has brought. My fourteen years at St Mary’s have been so fun and have helped me grow a lot. If you told me in my first term of year 7 that I would ever speak in front of the whole school, I would not have believed you and while it does still terrify me, I have become a lot more confident and comfortable with myself.

To me the first and possibly most important part of leadership is believing that you can do whatever it is that you trying to. Even if you only believe there is a small chance of achieving your goal, trusting that you can do it is so important. The attitude that you enter a project with will not just impact the outcome but also how the people around you will work, and it all starts with believing that somehow you will be able to do it – maybe not the way you initially thought but somehow. This is something I have worked on a lot during my time as head girl and I hope that this idea is something that will help some of you in the future.

Looking back on everything my team and I have achieved; I am very proud, and I hope that you all enjoyed the products of our work as much as we did. From sharing our experiences and giving advice in year group assemblies to the sixth form revue, I hope we enriched your school year and maybe even encouraged some of you to take on a more prominent role in the school community.

I want to wish the new prefect team the best of luck. I am sure that you will do an incredible job and can’t wait for you to bring your fresh ideas to the roles.

I would also like to thank the fantastic outgoing prefect team for the support they have given me and for all the great work they have done themselves. Please join me in thanking: Deputy Head Girls, Jessica F. and Niamh B., Sports Captain, Amy H., Technical Drama Captain, Sarah H., Performative Drama and Rowing Captain, Brooke L., Vocal Music Captain, Ava L., Instrumental Music Captain, Rosie P., Wellbeing Prefect, Olivia B., International Prefect, Kirsty C., Student Voice Prefect, Eliza M., Mentoring Prefect, Kaura G., Special Projects Prefects, Tindra B.H. and Ria T., and Environmental Prefect, Laura C.

Anna H.

Just to start off, I would love to say a huge thank you. It really is such an honour to take on this role. I hope as your Head Girl you will feel I am a very approachable person who you can talk to about anything, whether it is school related, friendship related, or just about life in general! There are a couple of things I didn't mention in my pre-election speech which I think will give you an even better insight into who I am. I'd like to start off by saying that I have a large amount of empathy for those of you who academically school does not come that easy. I have had to learn how to advocate for myself and my learning style and I would love to help those of you who do find school that bit harder academically by working with the support department and finding out what I can do to help. And of course, get to know you individually.  

However, for those of you who do very well academically but find other things harder such as sport and social situations, I encourage you not to give up on things that you find hard as it is not always the things that come easily that you learn the most from. Now I'm sure you have heard this tons of times before from your parents, guardians, and teachers, but honestly you will most likely find out that you are much better than you thought you were. With the help of the whole prefect team, I hope you feel supported by all of us, and you can come and talk to us at any time as our doors are always open.  

Again, a huge thank you!