Twenty-seven prefect hopefuls took to the podium in front of their peers to share their view of good leadership.

The girls, all in Year 12, were vying for one of 16 prefect roles and the hustings event, broadcast to the whole school, is a key part in the application process.

As well as helping those selecting the new leaders of the student body, the process is designed to mirror the kinds of tasks the girls will face when applying for university places and in the world of work.

During the hustings, girls referenced inspirational leaders as diverse as their own parents and peers as well as fictional characters such as Gru from ‘Despicable Me’ and Bilbo Baggins from Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’.

Unusual analogies included the strength and support provided by a pointe shoe and the role of the centre position in Netball.

In total 38 members of the year group applied for a prefect role. The initial application stage included submission of a letter of application, their Headington Rye Portfolio and a mark for their engagement in school life. Following the hustings, pupils were invited to indicate one applicant they thought would make a good leader while staff were also canvassed on their opinions.

Ten girls will go forward for interviews with Headmistress Mrs Caroline Jordan, Head of Sixth Form Mrs Alice Barrett and Head of Boarding Mrs Mary Rahmatallah for one of the top Head Girl Trio positions – Head Girl, Head of Day and Head of Boarding.

These will be followed by interviews with key staff for the other prefect roles, which cover Chapel, Charities, Diversity and Inclusion, Eco, Social and Wellbeing and leaders of each school year group.

Mrs Jordan said: “I have been highly impressed with the maturity and professional nature of the applications so far. Every year the girls show great courage putting themselves forward for positions of leadership and their thoughtful, nuanced take on what it means to lead your peers is endlessly inspiring.

“It will as always be a hard task to select the right individuals to take on these important roles but from what I have seen I am confident we will be able to find a group of young women to lead and to serve.”

The successful applicants will be announced later this term and the outgoing prefects will hand over the baton to them at a special assembly in the last week of term.

Alongside the prefect roles are opportunities for sixth formers to get involved in different student leader roles, acting as ambassadors for various subjects, leading their competitive or boarding houses and taking key roles in areas of school such as marketing, our Combined Cadet Force or the performing arts.