This week Senior School students have voted for the Prefect Body of 2023, with election results announced on Friday afternoon. This process is one of many that reflects our school value: Respectful Relationships that give rise to everyone having a voice. In our Prefect elections, the voice of the girls entirely determines the result. There is no staff veto, no additional weighting to the vote of the adults, we trust the girls to get it right. Our girls take the responsibility of this process seriously and understand that in exercising their voice in relation to the leadership of our school, they set the tone, the standard and the direction for the entire student body for the year to come. This is not the only way in which student voice is heard at Lowther Hall. The Student Council in Raymond House and Senior School provide a forum for girls to provide feedback and share ideas; Committees such as the Social Justice Committee, Sustainability Committee, Faith Committee, Pride Committee and Year 12 Formal Committee also allow girls to make decisions, recommendations and develop initiatives for their peers and the broader school community. Students are also invited to be part of decision making when major change is happening – such as during the development of the academic wardrobe or when selecting a new canteen provider. At these times, girls join staff an other adults to contribute to important discussions about issues that are important to us all. One other significant way in which student have a voice is through the annual process of feedback surveys which happen in August. These will be launched to girls in Year 5 to 12 this week and will assist us to gather their specific input about many aspects of their school. As usual, parents and caregivers will also be invited to undertake these surveys in the coming weeks and I will have more information to share about this process in the coming days.

Ms Elisabeth Rhodes
Principal