We spoke to Year 6 pupils: House Captain of Gwyn, Scarlet, House Captain of Symonds, James, Vice-Captain of Lockwood, Islay, and Vice-Captain of Baker, Will, on their roles and responsibilities as representatives of their House.
What are your main responsibilities as House Captains?
J – Every half term, we have House meetings which we lead, and we supervise the other pupils. We do this with the Vice Captain of our House.
S – We also went to the food bank at Harvest.
W – That was a special experience, it really encouraged us to think about other people.
I – There were bags of food with families’ names on them, and we could really see what a difference what we were doing makes.
What else do you have to do as House Captains?
S – Each House gets House points, then you get counters which you get to put in the House points totaliser at the top of the stairs in the Prep School. We also get to go up in assembly and collect our House certificates.
I – Whoever gets the most House points gets a certificate each week. At the end of the term and year, the House with the most points gets another certificate.
J – The person who gets the most over the whole year gets a trophy.
W – We earn the points for doing something well in class, good behaviour or working really hard.
What are the benefits of being in a House?
J – We do lots of House events throughout the year, which really bring us all together.
W – When we have House events, you are with everyone from your House from Reception Class to Year 6, which means you get to meet pupils of all ages from across the School.
I – I love the fact that we all support each other, we always congratulate people in different Houses too.
S – For example, we recently had a ‘Just Dance’ competition, which was so fun, that was an idea that came from the School Council.
How are you selected to represent your House?
I – Our teachers decide who the House Captains and Vice-Captains are in Year 6, it is an honour to be selected.
W – That is one of the differences between being in the School Council and being a House Captain, to join the School Council you make a speech and are selected by your peers, House Captains are chosen by our teachers.
What does it mean to you to Captain your House?
S – I was really hoping to be chosen, so I was absolutely thrilled!
W – It makes us role models for the younger years, which I feel is important.
I – It is our responsibility to show them the right things to do, and as role models to the younger pupils, we help them to make good choices.
Can you tell us a little bit about the Cokethorpe Characters?
J – The Cokethorpe Characters are: Brave Bear, Caring Camel, Proud Peacock, Honest Hippo, Responsible Red Panda, Go for it Gorilla and Wise Old Owl.
W – Each half term, the whole of the Prep School focuses on a different character.
I – If it was the Caring Camel, for example, it would encourage you to be extra kind to your peers and teachers. The Go for it Gorilla would encourage us to do something out of our comfort zone.
S – The teachers nominate one person in each year group to get a certificate for demonstrating that character during that term.
