Campbell Pick and Neyah Laroiya have been selected by staff for the top posts for the upcoming year, and Campbell said that in this strangest of years, student leadership had additional, new responsibilities.

“We have to do the usual things like promote messages in the school that the staff want sent out, like keeping the place tidy and setting a good example with our behaviour, but this year there are other things as well,” he said.

“We’ve already been in meetings with senior staff, about what we can do to have more COVID-related regulations in the school,” he explained. “It’s an odd situation, but they want to hear our point of view on what we think is going well, and what can be improved.”

Neyah agreed that they could play a useful role for the whole school. “We’re providing a student perspective for teachers on what they’re doing,” she said. “Our COVID rules are under review, so we’re having input as we represent the student body. We’re trying to help the teachers, as well as the students.”

Even without their new responsibilities, Campbell and Neyahare heavily involved in extra-curricular activities.

“I’m passionate about the environment, so I’ve set up an environmental group to encourage people in what they can do to help, I’m in the rugby team and choir and I play in the concert band as well,” said Campbell.  

“I’ve been in several school sports teams, and I was a Maths mentor for younger students for the last two years,” added Neyah.

“Also, I was part of the Springwood team that got to the national finals of the Magistrates’ Mock Trial competition at the Royal Courts of Justice, organised by the Young Citizens charity.”

This academic year is likely to be a bit of a step into the unknown, but Campbell said the school was doing the best job it could in a situation that no-one has experienced before.

“These are strange times to be taking over as head boy in a situation that no-one could have seen coming,” he said. “I think the school has done a really good job – teachers adapted very quickly and have stayed engaged, helping us as much as they can.”

Campbell and Neyah's deputies are Joseph Pink, Craig Ward, Jack Foreman, Jack Harvey, Alex Bryan,  Max Fysh, Anoushka Chandrasekar, Katy Leet, Gabriella Eggleton, Karishhma Sritantha, Isabel King, Alisha Burr, Merissa Lawrence, Fatima Massawi, Claudia Draper, Willow Turner and Alisha Bedeser.