Head Boy and Head Girl Elections - Meet the Candidates
Starting yesterday, Monday, 26th March until Wednesday, 28th March, the Student Body of our School is busy, with Head Boy and Head Girl elections.
Three hustings are planned for Wednesday, 28th, period 1 for Year 3 and 4 students, period 3 for Year 5 students and period 5 for Year 6 students.
We would like to wish our candidates the best of luck!
Head Boy Candidates:
a) Louis Christodoulou (6W)
b) Fotis Demetriou (6J)
c) Michalis Kypridemos (6R)
Head Girls Candidates:
a) Nayialena Avraam (6G)
b) Karolina Panayiotou (6W)
We asked the candidates if they were successful in being elected to the post of Head Boy and Head Girl what they would like to achieve. See the responses from our candidates below:
Louis Christodoulou (6W)
My aims would be to listen to all of your voices, and represent every single one of you in the most considerate way, in order to achieve those ambitions which currently seem to be out of reach.
My main goal would be to improve life in general at The English School and this can be done through numerous ways. For example the food we eat plays a major role in the way we feel every day. The quality of our school’s canteen has fallen due to the temporary cancelation of games, thus we should make sure that the quality of the food improves and also that the students have a greater variety of healthy and gluten-free options to choose from in the future.
Secondly, I would like to introduce multicultural events which will allow us to embrace and learn more about each other’s ethnic background. During these events we will have the opportunity to taste traditional recipes, listen to traditional songs and dance!
Another objective that I have is to encourage students to use their email more frequently or even introduce group chats on messenger based on the buddy system. This will include senior students who are interested in mentoring younger ones, but also have groups of different classes that could include the teachers and ask any questions relevant to the subject. This will strengthen the relationship between students and teachers but also among students themselves.
Finally I want to support the subjects of the school that are not considered to be so important. Many times classes are not even created, so students who want to choose them are not given the opportunity. These subjects should be given more credit and new ones should be embraced such as accounting, psychology and drama GCSE during school hours.
Fotis Demetriou (6J)
My top priority tasks to do (if I become the head boy) will be:
1) Create stronger and solid bridges within and between the year groups, since students in our school are separated into sub-groups, some bigger and some smaller. This is something that creates a communication gap making improvements harder to be done. This can be achieved by organising events every 2-3 months that involve the entire year group encouraging new friendships to be created.
2) Make individual student's voices "louder" as unfortunately some of us cannot or are not "allowed" due to certain circumstances to express their ideas and themselves in a way they want. This can be done by introducing a class suggestion box where each student has to submit an idea or concern, this box will be opened and read by the class representative who has to collect the ideas and write them down on a word file and present them during form period for the class to decide which ones need to be passed on to the student council. One day (form period) of the week will be dedicated for this purpose.
3) Enhance the amount of information given about each subject to ensure that each student chooses correctly his/her future learning. (IGCSE, GCE options). Introducing the idea of a close approach to online information about each subject and additionally keeping all the school notes online, making access to notes and note corrections way easier.
4) Supply departments with the equipment they lack (chairs, desks, boards, etc.) and improve school facilities that require improvement in general. This can be done by distributing school money evenly or collect money from students for minor stuff that need to be fixed.
Michalis Kypridemos (6R)
The main objective of my campaign is to develop a better mental support system. As a 6th former, I am well aware of the challenges, stress and pressure that students undergo during their school life. My experience has made me a passionate believer in that mental welfare plays a vital role in the personal development and growth of every single student.
To see this objective materialize, my ideas include, but are not limited to, the following.
1) Enhancing communication between students and their representatives, the Student Council:
Suggestion forms will be distributed every Monday during form tutor period, so that YOU can express any ideas, thoughts or complaints more directly. The role of the councillor should also be revised, making sure that every student has easy access to the councillor at any time.
2) Event mentoring:
As it happens in every successful Team, bridges of communication must be built, in order to connect between year groups. This will happen through event mentoring, where a group of elder students will advise the younger ones on how to conduct and organise an event. The establishment of events such as ‘Tsiknopempti’ and for more year groups, in order to enhance collaboration among students.
3) A canvas board where everyone can freely and creatively share anything:
Since expression is the first principle of creativity, a canvas board should be set up along with the provision of post it’s, in order for every student to be able to express little supportive thoughts or preferences, such as music for breaks or assembly topics.
4) Lastly, some of my ideas that can be further developed and implemented are:
The promotion of the buddy-system, an already existing initiative where senior students pair with younger ones and mentor them throughout their journey.
Nayialena Avraam (6G)
My vision for change and growth in our school is mostly focused on community and our student wellbeing.
Starting with community, I am a strong believer in that education should not be restricted to classroom walls, and although the school provides us with countless opportunities to shape ourselves through extracurricular activities, we could do with more interaction between us students and our community out of school. I suggest themed months such as human rights or global warming month, where guest speakers come in to talk about the subject, and a donation wall exists so that students can donate items to organisations in relation with the monthly theme, increasing each individual’s social awareness. More events during school hours or after could take place such as movie nights, or “tsiknopempti”. Each year group could be in charge of their own event, increasing bonds between students of the same age groups.
With regard to wellbeing, a blank wall in the school could be dedicated to achievements. If you yourself or a friend have achieved something, anything worth sharing, submit it in the suggestion box and as long as it’s appropriate we can pin it up on the achievement wall where other students can respond with messages of positivity. In this way we encourage students to feed off each other’s achievements and grow. When it comes to physical wellbeing, I would like to make feminine hygiene products more accessible in the girl’s bathrooms. Perhaps most importantly, a stronger mental health support system MUST be implemented. Stress is an undeniable factor in student lives, not anything to be ashamed about or pushed aside, and support from the school is of utmost importance, thus more assemblies on stress management and a more accessible and promoted counselling system must be implemented. Furthermore, I would suggest the reinforcement of the buddy system which was started but never fully carried out; an idea could be that before exam periods students from the year above could meet with the students of the year being examined and provide exam tips and notes for each subject. Exams are hard as it is, asking for help is never a bad thing. These are just some of my own ideas; only the tip of the iceberg. I want to take YOUR ideas and your vision and help you call it reality. Tell me what you see, show me your vision, and let’s give it dimension. What do YOU see?
Karolina Panayiotou (6W)
If I am given this opportunity I will make sure that the voices that are being heard are that of the students, from all years and groups. By changing little by little the environment that surrounds us it will allow students to confidently speak up about issues that affect them and changes we should feel entitled to.
My rationality together with my experience in both advisory and student councils allows me to see what is within the limits of our capability, however this will not keep me from trying to push those limits a little bit further than last year and allow our student voice to grow.
My goal is to create an environment where young students feel free walking up to older ones and asking for help, while older students benefit from the free spirits of younger ones.
The “Buddy System” will help us do just that. Even though in the packed agendas of previous years it was never fully implemented, I will make it my top priority this year.
The lack of motivation through stressful periods of exams doesn’t only hurt our academic performance, which should be the least of our worries in the face of the threat to our mental health, it also affects us psychologically. Motivational talks and campaigns, increased study tips programs and aid, together with more consistent study breaks is the recipe for a stress-free year, which will in turn bring positive results in our academic lives.
More exposure to creative arts as well as sports to break the stressful routine of back to back theoretical lessons, especially in older years, is also bound to act as a pleasant relief and broaden our horizons and awareness of the importance of arts.
These changes in our everyday routine, along with any other concerns that can be voiced through a more adapted online form of the previously successful suggestion box, will create an atmosphere of prosperity and reciprocity that I dream of seeing in our school.
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