Student Leadership 2024-2025

As the Head Student Team on the SSLT, our role is to establish a robust connection between students and the teaching staff at CGS, creating an effective communication network. Students with any opinions or questions have the opportunity to reach out to our team. We can then relay these thoughts to a senior member of staff, and work collaboratively to seek improvements. Furthermore, we are enthusiastic about taking the opportunity to organise school and charity events, deliver assemblies, and provide CGS students with exciting possibilities both in and outside the classroom. Our team is deeply passionate about representing our school and takes pride in serving as ambassadors for CGS. We genuinely believe in progress and are dedicated to seeking ideas to improve our school. We are always prepared to listen, support, and act on behalf of the student body. Our goal is to create a school environment that perpetuates the school values of aspiration, kindness and respect.

Orlaith	Adam

As House Captains, our role is to promote and organise the House System and the events which contribute to the House Cup. Over the course of the academic year, we give assemblies, organise inter-house competitions, quizzes, and other activities. We work closely in a team of eight with members of the senior leadership team to keep students informed of any relevant information, including news of our respective charities, for whom we are ambassadors.

One of the most important parts of our roles are our charities. Chosen by the House Captains, these charities often support causes that are important to staff and students at CGS. The responsibility of the House Captain is to deliver information on the importance and purpose of each charity, and to create and manage engaging fundraising events.

We strive to encourage participation of all the students, incentivising them to develop their character by discovering new hobbies and participating in the various competitions on offer.

We encourage all students to develop their character by participating in the wide range of competitions on offer!

Charlotte	Lucy	Alexandra	Francesca	Sophie	Sean	Ria	Archie

Our role in the SSLT is to ensure the school community is a safe place for everyone. We advocate for a nurturing culture where every member of our school feels heard, valued and safe. We work closely with teachers to help organise programs such as the Peer Educator Project and Sixth-Form student ambassadors, in which older students receive training to teach younger students about their own health and emotional mental wellbeing. We also organise assemblies to highlight important messages to students throughout the year, making sure all students are aware of ways to tackle issues and can access the supportive network around them. We aim to make our school space safe and inclusive for all.

Amy	Elliot

Our role on the SSLT is to promote and celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion at Chesham Grammar School. Over the course of the academic year, we highlight a plethora of religious and cultural festivals through assemblies, quizzes and activities, honouring the traditions of those who celebrate. We have worked closely with CGS Pride Club to give voice to the LGBTQ+ community at CGS, creating a colourful Pride notice board and taking input for Pride Month celebrations. We are also responsible for bringing significant national events like Black History Month to CGS, for which we delivered assemblies to the student body and worked with the school library to promote diverse displays and resources. We strive to make CGS a safe and inclusive place for everybody by communicating, educating, and celebrating our differences. 

Our role on the SSLT is to develop a strategy and vision for CGS to become more environmentally responsible. Over the course of the academic year, we aim to reduce the school’s reliability on single use plastic and work closely with gardening club to improve areas of biodiversity around the school grounds. Moreover, we are responsible for running eco club, allowing all year groups to collaborate and voice their ideas on creating a positive environmental impact. 

We endeavour to work with all years to make Chesham Grammar a clean and biodiverse environment. 

Amelie	Sahithi

Our role on The CGS SSLT is to serve as student representatives for the CGS Careers Department. We collaborate closely with this department to enhance students’ awareness of different career paths, whatever their individual interests may be. Through our efforts in promoting initiatives such as the National Careers Challenge (for Year 7 and 10), Work Shadowing (Year 8), Work Experience week (Year 12), all pupils are exposed to all the different opportunities associated with Careers at CGS. We hope to make a significant impact in this role, helping students feel more confident about their futures!

Rose	Joseph	James

As senior prefects, we come together as a team to support all students in younger years. We have two prefects assigned to each year group from Year 7 to Year 11, which helps us provide the extra support from the perspective of students who have experienced the challenges each year poses. At each age, there are different sets of worries, questions and responsibilities, which we help navigate them through. Having the student experience of moving through the years at Chesham Grammar has given us a helpful insight into what student life is like at each age. Therefore, we have an awareness of what the students in a particular year would be experiencing. Furthermore, we’re able to deliver specific messages to the year groups during their respective assemblies. We aim to create an environment where the younger years feel they belong and their needs are being met.

Grace	Ocean	Georgia	Bethan	Conor	Agnes	Harrison	Anna	Neel	Annabelle

The purpose of this role is to promote the library and to lead the wide range of literary initiatives that the library promotes throughout the academic year, including World Book Day. Furthermore, the SSLT Library manages the KS3 library leaders and runs the recruitment process for the library leaders. This team is also working closely with the SLT to develop how we celebrate success as a school.

Jack	Madhulika

This role helps to act as an interface between CGS and the many external people and organisations who interact with us to enrich and support CGS. Student Senior Leaders play an important role in representing CGS at events, in communicating our vision and values, and in offering a student viewpoint to achieve our mutual goals. Student senior leaders are involved in a wide range of projects, including the 'Pitch to Play On' fundraising campaign.

The SSLT team are supported by a large team of over 100 prefects who act as ambassadors for CGS.  The prefect team undertake a weekly supervision duty across the school and they are expected to volunteer in wider school life by supporting extra-curricular or academic clubs.  The prefect team are appointed in Year 12 and can apply for positions on the SSLT during the Spring Term. The selection process for the Prefect Team asks students to demonstrate the positive character traits that they can bring to the role and how they embody the core values of kindness, aspiration and respect.

The Safe Space Student Leaders help lead a team of student educators and student ambassadors. They receive training with the Peer Educator Project and Buckinghamshire Mind. They deliver lessons about mental health and well-being, while also supervise a daily lunchtime space for all students to use. The Safe Space Student Leaders also work closely with the DSL in student voice activities, assemblies and other opportunities and initiatives to raise student awareness of key safeguarding themes, such as Anti-Bullying Week, Safer Internet Day and Time to Talk Day. 

Sports leaders play a crucial role within the school, fostering a positive sports culture and encouraging student participation in physical activity. They are responsible for organising and leading sports activities, including training sessions, inter-school competitions and inter-house competitions. They assist in coaching and mentoring younger students, managing equipment, and ensuring the safety of participants. The sports leaders also promote teamwork, fair play, and sportsmanship among their peers, setting a positive example for others. 

Students who enrol on the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award are given the opportunity to apply to become a Young Duke of Edinburgh Leader. Young Duke of Edinburgh Leaders take on additional responsibility to support the delivery of the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award at CGS. They provide peer to peer support and help other young people to access and achieve their Bronze Award by working with small groups of students and by delivering assemblies to larger cohorts of pupils. The Young D of E leaders are also given administrative responsibilities, this involves contributing to approving and assessing the Bronze Award. This is an asset to their CV and counts towards the volunteering section of the Gold Award.

Each year two students from Year 13 are enrolled on the Lessons from Auschwitz Project. This four-part course explores the universal lessons of the Holocaust and its relevance today. The first part of the course is an opportunity to learn about pre-war Jewish life and listen to a Holocaust survivor speak. This is followed by a one day visit to Auschwitz and a follow up session where the participants can reflect on the lessons of the Holocaust. The two students involved finish their course by leading a project to spread the lessons they have learned throughout their experience to the whole school community. 

All students in Year 7 and Year 10 take part in the National Careers Challenge. The National Careers Challenge is a careers and enterprise competition, providing students in Years 7 and 10 with real-life business challenges set by leading employers such as Air Products, AtkinsRéalis and Natwest. The students work together in teams to develop a project in response to a live business brief. Every person in the team is given a responsibility for leading a specific aspect of the project and one student per group takes on the role of the Managing Director. The students develop important skills throughout the day including communication, creativity and leadership skills. The winning teams from each year group represent CGS at the national finals. We have a very strong track record of success in the competition and three of our teams have gone on to win the national final in the last few years!

The Junior Prefect team at CGS demonstrate the core values of aspiration, kindness and respect, and model positive character traits to the whole school community. The Junior Prefect team are assigned a duty each week which they complete with a partner, and they contribute to the student voice forum at CGS on a rotational basis. They also act as an ambassador for the school at events across the academic year. 

At CGS, each tutor group has an elected representative who is responsible for collecting student voice from their form once a half term. Once the form representatives have collected the feedback, they meet formally once every half term in the hall for the Student Voice Forum which is led by the House Captains and the Head Student Team. The feedback is passed on to the Senior Leadership Team, who respond to the key issues raised by the students at the Student Voice Forum. 

This is a Student led initiative called ‘Agents for Change’ trained through EqualiTeach. Representing Years 7 to 11, they decide and action a funded initiative for the academic year aimed at addressing identity-based bullying. Their vision entails crafting a comprehensive lesson plan tailored for Year 7 students, with delivery from the Year 13 peer educators during the upcoming Autumn term. Additionally, they have launched the 'Show Racism the Red Card' national schools competition, demonstrating their commitment to fostering inclusive environments and combating discrimination at both local and national levels.

'The KS3 Pupil Librarians play an essential role in the running and administration of the library. They assist during lunchtimes, working with the library team to organise its resources, issue and return books, decorate display boards, and make recommendations. They also contribute significantly to organising library events and competitions such as World Book Day, the Scholastic Book Fair, and National Poetry Day throughout the year. Additionally, the group provides feedback on how the library should be managed to ensure it meets the needs of the wider student body. Overall, the pupil librarians help promote a culture of reading and encourage literacy throughout the school.'

Young people work in teams to set up and run their own Young Enterprise student company under the guidance of a volunteer. With access to extensive resources, videos and step-by-step guidance, teams make all the decisions about their business, from deciding on the company name, managing company finances as well as selling to the public through pop up shops and our unique e-commerce platform Trading Station. Young people gain the practical business experience, enterprising mindset and employability skills needed to help them build successful futures. By completing an online self-assessment, young people can receive a personalised certificate to evidence the skills they have developed from taking part in Company Programme.