Student Council Minutes 23/09/2002

Present: Basheer, Clausen-Thue, Coffer, Cordes, Espin, Fink, Furniss, Gifford, Granger, Jouzy, Marmot, Morante, O’Boyle, Reizenstein, Thompson, Vandervolk, Viita, Zinkin,

Absent: Henniker (excused)

Sixth Form Forum

Al Morante will speak to RGJ about being liaison with the Forum this term.

Secretary

Tom Viita was appointed temporary secretary until the L8ths have settled in.

Intranet

Ramsey Jouzy and Chace Vandervolk will be working on improving the Student Council Intranet Site.

Leavers’ Certificate

There was moderate support and enthusiasm for the creation of a leavers’ certificate. If such a thing were to exist, it was felt unanimously that it should be presented at some kind of ceremony. We will be writing a response to the HM.

Tuck Shop

The issue of overcrowding at certain times in the Junior Tuck Shop remains unresolved. The council supports the suggestion that there be another till, and identified a possible problem in that all the hot foods are available at the beginning of the breaktimes, which causes a rush that cannot be effectively dealt with; this could be solved by the slow release of goods. It was suggested there be more vending machines to try to dissipate the queue. It was also thought some adaptation or extension of the queue-barriers might limit the overcrowding. The Council recommends sixth-formers be allowed to use the dining hall vending machines to bring the rules in line with practice.

U8th Common Room Pool Table

In principle, a popular idea. Issues of the length of the game, the potential danger of cue-violence, the likelihood of damage to the table, and the expense of the table need to be discussed. It was pointed out that several schools, including Westminster, have pool tables, often available for the use of the whole school.

Meeting Times

Though the Monday meeting time does clash with several societies, it was felt that since there are no sporting commitments, this time should be kept. Attendance is very high, and therefore though clashes are not ideal, it is not unworkable.

Prefects

The system is not necessarily a given good. However, the duties need doing for the smooth running of the school. Why do prefects need to do them instead of other U8ths? The idea of a rota along the lines of the U8th Common Room Cleaning was considered complicated, but not unworkable. The crypto-quasi-democratic selecting process was considered to be opaque; an investigation will follow, with the hope of making the selection of prefects more open and acceptable. The Council decided that the role of School Captain was important regardless of the existence of prefects.Feelers are out for seeing how other independent schools deal with prefects. Several members are making informal contacts. We will write letters.