The Leadership Committee for 2023, from left, Johno O'Brien and Harry Grainger (standing), Ziyad Arif and Sanad Kawar, Judge Connor Cloete (Deputy Head Prefect and Leader of the Leadership Committee), Ben Parker, Lukmaan Mohammed, and James Jewell.

Photo by Connor Cloete

Meet the Leadership Committee!

Connor Cloete & the 2023 Leadership Committee — May 16th, 2023

Leading by example in 2023, Deputy Head Prefect and Leader of the Leadership Committee, Connor Cloete, reports on the year.

As Year 13 students, our journey has been full of adventures, misadventures, new realities - thanks to COVID-19, opportunities and challenges. The culmination of this journey was as one of the Senior Leaders in 2023. It has been a source of great honour and privilege to serve as one of the Deputy Head Prefects and the Head of the Leadership Committee at HBHS.

In mid-February, we were at the Prefects Retreat where we met our fellow Prefects and we were placed in our committees. We were a diverse group of students, each bringing a different perspective and leadership style to the table. Despite this, or maybe because of this, we did some amazing work trying to set up the future leaders of HBHS.

Lao Tzu said that a leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, "we did it ourselves". The Leadership Committee did just that in 2023. We worked quietly behind the scenes to try and inspire our young and upcoming leaders to take up leadership roles throughout the school, no matter how small or insignificant they seem

At the start of the year we ran leadership workshops for all who wished to attend but were mostly aimed at Year 12 students who were thinking about applying for a leadership role at the end of the year. During these sessions, we outlined the different leadership roles in both junior and senior school such as being a Prefect, Lion mentor or Year 10 Leader. We discussed the leadership application process and gave the students some advice and tips about how to make your application stand out from the rest. After a couple of workshops, we closed it off so that only Year 12 students could attend and went into more detail about the leadership roles around the school, helping students find out which ones suited them the best.

Staff versus Prefects Football 2023 — Image by: Wendy Moffitt

Later in the year, we ran sessions specifically aimed at Māori and Pasifika students who show leadership skills. We had Prefects from different committees speak to the students, giving them personal insights into the roles and responsibilities of a Prefect or Lion Mentor. We also ran sessions to help them with the application process to try to give them the best possible chance to succeed in obtaining one of these roles within the school.

The vanquished Prefects team — Image by: Wendy Moffitt

We were also in charge of a number of other initiatives. Part of our role was to design and promote the leavers’ gear, as well as helping the Sports Committee organise some of the highly anticipated and contested Teachers versus Prefects events (Editor's note, which the staff won, just in case you didn't know), such as football, basketball and volleyball. We helped marshall the KidsCan Charity run. As a final sign-off for the year, we also helped plan the leavers' function alongside the Parents Association.

To the victors, the spoils, or rather, the prized Golden Boot known as the "Tucks" — Image by: Wendy Moffitt

Looking back at our time at HBHS, we have a lot to be thankful for. Firstly, to our parents and whānau, thank you for your unwavering support. To our teachers, thank you for all of your assistance during our time at school. To the Senior Management team, especially Mrs Hassall and Mr Hotham, thank you for your belief in us as leaders and for teaching us to lead through example. Lastly, to my fellow committee members - Lukmaan Mohammed, Sanad Kawar, Johno O'Brien, Ziyad Arif, James Jewell, Ben Parker and Harry Grainger, you made my job so much easier. You can be proud of everything you have achieved this year.

The Leadership Committee extends its best wishes to the upcoming generation of students and staff for a successful future. We have cherished our time at school and hope that you will as well.

By Connor Cloete

Deputy Head Prefect and Leader of the Leadership Committee