Caitlin & Charlie land Head Student honours for 2017/18

The College’s Head Students have been selected for the 2017/18 academic year, with Caitlin Jones and Charlie Knowles being given the honours.

The pair beat extremely stiff competition from their peers, with scores of applicants being whittled down to the final 12 candidates who were interviewed by a special selection panel tasked with choosing the stand-out two.

Caitlin and Charlie will take over the reins from outgoing Head Students, Louis Earley and Emily Wagstaff, who both did a terrific job at representing the College at internal and public events, as well as helping their fellow students with whatever was asked of them.

Louis is hoping to study Psychology at Liverpool John Moores after A Level results day in August, while Emily is off to the University of Liverpool to read Medicine.

Louis and Emily with Olympian and former Birkenhead Sixth Form College student, Beth Tweddle

 

Caitlin and Charlie now take up the hot seats, leading a team of 40 Student Ambassadors who represent the College’s student body at Open Evenings, fairs and VIP visits, to name just a few events.

The new Student Ambassador team

 

Caitlin, 17, said: “I feel like I’ve developed and matured so much since being here and I’m really looking forward to helping people make the same transition that I did coming here from high school.

“I like the idea of seeing more of the College from a different perspective; meeting new people who aren’t part of my usual every day lessons and social groups. This is a forward-thinking College anyway, with things like the BePART programme and the Academic Mentors scheme, so I’m hoping to contribute my ideas and make a difference.”

Aiming for a place at King’s College London to take Religion, Politics and Society after her A Levels, Caitlin said that she took her friends’ advice for the interview – to be calm and be herself; have a sense of humour and not be overly serious – which she believes payed off in the end.

She also explained: “My family are really proud. I think my mum’s told every single person that she works with so it feels a bit like I’m a celebrity going in to her work with everyone congratulating me!”

After writing an application letter explaining why they would be suitable for the role of Head Student, the final candidates were handed the daunting task of being interviewed by five panel members, including Deputy Principal Mike Kilbride, tutors and outgoing Head Student, Emily. They then had to make a presentation and answer questions from their interviewers.

New Head Student, Charlie, took the formidable task in his stride, explaining that he drew on his experience in amateur dramatics and participation in the classroom to help him.

Charlie said: “I’m always warm and smiley with people anyway, and I like to think I’m approachable. I’m excited about working with Caitlin and the other Ambassadors, starting with the ‘Find Your Feet’ events for the new students in September. There’s going to be loads going on to help people feel comfortable and relaxed in their first few weeks at the College. Some of the ideas we’ve been talking about could be really good fun!”

Like Caitlin, Charlie is also eyeing a place at King’s College London in September 2018, with Geography being his choice of subject.

Having only moved to the area from Yorkshire right before the start of the last academic year, Charlie has been a welcome voice in the College’s Equality and Diversity meetings and says he was inspired to apply for the Head Student job as he wants to help others in the same position as him.

He said: “As a member of the LGBT community, I know that the College has great inclusiveness already, but I want to develop that even further so that everyone in the student body knows that there are other people here in their position that they can talk. If I can raise even more awareness then it can help more people. I hope that I can use my new position to make a real impact.”