As Rugby School Japan continues to take shape, pupil leadership plays an increasingly important role in setting the tone of the School. We do not define leadership by prominence or popularity, but by service, responsibility, and the positive influence pupils have on the community around them.
Our senior pupils support their peers, work closely with staff, and help ensure that the School’s values are demonstrated in everyday life. And this shapes a culture built on trust, respect, and shared purpose.
Roles with Purpose
Prefects hold responsibility across key areas of school life, including wellbeing, academics, sport, culture, and social responsibility. Working in close partnership with staff, they meet regularly with members of the Senior Leadership Team to share pupil perspectives and raise matters that are important to the wider school community.
Heads of School provide leadership to the Prefect body as a whole and help strengthen pupil voice through structures such as the School Council. Alongside this, House leadership roles play a vital part in nurturing community spirit and pastoral care within each House. In these early years of the School, some pupils may hold more than one role, reflecting both the opportunities available and the trust placed in them.
Leadership Through Example
There is a shared expectation of character for all pupils in leadership roles. Prefects and Peer Listeners are selected for their empathy, judgement, and willingness to support others, and are expected to model the School values of kindness, respect, integrity, and aspiration.
Peer Listeners form an important part of the School’s pastoral network, offering an approachable and trusted presence for fellow pupils. They are supported through training and guidance, ensuring they are well prepared to listen, support, and signpost when needed.
This understanding of leadership as service is captured well by Thomas Hughes (who attended Rugby School in the 19th century) in his novel, Tom Brown’s School Days, and is a quote we share with pupils who are considering applying for senior roles:
“Speak up, and strike out if necessary, for whatsoever is true, and lovely, and of good report; never try to be popular, but only to do your duty and help others to do theirs, and you may leave the tone of feeling in the school higher than you found it, and so be doing good, which no living soul can measure, to generations yet unborn.”
A Lasting Contribution
For pupils who take on these responsibilities, the rewards are meaningful. They gain confidence, perspective, and a deeper understanding of what it means to lead with purpose. More importantly, they help shape the culture of RSJ during its formative years, contributing to a legacy of service, character, and care that future pupils will build upon.
