There is something particularly interesting about leadership in a young school. At RSJ, we are not simply inheriting a long-established tradition of leadership; our pupils are helping to create one.
Each year, pupils take on positions of responsibility – as Head Boy and Head Girl, School Council representatives, House leaders, Prefects, and through the many less formal ways in which pupils influence those around them. These roles matter. But I think the more interesting question is what pupils choose to do with the opportunities they are given.
Leadership is often associated with being at the front: speaking at an assembly, organising an event, representing the School, or making a decision on behalf of others. Yet some of the most important forms of leadership are quieter. They can be found in the pupil who notices that someone is sitting alone and chooses to sit with them, in the pupil who encourages a classmate to try something they are convinced they cannot do, or in the pupil who has the courage to say, in a moment when it would be easier to say nothing, that something is not right.
These moments rarely appear on any record of achievement. But they shape a school’s culture more profoundly than almost anything else.
At its heart, leadership is about influence. It is about recognising that our actions affect the people around us, and understanding that we each have a part to play in shaping the kind of community our School becomes.
This is particularly important at RSJ because we are still writing our story. The traditions and expectations that will define the School in years to come are being established by our pupils today. The way they treat one another, the standards they set, the activities they create and the causes they choose to support will all contribute to the School that future generations inherit. That is not a small thing. It is, in fact, one of the most significant opportunities that a young school can offer its pupils: the chance to leave a mark that genuinely lasts.
That is why I believe leadership should not begin when a pupil is given a title. It should be something that develops throughout their time at School – through the House system, enrichment activities, service opportunities, sport, the arts, and the rhythms of everyday school life. In all of these, pupils have countless opportunities to listen, contribute, take responsibility and learn from those around them.
Perhaps the greatest measure of leadership, therefore, is not what a pupil achieves while holding a position, but what they leave behind when they move on. Not the title they held, but the tone they set. Not the events they organised, but the way people felt when they walked through the door.
I hope that our pupils will look back on their time at RSJ knowing that they helped to shape the School in some meaningful way. More importantly, I hope they will leave having understood that leadership is not about status or recognition. It is about responsibility, service, and the opportunity to make things a little better for those who come after you.
As RSJ continues to grow, so too will our traditions, our expectations and our sense of who we are. Our pupils have an important part to play in that process.
The legacy they create today will become the foundation on which the next generation builds.
Dr. Sarah Wade,
Principal, Rugby School Japan
