A BARRHEAD school has elected a new head boy and head girl.

Aidan Gilhooley, 16, and 17-year-old Mairead Byrne have been handed the prestigious roles at St Luke’s High.

They will be assisted by their deputes, James Castle and Abbie Duncan, who are both 16.

Staff and fellow pupils at the school were able to vote for their favourite candidate, with Aidan and Mairead making a positive impression through their efforts to promote all that is good about St Luke’s High.

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Aidan, who lives in Barrhead, said he is delighted to have been elected to the role of head boy.

“A lot of people wanted the role and to be picked, alongside James, is a real honour, especially as the votes were cast by my friends and the teachers here,” he told the Barrhead News.

“It’s all about helping everyone in the school. We’ve already held a conference for S1 and S6 pupils, with team games to help the first years build relationships with each other.

“Also, in a couple of weeks’ time, there is an awards night for S5 and S6, to celebrate their exam results. As part of that, Mairead and myself will be asked to deliver a speech in front of the parents.

“Later in the year, we’ll be part of organising other events such as our graduation ceremony.”

Mairead, who lives in Neilston, said she is already settling into her new role at the school.

She added: “Being given the title of head girl is amazing. It is such a great opportunity and it should open so many doors for going to university and things like that.

“In my role, I definitely want to strengthen the bond between pupils in different year groups.

“I also want to strengthen the pupil-teacher bond through bringing in more clubs or organising for teachers to meet up with their house groups.

“I really want to help strengthen the school’s positive ethos.”

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Each of the pupils who nominated themselves for the role of head boy or head girl at St Luke’s High had to go through an interview process, during which they were asked to outline why they were the ideal candidate.

A shortlist of two boys and two girls was then drawn up, with an election taking place to decide each appointment.

Staff were also asked to appoint house captains for each of the school’s four ‘houses,’ with senior prefects chosen too.

In all, there were 19 roles within the extended pupil leadership team in the upper school to be filled.