Callum Charteris was last year\u2019s Head Boy of Clydeview Academy and is also the founder of Clydeview Connect. Recently I had the opportunity to meet with him and have a chat about his experiences during his last year of school and I was able to ask him a few questions about his time as Head Boy and with Clydeview Connect.<\/p>\n
I remember when he started Clydeview Connect last year and I remember when he came to our school assemblies to tell everyone about his new project so I wondered what made him decide to create CV Connect?<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I just felt that the pupils weren\u2019t getting represented as well as they should be,\u201d he told me. \u201cSo I thought let\u2019s create a pupil blog where the news is actually coming from the pupils and not the teachers to let everyone know about life in Clydeview.\u201d<\/p>\n
But what did Callum enjoy most about Clydeview Connect?<\/p>\n
\u201cJust speaking to new people. I liked the creative aspect on the Instagram and Twitter and on the blogs,\u201d he said. \u201cI also liked leading from the pupils\u2019 view and not really having a teacher telling you what to do, and being able to come up with your own ideas. It was just a great new idea and I really enjoyed being a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, Callum had a very busy year last year, not just with Clydeview Connect but with his role as Head Boy too. As I\u2019m now getting the experiences of being Head Boy, I wondered what he liked most about his role.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything, to be fair. I loved last year!\u201d he said with a smile. \u201cIt kind of shaped me as an individual. Some highlights were probably the tannoys every morning, I really enjoyed that. But just, like, coming out of my shell, getting to speak with new people and loads and loads of opportunities like parents\u2019 nights, speaking in assemblies, everything. Just being in that role was something that I\u2019ll always remember and was just a great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s clear that Callum loved being involved with so much within the school but I was curious to know what was his single most memorable moment from his time as Head Boy?<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably an infamous moment, to be fair,\u201d he laughed. \u201cIn the teachers versus students game, it was on penalties, I think it was three all in the normal match. We were drawing on penalties and it was the last penalty so we had to score to stay in it and I thought it would be a good idea if I hit it. Then I completely missed it in front of the whole school. The pupils lost the trophy and I was the one who missed the penalty, and I think that probably sticks with me the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps this wasn\u2019t one of his high points in his time as Head Boy, however, he did tell me about a more positive memory.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing away from negatives, my favourite moment was probably just the first time on the tannoy when I accidentally shouted \u2018Come on the Clydeview\u2019 and it became a catchphrase forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Obviously, it isn\u2019t always easy playing such a big part in the day to day life of the school so I asked him if there were any difficult parts of being Head Boy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, it was very challenging because there\u2019s a lot to balance and I kinda found that I was getting overwhelmed at some points,\u201d he told me. \u201cBut I just made sure to make sure that I was reaching out to people if I needed any support and making sure that I didn\u2019t get completely overwhelmed. But yeah, it was difficult to balance your school work and your duties but I made sure that I wasn\u2019t getting too stressed out and was talking to people if I ever needed any support or anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
My final question to Callum was what his advice to this year\u2019s pupil leadership team would be.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust be yourself, like, if you have an idea, go for it,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t sit back on anything you want to do because if you don\u2019t do it and regret it at the end of the year, you might think \u2018why did I not get that started?\u2019 Just don\u2019t let anyone change who you are and just go for everything you want and enjoy it because it\u2019ll be prom before you know it and you\u2019ll be ready to move on. So yeah, have a great year, that\u2019s what I would say.\u201d<\/p>\n
Callum definitely made the most of his time as Head Boy and followed every new idea he had. I think his advice will be very helpful to myself and the rest of our pupil leadership team.<\/p>\n
Since leaving Clydeview, Callum has just started a five-year course studying computing science at Strathclyde University. He tells me that he’s very excited about the new experiences that await him and that he remembers his time at Clydeview very fondly. Hopefully he comes back to visit us again some time.<\/p>\n
Article by Jack Ramsay, Head Boy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Callum Charteris was last year\u2019s Head Boy of Clydeview Academy and is also the founder of Clydeview Connect. Recently I had the opportunity to meet with him and have a chat about his experiences during his last year of school and I was able to ask him a few questions about his time as Head … Continue reading A Chat With Last Year’s Head Boy<\/span>