How many prefects are there going to be in your year, how many people in your year are there, what was the basis for choosing the prefects, and if you were able to vote for prefects, when did the voting take place? Also, when were the prefect-ships announced and in what kind of assembly? Did the to-be prefects receive any sort of lecture? And what sort of duties do your prefects do?
Well, for us, there are about 45 prefects out of a grade of 220. We had three rounds of voting, starting Term 4, Year 10 (2003), initially there were about 100 candidates, and the 2nd round, about 35 were voted out, and then the final round--45 made it. The first two rounds were combination of staff and student votes, the student vote being the majority. The third and last round was also student and staff votes, but this time, the staff had a much bigger say in this, so I'd say this time the student and staff votes were almost equal.
The announcement took place just after exams last term, in the senior school assembly. Yes, the prefects were given a lecture, but also to our grade, along the lines of you're the big people in this school now, be responsible and blah blah blah. Our prefects simply sit at specially designated chairs and look important in senior school assemblies, and man the crossings so that we don't get run over (think of it this way: prefect versions of the lollypop man/woman)
So what about the rest of you?
(Soz for such a long post--must be the longest I've written so far on 'quick reply'--damn quick reply it is too!)