Figure 1.--Here we see two children from the same house. Notice tghe grey badges on their jumpers. Quite a number of schools have the children wear house identity badge. Notice the white badge the boy wears. That identifies him as a prefect. Notice that only the boy is wearing a tie. |
The children at most schools are also organized into houses. These houses are a particularly important aspect of boarding school life, but most day schools also have houses. Most schools see these houses as an important phase of prep school life. One headmaster explained to us that houses “help to foster a competitive spirit.” Kingsland Grange explains that the house system “instills the spirit of keenesess into all school activities.” Some schools encourage the house spirit in a variety of ways. A few schools such as Pyrland Hall have each house sit together for lunch, but at most schools the seating, if any, is more likely to be determined by age or form.
The children at most schools are also organized into houses. These houses are a particularly important aspect of boarding school life, but most day schools also have houses. Virtually all the schools we visited had a house system un one form or another. Prep school houses, however, are not as prominent at public school houses. This is because most prep school children sleep in dormitories organized by ages. Thus the dormitories have children from the different houses mixed together.
Most schools see these houses as an important phase of prep school life. One headmaster explained to us that houses “help to foster a competitive spirit.” Kingsland Grange explains that the house system “instills the spirit of keenesess into all school activities.” Many other schools such as Caldicott are convinced that the house system helps to encourage a “healthy competition.” Children at the prep school age often take such competitions very seriously and a spirit of keen competition often prevails. The houses serve for purposes of administration and internal competition. House games provide for friendly rivalry and to give an opportunity for all children to participate in organized matches and not just the top sportsmen who play matches with other schools. Each child is expected to contribute something to the house’s success in the many activities and competitions conducted each term. As explained at Moffats, the system enables all children, “down to the youngest, to take a useful part and to know they are doing so.
Children love to compete at at most schools the house spirit is fomented through competition. Usually the house competition include not only sports, but other activities including scholarship and’ other achievements. Many schools have established a points system reflecting all school activities which count for a house trophy awarded at the prize giving at the end of each term. Many schools keep running totals of the house points as the school term progresses. Often the tally is posted on a prominent bulletin board in the hail. At Wycliffe College Junior School special colored plaques record the ongoing competition.Some schools encourage the house spirit in a variety of ways. A few schools such as Pyrland Hall have each house sit together for lunch, but at most schools the seating, if any, is more likely to be determined by age or form.
Many schools also see the house system as important to guarantee that each boy receives individual attention he needs outside the classroom. One school, Caterham in Surrey, which divides the boys into two “groups”, explains that this ensures that “a boy is welcomed into a small unit where he is known as a young individual.” Some schools, such as Downs in Worcester have a tutorial system outside the various houses. [org problem with md att] After the first year in which the youngest children are cared for by their form mistress, each teacher is responsible for about 14 children to guide in their academic work, games, and recreational activities. Most of these children generally stay in the same tutorial group during their 4-5 years at school.
The number of houses varied from school to school. Most schools divide the school into about four houses, but this depended somewhat on the size of the school. Another factor was the approach the school took toward the house system. A a few schools (such as Christ Church Cathedral School and Pinewwod divide the school into only two houses).
The houses are given a wide variety of names. Normally a topical approach is used. Common choices were animals, colors, historical figures or places, authors, nationalities, ect.). We note the houses at a number of representative schools to give an ide of the house names chosen.
Beeston Hall in Norfolk has Danes, Normans, Romans, and Vikings.
Bramcote in Nottinghamshire has Beatty, Drake, Mountbatten, and Nelson.
Christ Church Cathedral School in ???? has Cardinal Wolsey andLewis Carroll.
Farleigh in Hampshire has buzzards, eagles, kestrels, and merlins.
Hazelwood in Surrey has Baily, Dowling, Irving, and Parry.
Hazelgrove House in Somerset has Dover, Lyon, Norton, and Tremlett.
Hurworth House in Durham has Carroll, Emerson, Stephenson, and
Wycliffe.
Hilistone in Worcester has Anson, Blake, Collingwood, Drake,
Effingham, Frobisher, and Grenville.
Kingsland Grange in Oxfordshire names their houses after the military services.
Malsis in Yorkshire has Coates, Gadney, Lund, and Montagu.
Old Hall in Shropshire has Cressage, Ercall, Leighton, and Wenlock.
Perrot Hill in Somerset has Blackdowns, Brendons, Mendips, and
Quantocks.
Pyrland Hall in Somerset has Bradf±eld, Gibbs, Qidham, and Whitby.
Quainton Hall in Middlesex has Carnell, Comber, Ghaleb, and Fraser.
St. Michaels in Devon has Elizabethans, Cingalese, Druids, and
Grasshoppers.
St. Michael’s in Surrey has Hillary, Scott, and Shackleton.
St. Michael’s College in Worcestershire has Fellowes, Gore, Nicholson, and Ouseley.
Sunnymede in Merseyside has Griffins, Lions, and Unicorns.
Terington in Yorkshire has Clives, Drakes, and Rhodes.
Walhampton in Hampshire has Grenfell, Mallory, Scott, and Shackleton.
Winterfold House in Hereford Worcester has Eagles, Hawks, Kites, and Swifts. ‘ ~
Most schools have houses, but they are not always referred to as houses.
Many schools use a wide variety of other names for houses. Houses are variously referred to as: “camps” (Moffats) , “clans” (St Pirans), “clubs” (Beachborough, , Northaw, and Wellingborough Junior School), “groups” (Ranby House) , “leagues” (Feistead and Old Hall), “packs” (Winterfold House), “sets” (Seaford Court), and “teams” (Twyford).
Many schools have the children wear colored badges or tabs which identify their house. Round colored pins was a common method. We have also noted embroidered patches. At Wycliffe College Junior School the children wear different ties to identify their house. We noted this at a few other schools, although it was much more common for all the children to wear the same colored ties. A reader writes, "I was fascinated to see a boy in one of your pictures had a purple garter tab visible. I have thought in the past that schools could use colour-coded garter tabs to denote for example year groups, or prefects and when I saw that picture I thought: "Now there is obviously a school somewhere that did! Can you confirm this? The only garter tabs I've seen before are green scouting ones or in some of your pictures blue or red ones with kilts." Of course there are a very large number of schools in Britain. We can not say definitely that garter tabs were not used to identify prefects. We never saw it. We did note colored garter tabs at some schools, but they were used to identify houses.
A few schools further divide the houses into smaller units. Walhampton, for example, divides its four packs (houses) into patrols of about 12 children. Many school activities are then organized in the patrols or other smaller units. Walhampton explains that “the older children learn to look after the younger
ones and to exercise a sense of responsibility.” At Walhampton the patrol leaders meet weekly with the Headmaster and Senior Masters.
The houses are supervised by 1-2 staff members which are referred to as house masters. At some schools the child’s academic progress and general development are monitired by their housemasters. Other schools divide the responsibilities with form masters and mistresses who may focus more on academic matters.
Most schools also appoint the older children in each house to be a captain and an assistant or second and help to efficiently run their houses. This experience allows the older children to learn to accept increasing responsibility and a spirit of service. School prefects are often then selected from the house captains. (See Prefects.)
Many schools have separate houses for day and ‘ boarding children (Colston’s, ). Others integrate the day and boarding children . into the various houses (Cheltenham, Haileybury Junior, Pyrland Hall, Pinewood, Wycliffe College Junior School, Wellingborough Junior School, ???).
The role of the houses varies wide1y from school to school. At day schools they are primarily just a way of organizing in school competition. At boarding schools the role of the house system is more diverse. They do not play as significant a role as at a Public School.
The prep boarding school is unlike that at public
schools. Prep schools generally do not separate the houses in dormitories, but instead group the children by age to facilitate supervision routines such as going to bed at night. Even the schools with separate boarding houses, like Wycliffe College Junior School, also divide the school into separate houses for competitive purposes. As a result, close friendships are often not restricted by the house system. It is quite common to see little groups of close friends during break periods wearing multi-colored badges denoting different houses. This is quite different than most public schools where a student’s best friends are usually formed with his housemates. Some schools assign simple tasks around the school to the houses on a rotational basis. Such duties are designed to help the children feel some responsibility for the day-to-day running of their school. A child who occasionally has to pick up litter, for example, is likely to have a different attitude toward littering than one who never has to help clean up. Duties can include. Picking up litter, setting up for an event, tidying up after an event, small cleaning jobs, etc. One school, Hill House, even has the teachers, and boys preparing the school lunch, although this is unusual.
Houses compete in general conduct, academic work, effort, manners, games, and other school activities. Some schools like Kingsland Grange award marks for virtually all activities, including “service to the community or any other creditable performance.” Winterfold House explains, for example, that marks are awarded for industry, obedience, tidiness, manners, general efficiency, and games. Score for points awarded are usually marked on a score board which is prominently displayed at the school. Challenge cups are competed for by the houses in most sports and various extra-curricular activities. The objective is for the children to learn from an early age that they are members of a community and are expected to contribute to the community and learn to take responsibility. Through the fun a challenge of the competitions, which the children often take quite seriously, they come to realize the part that individuals need to assume in the life of the community if it is to be a happy and successful one.
Through the guidance of a master assigned to each house and often prefects or captains, the younger boys acquire a sense of responsibility and learn to work together for their house. The younger children feel they have something to play for and no matter how young can contribute to the success of their house. In can be very exhilarating for a small boy to find the older boys in his house, to which he looks up to, rooting for him at the end of a finish line. Depending on the emphasis that individual schools place on these events, some of the competitions can become quite intense.
Some prep boarding schools do have separate residential houses, usually separate by age. Others have a variety of systems. A few have separate dormitories for each house. Schools usually have a senior master serving as a house master living in a home attached to the boarding house. Another master may serve as a house tutor or assistant house master. The boys are encouraged to turn to them as a friend and advisor to whom he can turn to for advice and assistance. Theoretically the impersonality of formal classroom exchanges is mitigated by the close personal contact in the houses. Matron and a housekeeper, and often the house master’s wife, also play important roles in the house. Clifton College, for example, has two separate house systems. The younger boys (8~4-11) are divided into four houses, two for boarders and two for dayboys. The older boys (11-13) have five houses, two for boarders, two for day boys , and one mixed house.
