The House System at Queen Mary's High School - Fostering Collaboration and Leadership Through Engaging Activities
The House system at Queen Mary's High School promotes collaboration, leadership, and community engagement through a variety of activities, competitions, and charitable initiatives. Named after influential female authors, the Houses instill values of sportsmanship, respect, and integrity. Students from different year groups participate in events like dance showcases, fashion design, and charitable fundraising, fostering teamwork and personal development. The system not only recognizes academic excellence but also encourages students to contribute to the wider community, embodying the school's sense of unity and support.
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The House system at Queen Marys High School provides the glue that facilitates collaborative working between the year groups, the Houses and different parts of our school community. It allows students to engage in a wide range of fun and friendly competitions enabling them to develop communication, teamwork and organisational skills whilst also preparing them to face and overcome challenges in later life. Not only does the system enable students in older years to undertake leadership roles, something which is looked upon favourably by universities, it also gives younger students the opportunity to lead activities in form time and to contribute to wider events. We also have our MPC Awards, where students are encouraged to engage in wider activities both in school and in the local community to develop their skill set. In addition, commendations are awarded to individual students for excellent effort, consistency and producing high standard work. These commendations contribute to the House totals at the end of each term. Our vision for the House System is to enable every student to contribute through a range of activities encompassing all subjects on the curriculum. These activities include dance showcases, Glee, fashion design, musical performances, drama, creative challenges and sporting competitions. We listen to our students views and use them to shape the House system for the future. For example, engineering and science challenges are being introduced this year. We also recognise and reward the achievements of our students outside of the school setting to continually celebrate the vast array of skills and talents our students possess. One of the key features of the House system is our charitable contribution to the wider community, whether this is through fundraising for local charities, installing a defibrillator to benefit the school community and the local residents, collecting for the local foodbank, or supporting the Bloody Good Period campaign. We are proactive in encouraging enterprise through charity sales, sponsored events and other fundraising opportunities which create the sense of community that Queen Mary s has become known for. Across the four Houses there are shared values of sportsmanship, fairness, respect and integrity creating a positive and friendly atmosphere in which all students feel safe and valued. Each House has its individual identity which is promoted by their House Leader and student leadership teams. Our Houses are named after influential female authors of the Victorian period, reflecting are desire to emulate pioneering female role models who have overcome the obstacles and expectations imposed on their gender. They are as follows:
Austen House Austen House: Named after Jane Austen House Colour Yellow Mascot the Austen Owl House Leader Miss Butlin Austen House was named after Jane Austen, an English novelist. Austen lived her entire life as part of a close-knit family and that is what we pride ourselves on in Austen House. She achieved great success as a published writer and is a role model for all pupils. Austen House is made up of pupils from Year 7 to 13. Our aim is to provide pupils with the opportunity to make happy relationships, fully participate in the school/wider community and enjoy their time at QMHS. Austen House is competitive, resilient, determined, motivated, divert, strong and passionate. My role as Head of Austen House is to lead, organise and support house events, charity work, fundraising initiatives and enrichment activities. The House Captain, Vice House Captain and Austen leadership team work hard to actively promote house events and competitions on a regular basis and to support all pupils in Austen House. At the beginning of every academic year the Vice House Captain from the previous year is promoted to House Captain and an assembly is held to elect a new Vice House Captain from Year 12. The job of the House and Vice House Captain is to take responsibility for the leadership, organisation and team spirit of Austen House throughout the forthcoming academic year. The captains are also positive role models for all pupils. In Year 12 Austen pupils are provided with an opportunity to volunteer for an Austen leadership role. Each Austen KS4 and KS3 form is allocated an Austen leader who visits the form on a regular basis to offer guidance, support and encouragement with a variety of house activities/competitions.
Bront house Bront House; Named after Emily Bront House Colour Red Mascot the Bront saurus House Leader: Miss Weston Emily Bront , born 30th July 1818, was part of a family of writers in Yorkshire; Emily along with her sisters Charlotte and Anne wrote many poems and novels, including Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. The Bront children were often left alone together in their isolated home and all began to write stories at an early age. Much like many writers of their time, the sisters wrote under male pseudonyms, Emily s being Ellis Bell. Bront is certainly a house with lots of spirit and its members feel proud to be part of Brilliant Bront . Much like the sisters who we take our name from, Bront house members work hard to do their best and we support each other to overcome adversity. We don t ever give up, and we make sure that we greet every challenge with a smile on our faces. Despite the difficulties of the last academic year Bront managed to finish the year as the winning house (2022), and we are determined to keep going and do even more extraordinary things! Believe in each other Restless until winners Ordinary to extraordinary Never give up Teamwork makes the dream work Endless victories
Eliot House Enthusiastic Logical Eliot House: Named after George Eliot House Colour Blue Mascot Eliot the dragon House Leader Miss Houlder Innovative Outgoing Talented Students who are in Eliot house take after George Eliot who was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. George Eliot was born on 22 November 1819 in rural Warwickshire. When her mother died in 1836, Eliot left school to help run her father's household. In 1841, she moved with her father to Coventry and lived with him until his death in 1849. Eliot then travelled in Europe, eventually settling in London. Her novels are praised and she is celebrated as one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. Her characteristics flow through Eliot house in the way that we are caring, loyal and determined. Members of Eliot house will work hard and have a huge commitment to school life. We came second in House Dance (2022) and ensure we always have entries. As you can see we are a very creative house, we pride ourselves on our commitment to charity fundraising and we welcome every new member of the house! We celebrate all successes in our assemblies and we are e As a house we hold ourselves to the above characteristics which were created by our year 13 leavers in 2020. We can t wait to have you in our house and start the competitions!
Shelley house Shelley Named after; Mary Shelley House Colour Purple Mascot Shelley the Turtle House Leader - Mrs Colley Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful are the words of the monster, in our namesake s novel: Frankenstein. Mary Shelley s words reflect the determined and dedicated nature of Shelley House. We may not win every inter-house competition or challenge, and that is ok! Sometimes the bigger reward comes from finding a new interest or making a new friend in inter-house challenges. Our house s mantra is take part, have fun, make memories. We are proud of all of our house family and like to celebrate our achievements in assembly. We even have our own special prize, the Shelley Superstar Award! The star badge is awarded to a select number of students and staff each year, who have shown true Shelley House Spirit! Mrs Colley took over as Head of Shelley house in 2020 and feels privileged to lead such an inspiring group of students. Go Shelley! Mrs Colley
