School Calendar

House system

The House System at Hornsby House is now a central element of school life. Each child in the school belongs to one of four houses, namely Armstrong, Cousteau, Hillary and Scott. Siblings always belong to the same house. Children wear T-shirts in their house colour for PE lessons which helps children identify others of different ages who are in the same house as themselves. Each house has a dedicated Housemaster or Housemistress who leads the House meetings and takes on a pastoral responsibility for the children in that House.

Each House has two Captains; one boy and one girl. These eight children join the two School Captains in forming a team who take on a variety of reponsibilities appropriate to their age.

On the Friday before each half-term holiday we have a "House Day" when children attend school dressed in their house colour. They participate in activities throughout the day in house groups rather than their normal classes or year groups.

One of the main intentions of the house system is to enable children to identify with children of other ages through their shared belonging to the same House. Younger children can aspire towards older ones, whilst older children have the opportunity to take on a pastoral role towards younger ones.

The school reward and sanction system is closely linked with the House arrangements. House Points and Commendations earn points for the house total. Each week the House Captains of the highest scoring House from that week run their House flag up the flagpole where it is on display for the week. At the end of the term the overall highest scoring House is awarded the House Cup, which is then adorned with ribbons of the House colour for the following term. Various competitions, including sport, art and music also carry points for the houses who perform best.