Each house has a House Manager (non teaching member of staff) and a House Leader (Teaching member of staff). House Managers look after the day to day pastoral care of students. House Leaders lead the house activities and support the House Manager with pastoral matters when needed.
The houses allow students to experience fun house competitions, bringing with it more opportunities to bring all year groups together. Students have enjoyed receiving rewards, ultimately finding the houses are more meaningful to them; meaning they want to work hard, have fun and strive to win the all-important house cup at the end of the year. The excitement, inclusion and joyful atmosphere has been remarkable, and further highlighting houses by implementing them into everyday school life really will positively impact all aspects of school for our students.
Belonging and house identity: vertical tutoring is underpinned by houses whereby all students belong to a set house and they work each day to achieve great things. This ultimately can result in fabulous rewards, awards and a great sense of achievement.
Tutor to student ratio: vertical tutor groups have an average of just 6 students from each year group in each class (This does not include Y11s).
Role modelling and student leadership: vertical tutoring breaks down the barriers between year groups, so that students from different year groups can work together.
Skills and character: belonging to a house and working with students from different year groups every day requires our students to develop and practise the important skills of teamwork, speaking and listening, problem solving, creativity, and leadership beyond the context of students the same age as them, which they do in five lessons every day.
Behaviour: research shows that properly implemented vertical tutoring systems improve students’ prosocial behaviour across the school. Vertical tutoring can also “depolarise” behaviour, bringing out the best in all students. It reduces the amount of in-year rivalry and “cliques”. Students are more likely to be friendly and kind towards each other and make friends with students in different year groups. Older students often behave in a more grown up way, as if they naturally feel a duty to model good behaviour.