This was the inaugural year of our newly-designed house system, and by all measures it has been a success. To meet the needs of our growing school, we made lots of big changes. Key among them was a shift from pastoral care to invigorating our College community. We expanded house membership to include everyone in the College — pupils in all year groups, teachers and even our non-academic staff. We wanted the houses to be their normal rallying points within our school, but to raise the stakes, we introduced the House Cup, a coveted crystal trophy awarded to the house with the most points at the end of the year. We also wanted to make our houses instruments of action within the wider community, so our house leadership researched and selected charities to champion.

 

 

 

Our House Sports day in October was the first big event on this year’s action-packed calendar. It saw Wellingtonians of all year groups and on both campuses put their strength and skills to the test. They gave it their all in events like the ‘Gladiator Joust’, ‘Giant Tetris’, and the ‘Big Foot Race’ earning points (and hopefully some bragging rights) for their respective houses.

Later in the Michaelmas term, we held a house football competition for pupils from Lower Prep to Senior School, ably assisted and supported by the Friends of Wellington. We also held Wellington’s first-ever Spelling Bee, aptly named… wait for it… the Spellington Bee. This contest took the Prep School by storm. Lower Prep pupils also represented their houses in our house singing competition, with Stanley reinventing the song ‘Jingle Bells’ to great acclaim from our panel of judges.

In the Lent term, our pupils showcased even more vocal talent when Upper Prep and Senior School combined forces to belt out Christmas songs. They dressed as Christmas trees and showered the audience with sweets, and they were just as festive, even though Christmas was already months in the past.

 

This performance was then closely followed by competitions in chess, basketball and netball. Meanwhile, the Maths Department organised a Pi Day contest in which pupils attempted to recite as many digits in the number as they could.

It has been a joy watching our staff and pupils step outside of their comfort zone, try new things and develop leadership skills. It has also been amazing to watch new pupils integrate into the community through their endeavours in house competitions. Personal highlights for me include the mass sing-along of the Frozen classic ‘Let it go!’ on the College esplanade, the tense finale of the Spellington Bee in the Lower Prep, Upper Prep pupils from House Orange stepping up to represent the Senior School in house competitions and so much. There have been countless staff and pupils who have contributed to the success of our new house system this year and I would like to thank them all.