House: the spirit of competition

Our new academic year brings with it some big changes to our house system, and as Wellington’s newly appointed head of houses, I am thrilled to share with you the latest developments.

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Perhaps some of you are wondering why we are making any changes at all? The house system is one of the things that makes this school so unique. It instils in all of us a powerful sense of community, identity and pride. There is no shortage of Wellingtonians who will tell you that they have made some of their closest friends within their houses.

The answer is simple: growth. Last year, we saw that we would soon approach a tipping point. Our community was getting so big that eventually, our house system would have needed to evolve in order to continue to meet the pastoral care needs that we so pride ourselves on at Wellington. We wanted to get ahead of that point.

All things considered, I believe most of our pupils and teachers would agree that doing away with our house system completely was simply not an option. So, determined as we were, we decided that decoupling our house system from our pastoral provision was the best way forward. Instead, further leaning into the true underlying spirit of house – being the inter-house – spirit of competition.

This change opens our house system up to a host of new possibilities. To start, our houses will be all-inclusive. For the first time in Wellington Shanghai history, there will be eight houses with membership throughout the entire College, from Nursery to year 13. Everyone, even our teachers and non-academic staff will be part of a house. Everyone will get to take part.

Our houses will still be our rallying points for our College-wide competitions. And this year, we have an action-packed competition calendar. It kicks off in earnest with our upcoming House Sports Day. Pupils will test their skills in events like inflatable obstacle courses as well as fun, lighthearted activities and team sports. We will even be holding Wellington’s first-ever House Colour Run! All of this comes in addition to our regular sporting, arts and academic events, but there will be one big difference this year: our competition calendar will run concurrently across most year groups. So, if we have a football, tennis or singing competition, pupils in Pre-Prep to Senior School will be able to support their house. This will promote greater cohesion and common ground among year groups.

There will be greater cohesion among departments, too. We have asked the department heads to brainstorm competitions and they have definitely delivered. For instance, our Chinese and Design and Technology departments are collaborating on a dragon boat competition in which pupils will design their own boats and race them across our pool and our Business and Marketing departments will challenge our entrepreneurial Wellingtonians to develop and pitch business ideas in Wellington’s very own House Dragon’s Den competition.

Already the corridors and playing fields at Wellington have been awash with colour as pupils race to put on their first points for their House. On the first day of school, Thursday 1 September, Upper Prep pupils received their house shirts and took part in a left shoe relay. On Friday 9 September, the Senior School raced balloons across the stage in the Theatre and completed their own relay challenge. The Lower Prep also had their first house event, Dodgeball on 14 September, with the House Tennis finals to wrap up on 30 September. It is very early on the calendar, but Hill and Hardinge have made a very strong start and could be the two houses to watch this year!

Our houses will even serve as engines for community action. After applying for leadership roles within the houses, pupils will research what charities they would like to associate with their house, and they will raise funds for them for the remainder of the academic year. This will be a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to learn how charities work and the importance of serving their community.

Finally, we have added something to kindle that competitive spirit among our pupils. Introducing The House Cup! This coveted trophy has been ‘forged in fire’, a cup of kings! This will be the prize for the house that accumulates the most points throughout the year. Every little bit of school life will factor, from competition victories to class performance, even effort and good behaviour. Let the games begin and may the best house win!