Our popular House structure provides a sense of community and connectedness as students make friends beyond their form and year group while gathering House points in a range of fun activities throughout the year.
Our four Houses – Benedict Bears, Duffield Dragons, Paterson Panthers and Hayward Hawks – are headed by two student House Prefects and one teacher who is Head of House. They work as a team to organise the House meetings and the House teams for competitions such as quizzes, essay competitions, debates, and major House events such as House Music and Sports Day. Younger students can also act as House Leaders and organise teams within their year groups. Individual students can earn House Points as rewards for both pastoral and academic good deeds, while points for ‘House spirit’ are awarded at Sports Day, resulting in an impressive array of banners, face painting and chanting!
Highlights in the House events calendar include:
- House Breakfasts are termly morning meetings for Houses to plan and strategise future events over a hot chocolate and pastries
- At House Bake Off students compete to bake and decorate the most delicious creations under a specific theme
- House Music showcases musical talent from solos to bands and whole-House sing-alongs in the Yolande Paterson Hall
- Sports Day features all the traditional events you might expect alongside a highly competitive egg and spoon race, bean bag relay and a legendary 24 (wo)man relay
- At St Kate’s Day hundreds of students play House Dodgeball all at the same time in the Sports Hall – an event that from the outside could look a bit chaotic but is competently led by our PE Department!
- In the Christmas tree decorating competition students collaborate make their own sustainable, creative decorations to adorn each House tree in Old School Hall during the festive period
Origins
Our House structure was reintroduced at St Helen’s in April 2014 after a 40-year pause. The House system now lies at the heart of the school community, with every student and teacher being allocated a House to join and cheer for.
The four Houses are named after four inspiring women in the School’s history: Sister Jean Benedict, Jean Duffield, Frances Hayward and Yolande Paterson.
