House system

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The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries. The school is divided into units called "houses" and each student is allocated to one house at the moment of enrollment. Houses may compete with one another at sports and maybe in other ways, thus providing a focus for group loyalty.

Historically, the house system has been associated with

Schools have different numbers of houses, with different numbers of students in each, depending on the arrangements adopted by the schools. Facilities, such as pastoral care, may be provided on a house basis.^{[This paragraph needs citation(s)]}

Houses may be named after saints, famous historical alumni or notable regional topics (e.g. in international schools, houses are sometimes named in honour of local celebrities). Former British royal houses (dynasties) are also popular in the UK, those most often used are the Houses of Lancaster, York, Tudor and Stuart. Other more arbitrary names—animal names or colours, for example—are also often used. Houses are also often referred to by the original name of the building or by the name or initials of the housemistress or housemaster. Each house will usually also be identified by its own symbol, logo, or colours.

At co-educational boarding schools, there may be separate houses for boys and girls, as at the

In some boarding schools, a primary purpose of the house system is to provide

Peer relationships and fostering of community feeling are a similar aim of school house systems, whether in boarding or day schools. One headmaster of an English-style school – Brighton College Bangkok – David Tongue, writing in an editorial,[3] described the team-spirit engendered by school houses this way: "This camaraderie and solidarity is second to none and the benefits of this vertical interaction, where the young look up to the elder and where the elder look out for and support the younger, are profound." In Britain, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust [now SSAT (The Schools Network)], has endorsed use of House systems as one strategy for preventing the deterioration of children's educational and social progress, a common feature of transition from primary to secondary school.^[4]

Competition between houses

A secondary feature of house systems is the competition between houses. For example, the traditional school

Some schools have a year-long programme of inter-house events, in a variety of fields but most often sports or the arts, in which each house "hosts" an event at which all houses compete, with points contributing to the award of the House Cup at the end of the year.

St Bartholomew's School, one of England's oldest state schools, hosts a series of sporting and arts House competitions and recently added a House Film competition.^[5]

Membership and roles

Pupils are usually assigned to houses randomly, perhaps with the aim of balancing the houses in order to increase competition. Sometimes the assignment is based on the social and emotional needs of the student and to ensure proper

One notable feature of the house system is the appointment of house captains, and maybe other house prefects, who exercise limited authority within the house and assist in the organisation of the house. Large schools may have a house captain for each year group (with vice-captains in the largest schools).

In boarding schools, the term housemaster or housemistress is the title held by the member of staff responsible for pupils living in a particular house (or dormitory). In state schools, members of staff are appointed as (or volunteer to become) head of house. However, both terms can be used at either style of school for the sake of formality. In some cases, houses may have their own staff members other than housemaster or housemistress.

Other uses

The term "house system" is also used to refer to the

These stories depict the popular conception of a British boarding school rather than how modern boarding schools work in reality, and often focus on the most positive aspects.[7] For example, loyalty to one's house is very important in real-life houses, and features prominently in many of these books.^[7] The Harry Potter books have updated the boarding school to 21st-century values, for example by depicting mixed-sex education houses.^[7] Most Britons never went to a boarding school, but have integrated their values by reading these books.^[7]

The translators of some foreign editions of the Harry Potter books had difficulties conveying the "house" concept in languages like Russian or German, because there was no word that could adequately convey the importance of belonging to a certain house, the loyalty owed to one's house, and the pride in the prizes won by one's own house.^[9] This forces translators to insert extra explanations in the dialogue, making foreign readers think that the house and boarding systems were a special feature of the fantasy setting rather than a real-world feature which would not need to be explained to a typical British child.^[10] The French translation does not explain the differences between the French and English real-world boarding schools, instead having the house system and the head girls and boys explained as peculiarities of Hogwarts.^[10]

See also

• Harvard house system
• University of Notre Dame residence halls
• House System at the California Institute of Technology
• Hogwarts houses, fictional houses in Harry Potter
  books
• Ball culture, a North American sub-culture also known as the House System

References