Pupils will still be in single year tutor groups, but will then be part of a House community.  Siblings will always be kept in the same House, meaning that your senior point of contact throughout your child’s time at Warneford will always be the same person – their Head of House.

A strong House system will give many opportunities for competition, but will also develop a much stronger sense of community and belonging; in the current climate this seems so important.  I am sure for many pupils the motivation of competition for a shared goal will be very powerful.  The rewards systems will remain, and through ClassCharts provide a common goal to achieve in whatever they do well.

I am looking to engender a strong sense of character among Warneford pupils and a collective responsibility to one another.  Having successfully launched a similar system in a previous role, I am confident of its tangible and lasting impact on young people.  I will be encouraging pupils to come up with some practical ideas of how they would want the new system to best serve the school community, and asking them to come up with the new House names and the reasoning behind them.

One practical difference that you will notice is that pupils will wear a House tie (currently in design). All current pupils of the school will be given the appropriate tie for their new House. There will be no charge for the tie.

Some of you may be wondering why this change is taking place during the current period of uncertainty.  First of all, this is something that was originally planned for September and we feel strongly that the school should not stand still, even during lockdown.  Secondly, and most importantly, we believe that this change is a significant opportunity to bring the school together in a cohesive and powerful way once things start to get back to normal.

Mr M Nye, Deputy Headteacher.