Houses
The house system was inaugurated in 1907 during the Headmastership of Francis Collins. It was at this time that the first six houses were created, with the latter two being added in 1921.
| House | Abbr. | Founded | House Colours | Housemaster | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradings | Br | 1907 | Brown | Mr. G Reid | |
| Browns | Bw | 1907 | Green | Mr. R Alldrick | |
| Cribbs | Cr | 1907 | Purple | Miss RL Ottey | |
| Duttons | Du | 1921 | Dark Blue | Mr. J Shelton | |
| Ropers | Ro | 1907 | Yellow | Mr. P Cochrane | |
| Spurgeons | Sp | 1907 | Old Rose | Mr. L Geldeard | |
| Tulleys | Tu | 1907 | Red | Ms. AM Legg | |
| Tysons | Ty | 1921 | Light Blue | Mr. N Green | |
Originally the house colours were not allowed to be any shade of blue, since this was the colour designated for Oxford and Cambridge and it were thought 'inappropriate' to have blue as a House colour as that was associated in one's mind with the two universities.
In 1921 when two new houses were created (due to their increasing role in the school but also to allow for knock-out sports and inter-house competitions), Henderson (the headmaster) had no qualms about the use of university colours, hence allowing them to use dark blue (Oxford) and light blue (Cambridge).
The colours denote the house colour, which appears on the school tie for middle-school pupils and on the "house shirts" which are used during inter-house sports competitions. Until 1984 the colour was also found on the school cap (for boys). All middle school and upper school pupils have badges of their house colour with a silver Alleyns crest on it. Teachers also have these. House badges were introduced in 2004 and the house scarf was resurrected in 2007. In the 1950s and 1960s the scarves of the Lower School were black with two white stripes running the full length whereas the Upper School house scarves had three stripes in the house colour each stripe bordered in white.
Pupils with relatives who are either currently attending or have previously been pupils are allocated to the same house as those family members.
When house names are quoted on paper the apostrophe is almost always not included (e.g. Cribbs not Cribb's). Some believe this is because the house names are now disassociated with the original housemasters, so an apostrophe is not necessary.
Alleyns Lower School does no longer uses the house system, but rather competes for ones class in 'inter-form competitions'. Pupils are then allocated a house at random (unless relatives are in or have been in the school in which case they are allocated to that house) in year 9, the beginning of the Middle School. Previously, the Lower School had four houses named after the first headmasters, Smiths, Bakers, Collins and Hendersons.
Read more about this topic: Alleyn's School
Famous quotes containing the word houses:
“I cannot go to the houses of my nearest relatives, because I do not wish to be alone. Society exists by chemical affinity, and not otherwise.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“You know, what I very well know, that I bought you. And I know, what perhaps you think I don’t know, you are now selling yourselves to somebody else; and I know, what you do not know, that I am buying another borough. May God’s curse light upon you all: may your houses be as open and common to all Excise Officers as your wifes and daughters were to me, when I stood for your scoundrel corporation.”
—Anthony Henley (d. 1745)
“There is the rich quarter, with its houses of pink and white, and
its crumbling, leafy terraces.
There is the poorer quarter, its homes a deep blue.
There is the market, where men are selling hats and swatting flies”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)