Houses
There are six school houses and colours associated with each — Byron (red), Cassidy (yellow), Fitzgerald (blue), Hildegard (black/white for 6th form), Somerville (light blue) and Tomlinson (green). They are named after famous females who have achieved great things in music, mathematics, sports and literature. Each pupil wears a house badge with the colours of their house below the school badge on their blazer, showing which house they belong to. Sixth form have pin badges with their house colors. Each form consists of a wide variety of different year 7-11 pupils that each belong to the same house, known as vertical tutor groups. This plan was put in place in September 2007. This system is soon to be overhauled in September 2010, with vertical tutor groups including all year groups (i.e. years 7-13). The houses compete against each other in events throughout the year, including inter-house year tournaments such as netball, dodgeball, benchball, dance and football. The current winners of sports day are Byron. There are also many other events, such as charity money raisers and arts day where a variety of performances ranging from solo singing to creating art in a certain time.
Originally, there were only four houses: Andrew (purple), David (yellow), George (red) and Patrick (green), the colours being taken from the flower emblems thistle, daffodil, rose and shamrock.
Read more about this topic: Rochester Grammar School
Famous quotes containing the word houses:
“The mob is man voluntarily descending to the nature of the beast. Its fit hour of activity is night. Its actions are insane like its whole constitution. It persecutes a principle; it would whip a right; it would tar and feather justice, by inflicting fire and outrage upon the houses and persons of those who have these. It resembles the prank of boys, who run with fire-engines to put out the ruddy aurora streaming to the stars.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“A new disease? I know not, new or old,
But it may well be called poor mortals’ plague:
For, like a pestilence, it doth infect
The houses of the brain ...
Till not a thought, or motion, in the mind,
Be free from the black poison of suspect.”
—Ben Jonson (c. 1572–1637)
“Midway the lake we took on board two manly-looking middle-aged men.... I talked with one of them, telling him that I had come all this distance partly to see where the white pine, the Eastern stuff of which our houses are built, grew, but that on this and a previous excursion into another part of Maine I had found it a scarce tree; and I asked him where I must look for it. With a smile, he answered that he could hardly tell me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)