Houses
The four houses of West Buckland School are (in brackets their house colours):
- Brereton (Purple and Black )
- Courtenay (Red and White ), named after the influential family of the Earls of Devon.
- Fortescue (Yellow and Black )
- Grenville (Blue and White ), probably named after the family of George Grenville (1712–1770), Prime Minister and maternal grandfather of Earl Fortescue the founder. The family had no historical connection to Devon. However, there was also an important and very ancient North Devon family, of no relationship, called variously Greville, Granville, Grenville, Greenfield etc., formerly lords of the manor of Bideford, and holding the title Earl of Bath in the 17th.c., today represented in a cadet line by Baron Grenfell. This latter family would seem to continue the Devon family theme of Courtenay and Fortescue.
Numerous inter-house competitions are held throughout the school year in music, drama and sport, culminating in Sports' Day on the final day of the summer term. Points are awarded depending on how well houses do in each competition and whichever house has amassed the largest number of points after Sports' Day wins the coveted Southcomb Shield.
An extract from "West Buckland School 1858-1958. The First Hundred Years. A Review of a Century recorded by Friends and Pupils."
On July 31, 1917, there fell in action, E. H. Southcomb, then a Lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment. He was for many years a very cheerful member of the Brereton House, no great athlete but always ready to play his part to the best of his ability. On leaving West Buckland he went, by his father's wish, to Shrewsbury for two years, and then entered a bank, where he remained till war broke out. On his death it was found that he had left a legacy (£10 10s. 0d.) to the Sports Fund of his first school, and somewhat late it has at last been decided to perpetuate his memory by a Shield which will be held by the House which obtains the chief athletic cups in the School year, which starts in September. For this purpose, each of the Challenge Cups carries a definite mark. The allocation of marks for each cup was not an easy matter and even now the values may require re-adjustment in 1924. The Headmaster formed a committee consisting of Messrs. Corless, Taylor and Walton, and the list as issued by them will hold good at any rate till July, 1924. The winning House will hold the shield, which will be hung over their dining tables, and will also take the right of the line on ceremonial parades.
The order of the houses in the overall points standings at the end of the year determines which row of tables each house sits at for the following year in the dining hall (the Karslake).
The House system provides a continuity of pastoral care throughout a pupil's school career, as well as creating opportunities for leadership qualities to be demonstrated.
Courtenay are the current champions (2010–2011).
The houses have each won the Southcomb Shield (first competed for in 1924) the following number of times:
Brereton: 23 Grenville: 23 Fortescue: 21 Courtenay: 21
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Famous quotes containing the word houses:
“A feeble man can see the farms that are fenced and tilled, the houses that are built. The strong man sees the possible houses and farms. His eye makes estates, as fast as the sun breeds clouds.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“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)
“People’s backyards are much more interesting than their front gardens, and houses that back on to railways are public benefactors.”
—Sir John Betjeman (1906–1984)