Ballarat Grammar School - House System

House System

The house system is very important to the structure of the school, and there is substantial rivalry between houses in swimming, athletics, and choral competitions, among others. The house system also provides pastoral care and a degree of mentoring to students. The rivalry is particularly seen between the two boys' boarding houses, Dart and Wigan, which often used to engage in pranks against each other. This practice was abandoned in 2007 after new administration deemed the activities of the boarding houses to be inappropriate. Dart and Wigan still compete against each other in soccer and Australian rules football matches. These houses used to be one, and their subsequent division may be the cause of the competition. The Dart-Wigan rivalry is often overlooked when competing against the "day" (non-boarding) houses.

There are also two girls' boarding houses, Hayhoe, Woodbridge and Larritt. Hayhoe has multiple buildings including Larritt which was created to accommodate the ever-increasing number of boarders, housing exclusively female boarders in years 7, 8 and 9. Larritt girls 'graduate' to Hayhoe and Woodbridge when they reach year 10.

There are also eight day houses, four for girls and four for boys. The girls' day houses are Manifold, Krome, Cuthbert and Macpherson. The boys' houses are Smith, Butler, Robin and Nevett.

All houses are named after people who were important to the school such as former Headmasters/Headmistresses or substantial donors, and are paired in brother-sister groups. While the houses are generally independent, they compete together in a number of competitions.

The pairs are:

• Macpherson - Nevett
• Manifold - Smith
• Woodbridge - Dart
• Hayhoe - Wigan
• Cuthbert - Robin
• Krome - Butler
• Larritt