View source for House system

{{Short description|School system of dividing students into groups  to foster loyalty}}
{{about|the British school grouping system|the astrological concept|House (astrology)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
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[[File:Lenana School Blocks-Houses-Colours.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|House uniform colours at [[Lenana School]] in [[Nairobi]], Kenya]]

The '''house system''' is a traditional feature of schools in the [[United Kingdom]]. The practice has since spread to [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries. The school is divided into units called "houses" and each student is allocated to one house at the moment of enrollment. Houses may compete with one another in sport and in other ways, thus providing a focus for group loyalty.

Historically, the house system has been associated with [[Public school (UK)|public schools]] in England, especially [[boarding school]]s, where a "house" referred to a [[boarding house]] at the school. In this case, the [[housemaster]] or [[housemistress]] in charge of the house is [[in loco parentis]] to the pupils who live in it, even though the house normally has a separate "private side" in which they can live a family life.<ref>Geoffrey Walford, ''Life in Public Schools'' (London: Routledge, 2012) [https://books.google.com/books?id=HUDxzktAwEwC&pg=PA118 p. 118]</ref> Such an arrangement still continues in most boarding schools, while in day schools the word ''house'' is likely to refer to a grouping of pupils, rather than to a particular building.

Schools have different numbers of houses, with different numbers of students in each, depending on the arrangements adopted by the schools. Facilities, such as [[pastoral care]], may be provided on a house basis.{{Citation needed paragraph|date= November 2022}}

Houses may be named after [[saint]]s, famous historical alumni or notable regional topics (e.g. in international schools, houses are sometimes named in honour of local celebrities). Former British royal houses (dynasties) are also used in the UK. Other more arbitrary names—animal names or colours, for example—are also often used. Houses are also often referred to by the original name of the building or by the name or initials of the housemistress or housemaster. Each house will usually also be identified by its own symbol, logo, or colours.

At co-educational boarding schools, there may be separate houses for boys and girls, as at the [[Lawrenceville School]], whose house system is itself based on that of [[Rugby School]]. Students may also be grouped by year groups or status as boarders or day students. At [[Winchester College]] and [[Eton College]], there is a separate house for foundation scholars. Where the school has boarders and day pupils like the [[King's School, Canterbury]] or [[Shrewsbury School]], they will often be allocated to separate houses. There have also been cases, for example at [[Cheltenham College]], of pupils being allocated to different houses according to their religion. At traditional full boarding schools such as [[Radley College]] and [[Harrow School]], students are grouped by boarding house.{{Citation needed paragraph|date= November 2022}}

== Pastoral care ==
[[File:Display in University High School, Victoria, with the names of the former school houses and portraits of formed students who served in the First World War.jpg|thumb|House banners at a public school in [[Australia]]]]
In some boarding schools, a primary purpose of the house system is to provide [[pastoral care]] to the [[student]]s. Separated from parents for long periods, children will rely on the school to fulfil their [[social|socio]]-[[emotional]] needs, in addition to meeting their basic physical care. The smaller within-school structure of the house facilitates this, by promoting personalised care, with more frequent interactions, and lower child-to-adult-carer ratios, than within the wider school. Similar benefits of closer relationships between teachers and students may occur in day schools that use house systems for this purpose.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dierenfied |first1=R. B. |title=The house system in comprehensive schools: Its current status |journal=British Journal of Educational Studies |date=February 1976 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=5–11 |doi=10.1080/00071005.1976.9973453}}</ref>

Peer relationships and fostering of community feeling are a similar aim of school house systems, whether in boarding or day schools. One headmaster of an English-style school – Brighton College Bangkok – David Tongue, writing in an editorial,<ref name="relocate">{{cite magazine |last1=Tongue |first1=David |title=The House System: a typically British educational institution. (Editorial) |url=https://www.relocatemagazine.com/articles/education-the-house-system-a-typically-british-educational-institution |access-date=23 August 2021 |magazine=Relocate Magazine |id=www.relocatemagazine.com online |date=23 September 2016 |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823083402/https://www.relocatemagazine.com/articles/education-the-house-system-a-typically-british-educational-institution |url-status=dead }}</ref>  described the team-spirit engendered by school houses this way: "This camaraderie and solidarity is second to none and the benefits of this vertical interaction, where the young look up to the elder and where the elder look out for and support the younger, are profound." In Britain, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust [now [[SSAT (The Schools Network)]]], has endorsed use of House systems as one strategy for preventing the deterioration of children's educational and social progress, a common feature of transition from [[primary school|primary]] to [[secondary school]].<ref name="Ind">{{cite news |last1=Garner |first1=Richard |title=State secondaries urged to bring back the house system |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/state-secondaries-urged-to-bring-back-the-house-system-913930.html |access-date=23 August 2021 |work=The Independent |date=22 October 2011 |language=en}}</ref>

== Competition between houses ==
A secondary feature of house systems is the competition between houses. For example, the traditional school [[sports day]] is usually an inter-house competition. [[Debating]] competitions and charity drives are also often organised along inter-house lines. Merit points for behaviour and academic achievement may also be totalled up for comparison between houses.

Some schools have a year-long programme of inter-house events, in a variety of fields but most often sports or the arts, in which each house "hosts" an event at which all houses compete, with points contributing to the award of the House Cup at the end of the year.

[[Shrewsbury School]] and [[Eton College]] still maintain an annual [[bumps race]] between houses, which was carried on by old boys to [[Oxford University|Oxford]] and [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]] colleges, both of which still race in bumps; Shrewsbury and Eton race in fours, whilst Oxford and Cambridge race in eights. 

[[St Bartholomew's School]], one of England's oldest state schools, hosts a series of sporting and arts House competitions and recently added a House Film competition.<ref>{{cite web |title=St Bartholomew's School celebrates Oscar-style competition |url=https://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/school-celebrates-oscars-style-event-9299926/ |website=NewburyToday |date=21 February 2023 |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref>

== Membership and roles ==
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Pupils are usually assigned to houses randomly, perhaps with the aim of balancing the houses in order to increase competition.  Sometimes the assignment is based on the social and emotional needs of the student and to ensure proper [[peer mentor]]ing is enhanced with the right fit of students within a house.<ref name="Green">{{cite journal |last1=Green |first1=Daniel G. |title=Welcome to the House System |journal=Educational Leadership |date=April 2006 |volume=63 |issue=7 |pages=64–67 |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ745589 |access-date=23 August 2021 |language=en |issn=0013-1784 |id=EJ745589}}</ref> Traditionally, however, once a pupil has been assigned to a house, any younger siblings may automatically become members of that house when they arrive at the school, but this varies from school to school. (This tradition sometimes extends to the children of former pupils.) Once a pupil has been allocated to a house they usually stay with that house as they move up through the year groups. In some schools, pupils may move to a house for senior pupils in [[Sixth Form]].

One notable feature of the house system is the appointment of ''house captains'', and maybe other house [[prefect]]s, who exercise limited authority within the house and assist in the organisation of the house. Large schools may have a house captain for each year group (with vice-captains in the largest schools).

In boarding schools, the term ''housemaster''  or ''housemistress'' is the title held by the member of staff responsible for pupils living in a particular house (or [[dormitory]]). In [[state school]]s, members of staff are appointed as (or volunteer to become) ''head of house''. However, both terms can be used at either style of school for the sake of formality. In some cases, houses may have their own staff members other than housemaster or housemistress.

== Adoption by US K12 Schools ==
House systems have gained increasing popularity in the United States, particularly over the past two decades. One of the most prominent examples of its early adoption in U.S. schools is the [[Ron Clark Academy]], which has become widely known for using a house system to promote school spirit, positive behavior, and a sense of belonging. The school's success has inspired many others to adopt similar systems.

Unlike the traditional British model, American schools often tailor their house systems to reflect local culture and community values. House names may reference regional icons, cultural themes, or school-specific values rather than historical figures or alumni. Additionally, the systems are often used to support behavior management and social-emotional learning, especially in K-12 settings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=House Name Ideas |url=https://www.whyliveschool.com/house-name-ideas |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.whyliveschool.com |language=en}}</ref>

===Public middle school before 2004===
	
Although this system is mostly associated with private K12 schools (such as Ron Clark Academy above), the [[Danville Area School District|public]] middle school of [[Danville, Pennsylvania]] formerly had a house system of sorts. The houses were known as "teams", and there were two houses or teams each for 6th graders, 7th graders, and 8th graders. This house system was abolished in 2004.

== Other uses ==
The term "house system" is also used to refer to the [[residential college]] systems found in some US colleges and universities, such as [[Rice University]], [[Caltech]], [[Yale College]], [[Harvard College]], [[University of Notre Dame|Notre Dame]], and [[University of Chicago]]. These systems are based on the college systems of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge Universities]] in the United Kingdom, which in turn share many similarities with the house systems of British secondary schools.

== Prominence in school stories ==
The first boarding-school story was [[Sarah Fielding]]'s ''[[The Governess, or The Little Female Academy]]'', published in 1749.<ref name="steege" /> The genre did not become popular until 1857, with [[Thomas Hughes]]' novel ''[[Tom Brown's School Days]]''.<ref name="steege" /> The house system has since featured prominently in thousands of [[school stories]] books, with many authors writing a whole series of books such as [[Chalet School]] and [[Malory Towers]] which have been published around the world and translated into several languages.<ref name="steege" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Harry Potter – All Things to All People? |author=Gill James |publisher=Proceedings of the first Harry Potter conference on the UK (Accio UK 2005) |url=http://accio.org.uk/05/proc/gilljames.pdf}}</ref> The ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books and films (re)popularized this genre, and resulted in unprecedented awareness of British boarding schools (and their house system) in countries where they were previously largely unknown.<ref name="steege" />

These stories depict the popular conception of a British boarding school rather than how modern boarding schools work in reality, and often focus on the most positive aspects.<ref name="steege" /> For example, loyalty to one's house is very important in real-life houses, and features prominently in many of these books.<ref name="steege">{{cite book |title=The ivory tower and Harry Potter: perspectives on a literary phenomenon |chapter=Harry Potter, Tom Brown, and the British School Story: Lost in Transit? |author=David K. Steege |editor=Lana A. Whited |edition=illustrated |publisher=University of Missouri Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8262-1549-9 |pages=140–156 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iO5pApw2JycC&pg=PA140}}</ref> The ''Harry Potter'' books have updated the boarding school to 21st-century values, for example by depicting [[mixed-sex education]] houses.<ref name="steege" /> Most Britons never went to a boarding school, but have integrated their values by reading these books.<ref name="steege" />

The translators of some foreign editions of the ''Harry Potter'' books had difficulties conveying the "house" concept in languages like Russian or German, because there was no word that could adequately convey the importance of belonging to a certain house, the loyalty owed to one's house, and the pride in the prizes won by one's own house.<ref name="russian">{{cite journal |journal=Meta Translators' Journal |title=From Harry to Garri: Strategies for the Transfer of Culture and Ideology in Russian Translations of Two English Fantasy Stories |author=Judith Inggshttp |volume=48 |issue=1-2 Traduction pour les enfants / Translation for children |date=May 2003 |pages=285–297 |doi= 10.7202/006975ar |doi-access=free }}</ref> This forced translators to insert extra explanations in the dialogue, which made some foreign readers think that the house and boarding systems were a special feature of the fantasy setting rather than a real-world feature which would not need to be explained to a typical British child.<ref name="feral">{{cite journal |title=The Translator's "Magic" Wand: Harry Potter's Journey from English into French |first=Anne-Lise |last=Feral |journal=Translators' Journal |volume=51 |issue=3 |year=2006 |pages=459–481 |doi=10.7202/013553ar |doi-access=free }}</ref> The French translation does not explain the differences between the French and English real-world boarding schools, instead having the house system and the head girls and boys explained as peculiarities of [[Hogwarts]].<ref name="feral" />

== See also ==
* [[School Council#The five houses and duty-days|School Council House System]] in Myanmar basic education schools (public schools)
* [[Harvard House system|Harvard house system]]
* [[University of Notre Dame residence halls]]
* [[House System at the California Institute of Technology]]
* [[Hogwarts houses]], fictional houses in [[Harry Potter]] books

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Education in England]]
[[Category:Student houses| ]]
[[Category:Social groups]]
[[Category:School terminology]]