What's the House System?
The House System is a main part of many British centres. Historically, the use of the term “house" was associated with boarding schools, since they grouped students according to their place of residence. Today the house system is used both in boarding schools and in ordinary schools.
Each center can have a different number of houses and chooses how to name them. Some schools choose the names of saints, areas of their region, famous former students, animals or colors. Each house can have its own emblems, colors and symbols. An example present in popular culture are the four houses of Hogwarts, the school of magic and sorcery from the Harry Potter saga of books and movies.
Which houses exist at The British School of Navarra?
At The British School of Navarra there are four houses named after great conquerors of the United Kingdom: Saxons, Normans, Romans and Vikings. When a student enrolls for the first time in our center they are randomly assigned to a house. If the student has siblings, when they join the center they are part of the same house.
What does it mean to be part of a house?
At BSN we believe that it is important to reward the achievements and progress of our students. In primary school, children work on a series of skills at school —using new vocabulary, helping their classmates, etc.— and they can get points for it. In addition, the points of each student are added to the total of those achieved by their house. In secondary, students also accumulate points by achieving merits, although the requirements are adapted to their age.
When a student accumulates enough points, they receive the corresponding bronze, silver or gold certificate. These diplomas are handed out at the end of the week during the Friday assembly, at which time the new scores and the champion of the week are also announced.
Numerous competitions are held during the course, such as costume contests, sports championships or literary challenges, among others, in which students obtain points. In some of these events, people participate by houses, mixing different ages, instead of by classes or courses. At the end of the course there can only be one winner of the house cup!