The House System at Wood Green was relaunched 3 years ago with the intent to foster a sense of belonging and healthy competition at the school. With the support of staff and student leaders the competition was reignited becoming part of school culture, with all staff and students being part of one of two schoolhouses.
It’s been a great success, but Wood Green wanted to foster a greater sense of interhouse competition and remove the binary win or lose aspect that existed, so students could vie not only for first and last place, but also to see their house rise and fall across their year and to see how their individual actions contributed to its broader success.
A proposal was put to everyone via student voice and staff voice, consulting them all on dissolving the two houses and moving towards four renamed houses. The theme of which was also up for voting.
The student body voted in the student voice headed up by one of the schools head students Bethany Jones (pictured) "In celebration of the 70th anniversary of Wood Green School, we thought it would be a wonderful idea to bring back 4 of the original 6 tree house names from the 1980s."
The new houses are Pine, Elm, Ash & Oak. The roles of student leaders have been reworked and the school have begun the process of handing leadership of each house over to students in the Sixth form, creating first ever student Heads of House. These students will act as role models for House Leaders lower down in the school and help shape the culture and ethos of their houses as well as encouraging them to take part in events.
Students will continue to earn house points to contribute to their house total and a will be offered the opportunity to partake in a programme of house events being developed and led in part by History teacher Kirsten Hunter (pictured) "The house system is valuable in providing students with opportunities to collaborate and celebrate, lead and inspire, enhancing a sense of community and belonging, while fostering healthy competition."
The first event will see the return of the popular seasonal photo competition, so check out the school’s social media for details of the winners! You can find the school on Facebook, Instagram and X as: @wgswitney
