House System
We successfully moved to a House system incorporating vertical groups in 2011. Since then the House system has gone from strength to strength and we now operate on a blended approach of year group forms, Monday to Thursday and vertical tutor groups on a Friday where students complete the weekly Friday challenge.
Each House has three to four tutor groups consisting of 25-30 students. The form tutor has the main responsibility for the pastoral care and academic progress of the student and is the first point of contact between home and the school.
Each House has a Head of House (HoH) who supports the form tutor and overall pastoral care and academic progress of the House. The current Heads of House (HoH) are:
- Eagle: Ms C Wade
- Falcon: Ms O'Dell
- Harrier: Mr C Coe
- Merlin: Mrs J Lysons
Fortnightly, students will have a House assembly with their Head of House.
The House system and vertical tutor groups bring many advantages to the pastoral structure:
- Tutors are able to target support for a small group of students at key times of the year (e.g. Options time - the tutor can give quality time to support the Year 9 students in the tutor group).
- It provides a system for friendly competition between Houses in all manner of areas, e.g. sport, the arts, attendance, behaviour, charitable activities.
- There are increased opportunities for responsibilities for students e.g. House/Vice House Captains, mentors for younger students. Heads of House will provide support and guidance for the team of tutors. Parents/carers can arrange to see the tutor or Head of House should the need arise.
- There are four Houses - Eagle, Falcon, Merlin and Harrier. These names were chosen by Student Voice.
Here at Forest Hall there is fierce competition between each of our Houses. Both students and staff are allocated a House when we first join the School. Each year, each House has a two week period to raise as much money as they can for their chosen charity. Each student has many opportunities individually or as a team to win vital House points for that all important total. Our House names were chosen for two reasons, our close links to Stansted Airport (each house has the name of an aircraft) and also birds of prey. The names were chosen by the School’s student community several years ago and we have proudly kept the tradition going.
Year 11 students follow a bespoke pastoral structure; they attend bespoke core interventions in English, Maths and Science during registration based on the identified need of the student.
The pastoral needs of Year 11 are supported by Mr P Conlon as the Director of Year 11.