House System

The Hedingham House System

At Hedingham School, our House System is at the heart of school life – promoting teamwork, participation, and a healthy dose of friendly competition.

Our Houses

When students join us in Year 7, they are sorted into one of our four distinctive Houses, each with its own House Colour and House Mascot.

Hawkwood
Moynes
Symonds
Thomason

Hawkwood - Red

Moynes - Yellow

Symonds - Blue

Thomason - Purple
The Hawkwood Hawks The Moynes Minotaurs The Symonds Sharks The Thomason Tigers 

These Houses give students a sense of identity and belonging throughout their seven-year journey at Hedingham – from Key Stage 3 (Years 7–9), through Key Stage 4 (Years 10–11), and into Key Stage 5 (Sixth Form, Years 12–13).

House & Form Groups

Each student’s form group belongs to the same House. Students generally remain with the same tutor and form from Year 7 to Year 10. They only encounter mixed House forms when they reach Year 11 and beyond. Students will encouraged to take part in activities and events as part of their form which within itself will build towards earning House Points for their House.

Earning House Points

House Points can be earned in lessons for a wide range of reasons, for example:

  • Excellent classwork or homework
  • Answering and asking questions
  • Positive contributions to discussions
  • Demonstrating key character traits like resilience, perseverance, and hard work
  • and many more....

Additional House Points are awarded for a variety of reasons across the year, for example:

  • Being named a Subject Star (+5 points)
  • Achieving 97%+ attendance for the year to date (via termly certificates) (+5 points)
  • House Coordinator Awards
  • Community Spirit Awards
  • and many more....
Interhouse Competitions

Throughout the year, students can take part in a wide range of interhouse competitions – from sports and quizzes to creative challenges and more. Every participant earns points just for getting involved. Winning individuals and teams bring in big point boosts for their House (think: “50 points to Gryffindor!”).

One major highlight is Sports Day, where every event counts – not just for winning, but for fielding a full team. Even if your House doesn’t place first, showing up and taking part earns vital points! Another exciting opportunity is the yearly Interhouse Arts Competition known as “Hedingham’s Got Talent” where students can enter a variety of different categories and win tons of House Points for their House. 

Student Leadership

Each House is led by a team of student leaders in Year 10 who champion participation and school spirit. They lead their respective Houses any other House related areas and help out the House Coordinator promote positivity and active engagement within their House community.

House Captain and Deputy House Captain (Year 10) – Elected by their peers within their House
Sports Captains – Help organise teams and events, self-nominated and then elected by PE staff

House Coordinators

Each House also has a dedicated House Coordinator – a member of staff who:

  • Promotes House spirit and participation
  • Leads half-termly House assemblies
  • Celebrates student successes
  • Shares updates and announces new competitions and opportunities

One of the most popular features in House Assemblies are the “House Shout-Outs” – where students can submit something they’re proud of and earn 5 House Points just for sharing it! Unlike the Year Leaders, a House Coordinators sole focus is to encourage students to get involved and get engaged within their House community.

House Coordinators change every 2 years but are always a member of staff from within the House they wish to represent.

The Current House Coordinators are:

Hawkwood - Mr Cull

Moynes - Mrs Binder

Symonds - Mrs Paulyn

Thomason - Mr Kerr

What happens to all those points?

While every House competes for glory, it’s not just about racking up points. The winning House at the end of the year is the one with the highest average House Points per student. This ensures every individual matters, and it encourages teamwork, inclusion, and mutual support. It's not about being the best on your own – it’s about being part of something bigger than yourself.

Once all the point totals and tallied up and calculated, the winning House is awarded the House Trophy for the year. Once a winner is crowned, we then look at organising a celebration event for the winning house to have some time together as a House being rewarded for their hard work and their approach to their school life during the academic year. This usually involves Music, Games and last year even included the opportunity to "soak the teacher".