Our House System

Our House System reflects the structure and systems that have been instrumental in our success and creates a strong team and community identity. It reflects and delivers the commitment to ‘know, value and support every student to achieve.’

The College is divided into six Houses of about 240 students. There are 6 Houses – Brunel, Cavendish, Newton, Orwell, Pendleton and Wilberforce.

The Houses provide support and guidance within an environment where the needs of each child are known by his or her Tutor and Senior Tutor and their individual progress is monitored closely. Importantly, the House is the focus of the relationship between the school and families, with siblings in the same House.

The form tutor plays a vital role in providing continuity and cohesion to the student’s experience of school life, guiding and supporting the personal, academic and wider achievement of each individual student within the form.  The tutor is also the first point of contact by parents and is the primary link between home and school.  A tutor is involved in the process of monitoring, guiding and supporting students’ learning as they progress through the school, as well as helping them to prepare for further education and careers.

The Student Support Assistant (SSA) is available at all times during the school day to support the needs of students, tutors and parents within that House family.

Here are some of the key aspects of the House System and how it helps our students.

House Teams

Everyone at SVC (student and staff) belongs to a House (except the Headteacher who remains neutral).  

Each house has a Senior Tutor (who also is a teacher) and a Student Support Assistant (SSA) who oversee the running of the House. There are 10 forms within each House. Every teacher at the College is a form tutor, except Senior Tutors and the Headteacher.  Some part time teachers co-tutor a form with a colleague. Thes are in effect 'schools within schools' and encourage a solidarity across the years that is supportive and nurturing. It allows students to be mentored and inspired by those in different years around them.

Tutorial Teams

Pupils entering the College are all placed in one of the House’s 10 tutor groups in each House, with approximately 20 students in each; these tutor groups are vertical, with a cross-section of students from years 7 – 11. The tutor’s role is to support and guide students, along with their parents, to achieve their best academically and develop as individuals. Each House tutorial team is led by a Senior Tutor who is:

• Responsible for the quality of guidance and support provided by tutors within the House
• Accountable for promoting the personal, academic and wider achievement of students within the House.

Student Leadership

The House system at Swavesey Village College provides a wide range of opportunities for students to adopt leadership roles.

Swavesey believes in giving every student an opportunity to have a say about their school. The whole student body is able to to feedback about the school through our student voice process, which involves a student representative from each form collecting the views of their form. This is then fed back to Student Leaders through a House Council meeting for each of the 6 houses, and who then have the opportunity to present the views to a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Students are also often able to feedback on events and activities through online questionnaires.

The School Council consists of the House Leaders who meet every half term to discuss and implement ideas that come from the House Councils. They may also form Focus Groups which any student can be a member of to explore particular issues in more depth. For example, at the moment there is a Focus group working with members of staff to provide feedback on how the 5Rs are used effectively in lessons. In the past, students have been involved in making decisions about uniform, use of mobile technology, developing the school canteen and reviewing the rewards and sanctions policy to name but a few.

Students in each House can apply for roles such as House Leader, Arts Ambassadors, From representatives, Language Leaders or Sports Leaders. Students work alongside Senior Tutors and Curriculum Leads to organise events and activities, and other students perform similar roles within each form group. In addition, students also have opportunities to take part in whole school roles, being part of focus groups, the full school council, presenting at conferences or interviewing prospective candidates for job vacancies. We are proud to work with Viller's Park Villiers Park - Future Leaders Programme to ensure we offer Leadership training and opportunities to a wide range of students.

Year 9 students go through a formal application and interview process for these positions and are awarded them ready for Year 10. These positions provide valuable skills for life beyond Swavesey, including teamwork, communication, decision-making and problem-solving, alongside increased confidence and independence. Further to the opportunity to shape and give back to the school community, these skills are valued by colleges, apprenticeships, universities and employers.

Superleague

The ‘Swavesey Super League’ provides a focus for all the Inter house competitions that run throughout the year. Students who earn many Curriculum Credits for their efforts in lessons, also earn points towards the Super League for their House.  The competition runs through the year and culminates in a highly anticipated final with the last event of the year; Sports Day in the summer.  The winner of the Super League wins the highly coveted ‘Inter-House Trophy’. See current House Point totals on the homepage of the school website.