House System

At OHA we want to establish a house system that is well renowned and recognised as a key part of life within the academy.

Our house system will allow pupils to feel a part of something wider, where they are able to express themselves, feel a sense of belonging and achieve beyond their Horizons.

In September 2023 we relaunched our house system to link with our cultural development and to provide pupils with experiences and opportunities to develop personally alongside their education. At Ormiston Horizon Academy, we are extremely proud of our House System as it links heavily with our academy values of Respect, Resilience and Responsibility and allows pupils to demonstrate the skills and qualities of an OHA-er. Our House System allows our pupils to have access to a wide range of experiences which encourages them to become self-motivated, find a sense of belonging and achieve success.

Our House System allows us to provide pupils with the opportunities to participate in a wide range of activities, competitions, and events all of which have a direct link to subjects within the National Curriculum. Events are run weekly; during Personal Tutor time or after school and involve all year groups across the academy. Pupils are able to sign up to events on a termly basis, this ensures that all events are populated with pupils well in advance of the event. The events calendar is promoted weekly during our Wednesday House Update and is displayed on our House boards on the walls of the academy restaurant. Events are split into Sport and Academic events, and there is a wide range of activities to ensure there is an event suitable for every pupil to take part in. We work closely with our Student Voice panel to ensure our House System and its events have high levels of pupil engagement, interest, and impact on pupil development. Pupils are awarded House Points for signing up to and completing an event and the winners of each event are awarded additional House Points and receive a certificate which is presented to them during a celebration assembly at the end of the half term. These rewards provide pupils with a great sense of achievement and responsibility regardless of their finishing position in the event.

Our House names were selected by our Student Voice panel in the Summer Term of 2023 and each of them represent a mythological God or Goddess. The names of our Houses are Vulcan, the God of Fire; Tellus, the Goddess of Earth; Neptune, the God of Water; and Apollo, the God of Sun. Each of our Houses have 10 PTs attached to them, two from each year group, with each PT having a PT House Captain. Each House also has elected pupils acting as a Key Stage 3 House Captain and a Key Stage 4 House Captain. We also have one member of staff from each House who have the role of the Staff House Captain, these were voted for by the pupils themselves. Our House Captain posters are displayed on our House Boards on the walls of the academy restaurant, and can also be seen below.

We are proud of the positive impact that our House System has on the lives of our pupils, and we are encouraged to do all we can to ensure that our OHA-ers feel a part

of something wider, are able to express themselves, feel a sense of belonging and achieve beyond their Horizons.