Houses
At Orchard School we have a vibrant house system and thriving house culture. When each child joins us, they are allocated to one of four houses - Avalon, Butterfield, Dorchester or Wisley.
House Championship
Each house competes throughout the year for the prestigious House Cup. The House Cup is presented on the final day of term after a year of healthy competition!
There are four House Champions who are responsible for organising competitions and events.
- Avalon - Ms Lauren Stockley
- Butterfield - Miss Mabel Carrier
- Dorchester - Miss Amber-Jade Reith
- Wisley - Mr Elliott Ripley
House Points come from conduct scores, with points for House attendance and contribution to competitions too. Scores from tutor quizzes and fortnightly events are added together too, along with Sports Day competitions. At the end of term 6, one of the Houses wins the prestigious House Cup for the year, adorned with ribbons in the House colour.
Why do we have these House names?
They are all prominent orchards, and as we are Orchard School, there is a wonderful link. The names of the orchards were selected by staff and students in agreement with our governors. The final names were voted for by students.
How do orchards link to our values?
Apples have been gathered by humans since the Neolithic and Bronze ages; they have played a part in keeping us healthy and well fed. Domesticated apples, close to those we eat nowadays, originally came from central Asia and the Middle East. These apples were different from traditional English apples, but open-minded Victorians enthusiastically nurtured them, using grafting techniques to develop apples to support them to thrive in England, and then shared them across the country.
Orchards have had a major role to play in Britain’s cultural history, and many artists and writers have been creatively inspired by them. Legend has it that Newton saw an apple falling from a tree in the 1600s and this piqued his curiosity and inspired his theory of gravity.
Apples from across the world have brought people together, to learn about different cultivars and respect different horticultural approaches. Orchards have struggled over the years to be maintained, particularly in the face of intensive farming and international competition. However, groups of determined individuals have worked at a local level to bring back many orchards, recognising their environmental value, supporting biodiversity, wildlife habitats, and our responsibility for conservation and caring for our planet.
National collections of home-grown fruits, whether apples, cherries, medlars, plums, quince, pears, gages, crab apples, or other soft fruit, have been brought together ambitiously, to recognise and celebrate our heritage.
