Brookfield Community School House Structure

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House Structure

“Ultimately, my own desire to be successful has always outweighed any external pressures and influences. That will always be the case.” Ben Ainslie

At Brookfield, the House system is central to our ethos and culture, promoting a vital sense of belonging.

There are seven houses, each of which has its own special character and all of which enrich the life of the school, providing fun and laughter, and promoting a healthy competitive spirit in our students.

Each house is named after a British Olympic athlete who has inspired us in their pursuit of excellence. Houses are arranged into vertical PD groups, containing four or five students from each year.

Tutor groups meet four times every week, during which there is an opportunity for students to receive advice and guidance, to get involved in wider school life, to take on additional responsibility and leadership roles and to work on their own personal development.

At Brookfield, we believe that our partnership with parents and carers is vital in supporting students to achieve their very best at school. To that end, we work hard to communicate regularly and effectively with home, and parents are encouraged to join with us in celebrating their child’s progress and achievements.

The school is organised into seven houses. Within each House are eleven tutor groups arranged vertically, containing four or five students from each year group.

This means:

Tutors see their tutees for 25 minutes daily in Personal Development Time
Smaller Personal Development group sizes
Tutors are able to give high quality support, advice and guidance to tutees as they progress through the school
Smaller groups help to improve communication and encourage a good working relationship between home and school.
Parents feel more involved in their child’s education. This has proved to be a very positive development as parents support their child through the secondary phase of their education.

House Leaders are responsible for the overall personal well-being of the child including over-seeing student progress and development through tutors. House Leaders are responsible for the support and guidance of each child and where necessary will liaise with Teaching Staff, School First Aiders, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators, parents, external agencies, like the family support workers and social care. They will spend a considerable amount of time in lessons, supporting and guiding students through their learning. Also House leaders work closely with the Pastoral Support Officer in dealing with behavioural issues.

Vertical Tutors Groups are arranged centrally and so we do not request friendship pairings from our cluster primary schools. We will endeavour to place families within the same House (but not the same tutor group) and also to make sure that we spread students with particular strengths and abilities evenly across the Houses.

We will aim to place two boys or two girls from the same primary school into a tutor group, but this will not be based on friendship pairings. The introduction of the House system has significantly increased the number of opportunities for involvement, leadership and responsibility.

Relationships will be reinforced as students support each other in a very positive manner through our learning-buddy system. The greater involvement of parents in the learning process will give significant additional support to each child, helping to raise standards of achievement.

Parents are encouraged to contact tutors via the School Reception if there is a problem concerning their child and Tutors will contact parents if they have a reason to be concerned about a child’s progress.

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