Houses

A “home from home”

Every girl and boy at Durham School belongs to a House and the Houses are at the very heart of our community. The House is much more than just a focus for competitions, as it is in many schools. At Durham School each House has its own distinct building with excellent facilities for private study and leisure. It is the place where pupils go first in the morning, where they return to frequently during the school day and from where they are most likely to leave in the evening. In fact, pupils, and indeed their parents, see it as a "home from home". It is our House system and all that it offers and means to our pupils that sets us apart from many of our competitors.

Staffing

Each House has a Housemaster or Housemistress, in most cases living on site with their family, plus a Junior Housemaster or Housemistress (who looks after pupils in Years 7 and 8), a Matron and a number of House Tutors. Since the boys’ houses each currently number over 100 pupils, they also have an Assistant Housemaster who looks after the interests of Years 10 and 11. So there are plenty of people available to help and support pupils should they have any problems at all, academic or non academic.

A Single-sex Haven in a Co-educational Environment

There are five Houses in all, three for boys (Caffinites, Poole and School) and two for girls (Pimlico and MacLeod), and since these are single-sex Houses within a co-educational community, our girls and boys have the best of both worlds. Poole, School and Pimlico Houses are our boarding Houses (although they also have day pupils), while Caffinites and MacLeod are day only.

A Community within a Community

“Community” is one of our watchwords. Our Houses are small communities in themselves with their own distinctive character and atmosphere. House loyalty is very strong and the many annual House competitions (for example in Music, Drama and many sports) are keenly contested in a spirit of intense, but friendly, rivalry. Each House has its own Head of House, House prefects and House Council and the pupils themselves are closely involved in the day-to-day running of their House.

Facilities

Each House (both boarding and day) has its own studies, kitchen, common rooms and leisure facilities where pupils can relax alone or together during quieter moments in the school day. Most pupils share a study, although some boarders have single study bedrooms and the older you are, the fewer pupils there are likely to be in your study.