Holiday

Highdown House System Vision: 

To foster a culture of community spirit within Highdown: encouraging vertical integration and collaboration through competitive events, charitable fundraising, and communal celebration.

Four Houses:

All students and staff are members of one of four houses - Caversham, Grove, Mapledurham or Rosehill

 

House Points 

House points will be awarded throughout the year for competitions for  each year group.  Any examples of contributing to the wider community as well as excellent effort, work and improvement also attract the reward of house points.

These points are collected each term and collated for termly prizes/rewards as well as contributing towards a running total for the academic year.

Heads of House 

  • Caversham: Miss G Beale
  • Grove: Mrs P Hawkins 
  • Mapledurham: Mrs D Birru
  • Rosehill: Miss L Adam

Mottos 

  • Caversham – Roaring to success. 
  • Grove – Harder, better, faster, stronger.
  • Mapledurham – Fire your way to victory!
  • Rosehill – Soaring above the rest. 

Mentor Groups 

Students will be placed into a horizontal mentor group when they are registered at Highdown School.  Eventually, all mentor groups will have a mix of the 4 houses.  Currently:

  • Year 7 – All mentor groups have a mix of the 4 houses
  • Year 8 – All mentor groups have a mix of the 4 houses
  • 9C, 9K, 9L, 10C, 10K, 11C, 11H (half),11K – Rosehill 
  • 9D, 9J, 9M, 10D, 10J, 11D, 11H (half), 11J – Mapledurham 
  • 9E, 9H, 10E, 10H (half), 10F, 11E, 11F – Caversham 
  • 9F, 9G, 10G, 10H (half), 10L, 11G, 11L - Grove 
  • Year 12 – All mentor groups have a mix of the 4 houses
  • Year 13 - All mentor groups have a mix of the 4 houses

House Weeks 

Each term, there is a house week.  Each house week will be themed on topics and ideas which promote aspiration and community spirit. Previous examples include; Teams, Arts, Raise and Give, STEAM, Community and Sports.  

Students and staff will compete in competitive events during this week and take part in fund-raising activities. 

House Charities 

The Head of House and student leaders will decide what house charity to raise money for each academic year.  Whilst competitions and fund-raising events will be set during house weeks, students are encouraged to design and deliver fundraising activities throughout the academic year to raise money for their charity. 

The current house charities are:

Caversham – Young Minds

Grove – Launchpad

Mapledurham – Alzheimer’s Research UK

Rosehill – Alexander Devine – Children’s Hospice Service

House Champions 

Rosehill are the 2020-2021 Champions and holders of the Mary Neal Shield. 

House points will be awarded throughout the year for competitions for each year group. Any examples of contributing to the wider community as well as excellent effort, work and improvement also attract the reward of house points.  All competitions, house points, fundraising events, etc. will be added together to create a winning house. They will win the Mary Neal Shield.  The winning house’s flag will be flown and stay on display for the next academic year. 

Ways in which students can get involved