The House system

Students are placed in one of our four houses that are named after local villages: Burnett, Compton, Newton, and Stanton.

Burnett – Purple

Compton – Blue

Newton – Orange

Stanton – Red

Each house has a Head of House, who is an experienced teacher. A Learning Mentor is also allocated to each house and their role is to support students and work closely with parents and carers.

A series of “House events” are organised throughout the school year, fostering a spirit of friendly rivalry and allowing our students to develop a sense of pride in working for others as well as for themselves. House points are awarded based on participation at these events and also recognise students whose behaviours support the school ethos, such as helping staff at whole-school events, leading tours of the school for visitors, or simply trying hard in the classroom.

Students in each tutor group can be elected by their fellow tutees to be the tutor group representative on the year group and House Council. Students in Year 11 may also nominate themselves to run for “House Leader”. Both prestigious leadership roles involve students in the organisation of the school and motivates them to lead by example. As representatives of their house these student leaders work collaboratively and constructively with teachers and classmates to continue the strong and close community which characterises our school.

The Tutoring system

At Wellsway our tutor groups are organised using a horizontal tutoring model; meaning that students are placed in tutor groups with children in the same year group as themselves. Each house contains two tutor groups from each year group, 7-13. We find that our tutoring model complements the vertical house system nicely: within their tutor group students can develop strong relationships with their peers as well as their tutor, who becomes the first point of contact for parents and carers, but also students can develop a sense of ‘belonging’ within the whole-school community.

Tutor sessions provide the opportunity for regular routines to support students in developing their organisation, punctuality and independence, as well as creating a number of opportunities for student leadership. All tutor groups follow a carefully planned tutor programme which is designed to support all students, this includes:

•             Weekly assemblies

•             Structured age appropriate PSHE sessions

•             Structured LORIC sessions to develop Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative and Communication

•             Personal and academic mentoring

•             Weekly quiz

Pastoral care, support and guidance is extremely important to us at Wellsway School and we pride ourselves on the work that we do in order to ensure that all children feel safe and happy in their school.