The House system at Borlase is a very important part of the school’s ethos and Borlasians are incredibly loyal to their House.

Pupils belong to House-based tutor groups and there are 8 tutor groups in each House. The houses were named after the ancient national groups that formed Great Britain: Britons, Danes, Normans, Romans, Saxons and Vikings. Borlasians can instantly be identified as being members of a House through an additional coloured stripe in their school tie : Britons – Blue; Danes- Yellow; Normans – Green; Romans – Purple; Saxons – Red; Vikings – Orange.

There are fortnightly House Assemblies and Chapel Assemblies in Houses, and Houses compete fiercely against one another across the year in the hope of winning the House Cup presented on the last day of term. Congratulations to Saxons who won the House Cup 2023-2024!

Students can earn points for their house in a number of ways, including through their academic and extra-curricular achievements, focus and attitude to learning in lessons, and wider contribution to school events. There are also specific House competitions which cover just about every discipline including House Cross Country, Sports Day and Tug of War, House Music, House Dance, House Drama as well as academic competitions in Mathematics, Spelling and Public Speaking.

Houses are led by one or two staff Heads of House and two student House Captains.

The student and staff House Captains/Heads of House for 2024-2025 are:

Britons - House Captains: Koa Copland & Ella Jenkins; Heads of House staff: Miss S Rayner & Mrs B Roman

Danes - House Captains: Alannah Ryder & Haider-Ali Baig; Heads of House staff: Mr S Miall & Mrs N Hartley

Normans - House Captains: Sam Babes & Elsa Lamping; Heads of House staff: Mr A Serrinha & Ms R O’Riordan

Romans - House Captains: Joe Cockroft & Odette Foley; Heads of House staff: Miss L Kendall & Mr H Manthorpe 

Saxons - House Captains: Imogen Downes & Sam Puddephatt; Heads of House staff: Mrs F Pryor & Mr E Hazine

Vikings - House Captains: Kiera Brennan & Thomas Shaw; Heads of House staff: Mr J Holloran & Mrs K Nicholas

House System 

There are three 'tiers' of House Competitions. Tier 3 competitions will take place most regularly - once every two weeks - with 25 house points awarded to the winners. Tier 2 competitions will take place four or five times over the year, with 40 house points awarded to the winners (this includes inter-house sports competitions). Tier 1 competitions take place once a term, with 120 house points awarded to the winners.

As well as through house competitions, students can earn 'house points' from teachers day-to-day as a reward for their academic or extracurricular achievements, and behaviour.

Competitions in the 2024-25 academic year include: House Dance, House Public Speaking and Debating, House Cross Country, House Sports Day, House Tug of War, House MFL Bakeoff, House Chess, House Tutor Board Competition, Inter-form House Competitions and more...

Competition House Points

Tier 1 Competitions: 1st place - 120 points; 2nd place - 100 points; 3rd place - 80 points; 4th place - 70 points; 5th place - 60 points; 6th place - 50 points

Tier 2 Competitions: 1st place - 40 points; 2nd place - 30 points; 3rd place - 25 points; 4th place - 20 points, 5th place - 15 points; 6th place - 10 points

Tier 3 Competitions: 1st place - 25 points; 2nd place - 20 points; 3rd place - 15 points; 4th place - 12 points; 5th place - 8 points; 6th place - 4 points

SIMs (day-to-day) House Points

At the end of the year, the total number of SIMs house points each house has received will be added to the House Cup totals, scaled down to ensure parity, as follows:

1st place - 40 points, 2nd place - 30 points, 3rd place - 25 points, 4th place - 20 points, 5th place - 15 points, 6th place - 10 points