HOUSE QUIZ

Lorna Conroy, Secondary Assistant Principal, Student Welfare

At8:00am on Friday 10th February the whistle sounded for the start of the 2023 House Quiz. The new format meant that it was bigger and better than ever before.

The House Quiz has formed part of the House competition for many years at Bangkok Patana. COVID restriction meant that in the past few years, students have competed as tutor groups in separate locations; however, now that restrictions have eased, we had the chance to reintroduce the quiz in a fresh and enhanced format.

When reflecting on the importance of the House System at Bangkok Patana, words that spring to mind include: Involvement, Community and belonging, Challenge, Competition (friendly), and Enjoyment. The aim of the House Quiz is therefore to meet all of these in abundance.

Involvement

Every single student in Secondary School was involved and earned valuable points for their House. At 8:00am, students in Years 7, 8 and 9 all made their way to one for the four quiz venues ready for the competition to begin. For some, this involved being part of a team competing in one of three specialist quizzes - Art and Culture, Science and Technology, or World and Current Affairs. Here, students battled it out to show their expertise by answering challenging questions written by the different faculties. Other students formed the audience and had the opportunity to ‘steal’ points from other houses should their team get the answer wrong. Meanwhile 216 students from Years 7, 8 and 9 headed up to the Conference Centre to take part in the General Knowledge Quiz. This included a mash-up round with a combination of questions from the specialist quizzes as well as rounds to test their knowledge of movies, capital cities and sporting teams.

While students in Key Stage 3 competed in the venues, students in Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 were in tutor bases gaining additional points from rounds including super heroes, country, dingbats and ‘name the place’.

The change-over took place after Period 1 when it was the turn of Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 to compete in the specialist and general knowledge quizzes and 7, 8 and 9 to return to tutor bases to earn extra points.

In terms of involvement, every single student played a vital role in earning points for their respective houses.

Community And Belonging

The House system also aims to foster a sense of community among students and staff. The quiz event brought together individuals from different Year groups who worked collaboratively in teams to compete in the specialist and general knowledge quizzes. This, combined with the tutor base activities, helped cultivate a strong sense of community spirit and belonging on various levels.

Challenge

Challenge came in many forms. The specialist quizzes proved very challenging. See for yourself by having a go at the small sample below.

1) How many teams are there in the English Football Women’s Super League (WSL)?

a) 8 b) 10 c) 12 d) 14 a)‘Demand and supply are equal b) Prices are increasing c) Other things being equal d) A respected economist has died a) A solution of Barium chloride in Hydrochloric acid b) A solution of Silver nitrate in Nitric acid c) Sodium hydroxide solution d) Damp blue litmus paper

2) In economic theory what is the term ‘ceteris paribus’ is used to indicate?

3) Which of the following is used to test for the presence of chloride ions?

(Answers: c, c, b)

Collaborating in teams during the tutor-based rounds provided an added layer of challenge, as every student in the group had to work together cohesively in order to maximise their points.

A further example of the challenge was for the Student Delegates from Year 13. They were tasked with the role of overseeing the running of the quiz. This included posing questions, evaluating answers, and handling the occasionally boisterous crowd. Some of them demonstrated such great charisma that they could have promising futures in the television industry!

Let’s hear their thoughts on this experience:

Rie (Senior Delegate and MC of the General Knowledge Quiz) “The chaos! Though it may seem stressful, the buzz of students’ conversations, coordinating a team of teachers to distribute and mark the question papers, and the enthused MCs’ chants are what made the House Quiz so enjoyable for me.”

Giles (Senior Delegate and MC of the World and Current Affairs Quiz) “Being able to stand up on stage and coordinate was great. It’s a great way to engage with the younger and older students alike while cheering on the houses.”

COMPETITION (FRIENDLY)

When welcoming students as they arrived at school on Friday morning, it was clear that the spirit of competition was in the air and as soon as the quiz ended the students were asking ‘who has won?’. But they had an agonising wait as all the results were verified and collated. On Monday morning their wait was over – Chang and Phuket were crowned the winning houses, scoring exactly the same number of points.

Enjoyment

I know I certainly enjoyed the quiz, but let’s hear what the students had to say:

Rajul (Chair of the Junior Delegates) “The organisation was well thought out and created a relaxing atmosphere, which allowed the event to be exciting instead of stressful. There was friendly competition and the system of allowing the audience to participate was a nice touch. Overall, it was a fun event that students will look forward to each year.”

Advika (Junior Delegate and ViceChair of the JSRC) “The House Quiz was wonderful, especially considering how much time it would have taken to research every topic and write questions on them. The Senior Delegates executed it perfectly and made it really enjoyable.”

Vivaan (Junior Delegate and Chair of the JSRC) “I think I speak for the whole school when I say that we really appreciate the amount of work the Senior Delegates put in to plan this House Quiz. We all value the fact the time and effort they put forth in order to make it memorable for each and every one of us.”

Luanna (Student Delegate) “Faced with a tough question and a ticking clock, students scramble to discuss and pen down an answer. The House Quiz is an event where students from different year groups and with different interests get to come together for some friendly competition - it’s great to see teams (and audience members, teachers included!) celebrating when a question is answered correctly.”

Overall, it was a very enjoyable event where every student in the community was involved in friendly competition as they rose to the challenge of each round.