Senatorial ‘Houses Or Different Developments Yonder’ Report Compiled by Senator Sam Harrison (12CN) and Senator James Persico (12HD) With thanks to all those mentioned in the acknowledgements, without whom this report may never have happened
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Contents Preliminary Ideas…………………………………………………………..3 Student Opinions…………………………………………………………..4 Staff Opinions……………………………………………………………...6 Analysis of Advantages and Disadvantages………………………………………………………….….7
Student Polls……………………………………………………………….9 Case Studies…………………………………………………………..…17 Recommended Names for Houses…………………………………………………………………....19 Potential Sorting Hats……………………………………………………20 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………22 Acknowledgements………………………………………………………..24
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Houses: Preliminary Ideas
n as much as the discussion of this proposal has been undertaken by those intending to undertake the undertaking in question, and the questions of the efficacy and utility of the proposal in question have been opened to discussion, it has been suggested that those matters which the report has previously discussed be put to the question in a way which, as seems perfectly plain, calls into question the whole questionable procedure of putting to the question the proposal at hand, this quite clearly being the fairest method of proceeding. In that furthermore the questions regarding the proposal have yet to be provided with the evidence to which the report made reference inasmuch as it made reference to the matters put to the question, if questionably, it may be necessary to put to the question the whole procedure by which the report in question has previously reportedly questioned the matters discussed beforehand. Whereas the houses to which the report has elsewhere made reference are indeed to be considered by those considering them, it has been implied that their establishment is the primary function of any such procedure as that previously discussed by the discussion to which this report has made reference in the references previously referred to. This impression is, of course, quite incorrect, insofar as the discussion made reference to was never referenced by the reference in the discussion itself. Without a doubt, the primary response to the idea of introducing a House system has been “like Hogwarts?”. This, in the opinion of all involved notwithstanding those involved in an auxiliary role without prior involvement in the nonauxiliary running of those roles considered nonauxiliary by those involved in the auxiliary runnings of the auxiliary roles, is a particularly impressive feat, seeing as a question is not an answer, any more than a statement is a carrot.
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Student Opinions Consultations with a range of students revealed the following opinions:
In favour: Belief that such a system: 1. would create camaraderie amongst students from all age groups
2. could lead to a greater range of competitions within the school, extending from interform to interhouse
3. might enhance the general, preferably friendly, air of competition within the school in terms of achievements
4. could extend friendship groups
5. would give actual purpose to things like Sports Day
6. would provide fertile grounds for the cultivation of banter
7. would provide an excuse for the school to buy a sorting hat
8. would be an example of the will of the school, Sixth Form included (see page 13), being put into practice
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Against: Belief that such a system: 1. would be completely and utterly pointless, especially at Sixth Form Level, due to possible lack of interest (see page 9)
2. would be utterly unable to replicate the brilliance of Hogwarts
3. could cause excessive and damaging competition between students (though it was felt that the majority would not react in this way)
4. would be a waste of time
5. would have no real impact
6. would “barely do anything”
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Statement: The Senate of the Altrincham Grammar School for Boys Union of Students is considering the possibility of a houses system within the school, organising pupils into these large groups. Those who argue in favour of the idea point out that such a system would add an element of competition in many events, such as Sports Day, and some have suggested a house points arrangement, with the highest scoring house winning some kind of reward. It has also been noted that houses may create a valuable sense of camaraderie between year groups, something presumably more valuable to the lower years. Opponents point out the difficulty in managing such large houses, and tend to be more sceptical about the potential utility of the structure. Staff opinions Staff member
Capacity
Opinion
Mrs. Clarke
Librarian
A houses system has a great deal of potential. Using houses as a way of organising those taking part in competitions was discussed.
Miss Coates
Teacher
Great idea gave examples based off her own experiences.
Mr. Soulsby
Head of P.E. Strongly in favour, advocated raising the subject in the winter.
Mr. Gartside
Headmaster
Has previously overseen the installation of a houses system at another school, and therefore has prior experience of how it can be implemented. A potential houses system has been discussed on a number of occasions, but, in the past at least, it tended to be met with disapproval and/or apathy from the general teaching staff. A houses system, while it could add to interyear cohesion, is a poor substitute for the shared euphoria when a form wins an event. As such, the system could potentially reduce cohesive forces within the form environment, in accordance with the discussed reference of the discussion to which reference was previously made.
Mrs. HarveyVoyce
HoY12
Thinks such a system could increase cooperation between years. Gave examples based off her own experiences.
Expressed surprise school does not already have such a system. Later meeting 28/11/12 Outlined the P.E. department’s views on how a houses system could be set up and maintained. The view was expressed that the system could be introduced with the next scholastic year). The committee’s representative (Sen. Persico) also heard the suggestion that each house be composed of three forms, and that the PE department had been considering houses with years 7, 8 and 9. This would entail the setting up of just 2 houses in the school, making use of the red/green invertible PE tops. Mr Soulsby expressed an interest in learning what the Senate’s eventual findings would be.
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Analysis of the Proposed Advantages and Disadvantages With reference to student input (page 4): Camaraderie The thinking behind this is obvious: that a house system would facilitate better relations between years, which currently leave a lot to be desired, due to the sense of common purpose. There are, however, faults in this thinking. Firstly, it would require that people be able to overcome the barriers which have grown up between years entirely on the basis of a shared house, which is an arbitrary label unlikely, it seems, to be taken all that seriously by many. Furthermore, it is actually more likely that two individuals chosen randomly from different years will in fact be divided, rather than united, by house. However, proponents of houses would point out that the the system would provide far more than just ‘arbitrary labels’ for example, participation on sports day would involve students from the same house working together and socialising as a group. In aiming to collect points from various intra and extracurricular activities, students might be more encouraged to work hard in lessons and sign up to some of the school’s many clubs and societies, thus enriching their education and leisure time. Even this is, in turn, open to criticism; it would be, after all, in the wrong spirit that people would be encouraged to participate in such activities. If it is believed that there is a deficit in the areas of hard work and extracurricular participation, this can be solved in a better way, it is felt, than by pitting students against their fellows. The evidence suggests that it is easy enough for students from different years to form friendships in extracurricular clubs without the requirement of any common identity, such as house; using the example of the GCSE Astronomy class, it was observed that it was it was easy for people in different years to form friendships, largely over the basis of trials and tribulations shared. This seems to be more powerful than any, entirely random, label could be. This effect was most marked, however, in those without fellows from their own year. While this could be explained by the fact that people are simply more comfortable among friends, and friends are likely to be both from the same year and to be showing similar interests (such as Astronomy), it could alternatively suggest that there is a barrier between years as it currently stands. Houses are not uncommon in schools with long and rich histories, seeking to concentrate not only on the education of their students but also their character building for their later release into society. The ideas of cooperation and teamwork within defined units can be deemed important for the various careers that students may end up pursuing. 7
Competitions This is a promising idea. Mr. Soulsby has already backed the concept, and there could be a great deal of lighthearted fun to be extracted from this plan. For those with no great wish to participate in sports, this is less relevant, apart from of course Sports Day. During many school events, arbitrary groups must be constructed specially for organising students, so it makes sense to have some already available, not least to save teachers’ time when organising these events. Air of Competition This is a rather more controversial matter. In discussing this, it will be necessary to consider the potential benefits of such a system, including increased effort levels and productivity. However, intense rivalry could spoil the enjoyment derived from certain competitions, replacing it with a bloodthirsty desire for victory at any cost. On the one hand, competition could encourage people to work harder in order to outdo their peers. On the other hand, those who would actually participate in such oneupmanship may not be considered the best of chaps. People ought to be encouraged to work well for the enjoyment of the work itself, and for the good of their fellows; while this is at best difficult and at worse pitifully optimistic, it’s certainly a damn sight better than encouraging people to work for the sole purpose of causing misery to their fellows. That smacks of capitalism, and should disgust all those who are ardent believers in enslaving man in a system that poisons the tree of liberty. After frenzied negotiation, we therefore agreed on the compromise of a publiclyowned, collectivist free market system in which houses are distributed on the basis of 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his ability'. This idea was later disregarded on the bases firstly of impracticality, and secondly of downright stupidity (whatever Tony Blair might think). Methods of Implementation One problem the committee was made aware of was the mathematical issues relating to the division of year groups, due to different population sizes. In order to encourage greater social mixing, it has been suggested that students be picked randomly and sorted into houses thusly. However, there is an alternate point of view which advocates placing forms as unbroken units into houses, thus not breaking down form cohesion. This would present problems, as some houses would have more forms from one year group than others. Therefore, this system can NOT be recommended lightly. However, these problems can be mitigated if the plan Mr Soulsby is currently considering is utilised the setting up of just two houses, for years 7, 8, 9 (and possibly 10). Using two houses would also provide an auxiliary use for the red and green invertible tops required for P.E. 8
Student Polls (In response to claimed advantage of the encouragement of hard work)
The Harrison Poll (Otherwise known as 'The Amateur Poll') In an attempt to introduce a note of democracy to these proceedings, because it’s absolutely never gone wrong in the past, several polls have been taken in order to assess the potential effects of the argument in favour of houses that people may work harder as a result of the competition. Obviously, these account only for practicalities pertaining to the issue, and do not address the moral elements, nor indeed the lackofmorals elements. Here, therefore, are the results of the polls taken by Messr Harrison: Question
Answer of ‘No’
Answer of ‘Yes’
Would you work harder under a houses system?
11*
1
If we had a houses system in which you could win points, would you work harder?
7
0
If we had a houses system involving points, competitions, prizes etc., would you work harder?
11✝
0
*One respondent, who will go unnamed, claimed that he would actually strive to work less hard if houses were brought in. ✝One respondent claimed that he would work harder provided the prize was £20. Given the potential difficulties of handing out £20 to every member of a 300strong house, it seemed unwise to commit ourselves to this.
On the basis of these results, it would appear that people would not generally be encouraged to work any harder simply due to the introduction of a houses system. These sample sizes are, of course, very small; there is no reason to assume, however, that they are not representative of the opinion of those for whom the Union of Students is a powerless figurehead.
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The Persico Poll (Otherwise known as 'The Keen Poll') This poll was carried out with an emphasis on improving the sample selected by the pollster, after it was noticed with dismay by said pollster that the prior poll’s polled were being polled by a previous pollster who polled only those who would provide the poll with an answer similar to that of the pollster, as it was alleged by said pollster. Therefore, Senator Persico endeavoured to take it upon himself to conduct a poll using more accurate, if not perfect, techniques. Specifically, the students questioned in the Harrison Poll were mainly from the Sixth Form, associated with the pollster and selected using a process that could not be honestly described as truly random. The results that ensued could therefore in no way be considered reflective of the year as a whole, regrettably leading Senator Persico to advise all readers to discount any results collected using this flawed set of techniques. In the Persico Poll, stratified random cluster sampling was used in order to fairly represent students according to their year group size. Once the number of students from each year needing to be polled (S) had been calculated, a form from each year was selected randomly: Year 7 Class No. students Form room Number Year 8 Class No. students Form room Number Year 9 Class No. students Form room Number Year 10 Class No. students Form room Number Year 11 Class No. students Form room Number
Total Proportion CM EW 31 32
HN 31
NC 30
PS 31
SQ 31
0
1
2
3
4
5
KL 30
EL 29
RF 30
JS 30
SL 30
HI 29
0
1
2
3
4
5
LS 32 0
NW WK MK 31 32 32 1
HW LW 31 29 0
1
CC 27
LY 26
0
1
2
3
DR ME 27 29 2
3
PT WY 26 28 2
3
GA MA 31 31 4
5
SN 28
HC 30
4
5
RD MN SY 27 26 28 4
5
6
RN 28
Proportion * 30
186
14.52%
4.000
178
13.90%
4.000
189
14.52%
5.000
174
13.58%
4.000
216
16.86%
5.000
7
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Year 12 Class No. students Form room Number Year 13 Class No. students Form room Number
HD 21
ST 21
BK 21
MD WX HE MR CN 21 21 21 21 21
0
1
2
3
4
SM 20
TM 21
AZ 21
BN 21
CT 21
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
13.11%
4.000
170
13.27%
4.000
7
GD PR EY 22 22 22 5
168
6
7
Total number of students
1281
* Numbers of students in Year 12 forms were unavailable and hence estimated. Following this, S random numbers between 1 and the number of students in the respective form were generated. Duplicate numbers were discounted. The numbers were then matched up to certain students according to their place in the form register.
Random numbers Year 7 (05) Students
0 CM 21
7
17
19 x
Year 8 (05)
1 EL 15
25
20
22 x
5 MA 21
10
25
13
12
5 HC 17
15
26
11
x
1 LY 24
6
8
15
18
1 ST 2
13
3
20 x
6 PR 6
12
7
14 x
Year 9 (05)
Year 10 (05)
Year 11 (07)
Year 12 (07)
Year 13 (07)
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Survey Form The questions posed were as follows:
Houses Survey AGSB SIXTH FORM SENATE OF THE UNION
Strongly Agree
Agree Unsure Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Would a houses system foster better relations between members of different year groups in the same house?
Would a competitive houses system (under which points could be won for houses for an eventual prize) provide you with incentive to improve the quality of your work and/or contribution to school life?
Overall, do you believe a houses system of some sort should be introduced in the school?
The questionnaire featured closed response sections in order to streamline the process of compiling and collating the data and remove elements of subjectivity from the results. Amazingly however, one student (who, for reasons relating to the principles of democracy, shall remain nameless) did manage to tick the line dividing ‘Agree’ and ‘Unsure’. The committee agreed that the fairest thing to do in this situation would be to ignore this answer and mark it out on the results.
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Results Strongly Strongly Question agree Agree Unsure Disagree disagree Better 7 relations? 0 1 3 0 0 Work harder? 0 2 2 0 0 Houses? 1 0 1 1 1 Better 8 relations? 1 2 0 1 0
Year
9
10
11
12
13
Work harder? Houses? Better relations? Work harder? Houses? Better relations? Work harder? Houses? Better relations? Work harder? Houses? Better relations? Work harder? Houses? Better relations? Work harder? Houses?
Better Total relations? Work harder? Houses?
1 1
1 1
1 1
0 0
* unclear response not 0 recorded; see 'Survey Form' 0 * non response x1
0 1 0
5 1 1
0 2 4
0 1 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 2 1
1 0 0
1 1 1
2 1 2
1 1 2
2 2 2
1 1 0
0 0 0
0 * non response x1 0 * non response x1 0 * non response x1
0 2 0
2 2 4
2 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
1 1 0
1 1 2
1 1 1
1 1 1
2 5 4
13 11 9
8 7 8
3 3 3
3 2 4
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This survey represents, as far as anyone in this year is aware, the first student organised survey of the entire school in recent history, and thus is invaluable in demonstrating to the electorate the Senate’s commitment to democracy and the principles of open government. At first glance, the immediate disparities between the results of the Harrison Poll and the results of this poll are clearly apparent. While the Harrison poll showed that almost 0% of sixth formers agreed with the suggestion that they would work harder, the Persico Poll found that 62.5% of sixth formers, a full majority, believed that a competitive houses system (including points) would provide them with the incentive to improve the quality of their work and contribution to school life, with 37.5% ‘agreeing’ and 25% ‘strongly agreeing’.
Chart 1 This shows the responses given by the sample covering all year groups
One of the largest areas of consensus regards the effect houses would have on interyear relations. 51.7% of respondents agreed that interyear relations between individuals in the same house would improve, with only 20.6% disagreeing, and the remainder saying they were unsure. This therefore could be an intelligent solution to any friction that exists between years.
Chart 2 Again showing responses given by the sample covering all year groups
What may be the most important result is the strong support for houses across the school as a 14
whole. When the introduction of houses was suggested, only 25% of those sampled expressed some form of disagreement. This suggests that houses, in the event of their introduction, would be welcomed and treated with an open mind by an overwhelming majority of students.
Chart 3 Demonstrating wide support for a houses system across the school
The committee found, somewhat unexpectedly, that much of the support given to the introduction of houses came from Years 11, 12 and 13. It had been expected that the lower school would be more enthusiastic, but this was the reverse of what was observed. It could possibly be that this is due to the lower years putting down ‘unsure’ as they have a lack of experience of school life compared to the upper years and thus feel illplaced to voice a clear opinion. When only Sixth Form votes are counted, 50% are in favour of the introduction of a houses system, with 25% disagreeing and another 25% responding ‘unsure’.
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Chart 4 Showing support for a houses system from across the sixth form
This poll therefore concludes that students are in favour of the introduction of a houses system, preferably competitive, for reasons that include better relations between year groups.
An Impartial, Anonymous Critique of the Persico Poll This author is more than happy to accept that the sampling technique of the Persico Poll was far superior to that of the Harrison Poll, and commends Senator Persico for such an impressive survey of the school. He is less convinced by the questions asked. The only valid question, in his opinion, is that regarding how people would react in terms of work, and this is made difficult to answer by its doubletiered and vague nature. The one regarding the popularity of the proposals is at best pointless and at worst damaging; it is the opinion of this author that the purpose of this survey should not have been to determine how much people want the houses, since that is a matter for senators to determine for themselves. Furthermore, it is felt that forcing consideration of personal support for houses could colour people's answers to represent this preference, causing said answers not to be so much representative of actual opinions as of whether or not they want houses overall. The other question, querying whether or not better relations would be fostered between members of houses in different years, seems to this author to be phrased in the wrong way; the question should regard the way in which the individual answering the questionnaire would react, not how they think others would; after all, there is no way they could possibly be able to make a judgement on how others would act. This is not to detract, of course, from the achievement of Senator Persico in putting together such a survey, which required great perseverance and statistical ability. It is simply believed that these suggestions as to its faults should be considered when senators are deciding how to vote on this issue. 16
Case Studies Case Study 1: the Bollin Primary School This school is an example of an institution with a houses system. The observed effects of this are as follows: Positives
Negatives
It provided a sense of competition with other children, potentially contributing to greater effort put into work.
Friction was sometimes created between friends due to this competition. Such an approach could be damaging to students’ enjoyment of school.
Multiple children were rewarded for work they N/A all did together, encouraging them to work towards the inevitable socialist utopia. It encouraged a degree of team spirit during wholeschool sporting activities.
People were very rarely aware of the other individuals in their house, making this team spirit shortlived.
There was no evidence of greater cohesion between years as a result of the house system, and it has been suggested that it actually decreased cohesion within classes. This school is, however, a primary school, and a fairly bad one at that. As such, it may not be entirely representative. It is certainly hoped not.
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Case Study 2: Bowdon Church School Bowdon Church of England Primary School also features houses, using them to provide a competitive edge to educational and extracurricular activities. Throughout the week, points are awarded to particular houses for the achievements of its members, mostly on an individual basis. At the end of each term, the total house points are calculated and the highest scoring house commended, and the house with the highest score by the end of the year wins a cup. Sports day uses these houses to get the entire school to compete, without leaving any year group feeling inadequate. Since the houses are only used for the purposes described above, they tend not to break down any intraform bonds or friendships. Indeed, it could be said that friends participating in a competitive event together could risk damaging their relationship if one was perceived to have failed the other, whereas houses that divide friends lessen the chance of this happening, as two individuals are unlikely to be placed in the same house. The house names are the following ● Stamford ● Dunham ● Tatton ● Arley These were, incidentally, the names of AGSB’s previous houses, with the exception of Arley, which was instead ‘Bradbury’.
Positives
Negatives
Sports day teams involved a mixture of year groups and classes, increasing cohesion time among different peers.
Rivalry occasionally got a little fierce on the day, but only by primary school standards.
Students were motivated to work hard in order to win their house points and gain respect from their house.
Competition makes us all die earlier. Besides, the sort of people who work hard with the sole intention of getting house points generally fail to earn any respect from anyone.
Houses provide predetermined groups for activities that require the division of year groups
Some might enjoy being in different groups for different activities
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Recommendations for House Names
Red
Altrincham
Milhouse
Europe
Coleman
Aristotle
Green
Hale
SavileLaver
Americas
Peel
Newton
[Blue]
Bowdon
Hamblin
Asia
Stamford
Shakespeare
Something equally dull
Timperley
Crowther
Africa
Hughes
Mozart
Ahenobarbi
Guevara
Cicero
Descartes
Marx
Paul
Metelli
Castro
Caesar
Hume
Engels
Rothbard
Fabii
Lenin
Pompey
Sartres
Friedman Satan
von Mises
Gracchi
Another bloodthirsty enemy of the free world
Crassus
Kant
Keynes
Various other oppressors of the proletariat
Franklin
Marlborough
Talavera
Stamford
Earth
Persico
Washington
Heath
Salamanca
Bradbury
Water
Harrison
Quincey Adams
Blenheim
Vitoria
Tatton
Wind
Morgan
Madison
Ashley
Toulouse
Dunham
Fire
Garrido
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Sorting Hats
a.)
b.)
c.)
e.)
f.)
g.)
20
h.)
i.)
j.)
None of these could be recommended by the committee, leading to all of the above being rejected out of both principle and hand.
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Conclusion In no particular order, here are the options this report places before the senate: Option A): 1. Houses to be formed for a selection of the below: a. Years 7, 8, 9 b. Years 10, 11 c. Sixth Form 2. Houses can be formed in EITHER of the following ways a. Each form is to have an equal number of students in each house, to be chosen either i. randomly 1. if done from the oldest year downwards, students in lower years are automatically sorted into the house of their eldest brother ii. by allowing students in each form to sort themselves into four equal groups Assuming there are x houses, this would result in 1/x * 184 Year 7s 1/x * 178 Year 8s 1/x* 189 Year 9s 1/x * 173 Year 10s 1/x * 216 Year 11s 1/x * ~ 175 Year 12s 1/x * 173 Year 13s EXAMPLE If the school were to have 4 houses, each would contain in the region of 320 students, or 173 if only Years 7,8, and 9 were assigned houses. b. Entire forms belong to houses 3. Each house is assigned the following by the Headmaster a. two teachers as Heads of House b. four Sixth Formers as House Prefects and all of these are considered a source of pastoral care. 4. Each house is assigned a name (report’s suggestions to be taken into account) 5. Points systems to be adopted by the houses, and figures for the points to be collected at the end of the year by integrating the current system for commendations. a. Commendations for students to contribute towards their respective houses b. Victory in events (e.g. Sports Day) to contribute towards house points in a way to be decided by the Headmaster. 6. Older members of each house to be encouraged to give help wherever they can to younger members of their house in need of said help.
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Option B): Do not implement a houses system. Instead, a series of measures, outlined below, should be introduced instead of such a system, with the purpose of providing the same benefits as were suggested for the houses themselves. The proposed measures are the following: 1. Greater participation by older students (i.e. Year 10 and above) in the running of extracurricular activities to be encouraged, in the hope that this will encourage discourse and/or intercourse between years. 2. The peer mentoring system to be reintroduced, but made more expansive than before. Peer mentors would aim to help any students experiencing difficulties in their personal or family lives, in the work they do, or in their organisation. Students could sign up for an older peer mentor, or could be assigned one if a teacher felt this to be appropriate; for the system to work best, however, it is advised that students be assigned peer mentors principally when they are willing to have this done. 3. Children to be encouraged to work hard for the common good (using unspecified methods) 4. Older children to be encouraged to engage with the needs of younger students to a greater extent, with the intent of providing real and meaningful help. Option C): Do nothing as regards houses.
So concludes the Senatorial 'Houses Or Different Developments Yonder' report.
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Acknowledgements The authors are indebted to the services of ● ● ● ● ● ●
Dhee Gheetala, for bringing this issue to the Senate’s attention All teachers interviewed as part of the Staff Opinions section All those surveyed for their cooperation All form tutors responsible for distributing and recollecting the surveys Mr. Ahmadzadeh for advice on the methods of statistical investigation Sen. Charlie Berthou (12ST) and Sen. Anush Shashidhara (12BK) for assisting in survey distribution ● Ian Messiter, who created this amazing game ● Our lovely audience here at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
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Notes
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