House System

House Goals

To provide opportunities for students to participate in activities that improve the quality of their lives and the lives of others

• To balance the demands of academic rigour with extended activities
• To provide opportunities for all students to engage in a wide range of activities for their House
• To provide competitions that encourage participation, loyalty and respect for others
• To create opportunities for all students to be trained and to serve as leaders
• To strengthen each student’s interpersonal relationship skills
• To enhance the Family Spirit within the Academy community
• The primary purpose of the House System at Mildenhall College Academy is to further the mission of the academy by providing greater pastoral care to all our students while strengthening our sense of community and participation in meaningful activities. The system will also enable us to proactively develop leadership skills within the student body. All pupils are allocated to one of four houses: Austen, Brunel, Cavell and Newton.The time that teachers spend with their vertical tutor groups is an essential element of academy life. We would go as far as to say that the Tutor is the linchpin of the academy. The opportunity it offers to get to know a group of children well and to really feel anchored in the academy is a vital aspect of the Mildenhall College Academy pastoral programme. The Tutor is the first point of contact within the academy for parents. We aim to make tutees self-sufficient individual who work together to achieve high standards of attendance, attainment, attitude to learning and resilience. Mentoring by the Tutor and the peer mentoring programme will assist in this achievement.

Character Traits:
At MCA we place great emphasis on the following character traits and wish for all of our students to display them at all times.

Students will develop the TRAITS to be:

T – Team-workers
R – Resilient
A – Ambitious
I – Inquisitive
T – Together
S – Successful 

These principles underpin all that is in the tutor programme as we are asking students to think about the world around them and how they fit into it. Students have to be sensitive to the opinions of others within the Tutor Group just like in lessons around the academy and in the local and wider community.

Weekly Routines:
Over the course of a week each tutor group complete the following activities: –

• Assembly (All character traits covered)
• House Quiz (Teamwork)
• Leadership Activities (Ambition and Together). Each term we will have a focus on Literacy, Numeracy or Student Leadership.
• Sector of the Month (Friday Futures) (Ambition and Inquisitive)
• Learning Conversations (Together)

By undertaking these activities students are continuing to develop their resilience and learning tolerance. They will be developing their social and communication skills.

In addition to these tasks students complete an attendance log from which they write a review on a monthly basis. We are developing a culture where good attendance is always expected and it is students’ responsibility to manage their attendance. Attitude to Learning is also discussed and strategies of support put in place where appropriate.

Student Leadership:

Student Tutors:

• Within each of the tutor groups there are Student Tutors who can be identified by their Leaders badges. These students have additional responsibility to assist the Form Tutor in delivery of the Tutor Time programme.

Peer Mentors:
We have specially trained students in Years 10 and 11 who run a mentoring hub. The Peer Mentors work with students in Years 7 and 8 who need some additional emotional or social guidance. 

These principles underpin all that is in the tutor programme as we are asking students to think about the world around them and how they fit into it. Students have to be sensitive to the opinions of others within the Tutor Group just like in lessons around the academy and in the local and wider community.

Tutor Projects:
The lead for Numeracy within the academy is Mrs Carolyn Kerr. The lead for Literacy within the academy is Mr Chris Milne.

There is a word of the fortnight which will be incorporated into tutor time and lessons.

Literacy and numeracy activities are designed to reinforce the teaching that takes place within the academy and looks to strengthen students’ knowledge outside of curriculum time.

It is important that these activities have a students’ focus that links into the academy curriculum.

Assemblies:
During every assembly the House Leader will hand out the Attendance certificate and Trophy and the Student of the Week certificate.

At the end of each term there will be a celebration assembly. Students are given awards based on their attitude to learning, performance in specific subjects and tutor time.

As part of our Friday Futures provision from October half term until the February half term the Year 11s will be involved in a motivational/ aspirational assembly programme. Here they are given useful advice on GCSE exams and post 16 options. From time to time there will also be special year group assemblies.

Weekly Quiz:
There is an opportunity for the development of teamwork, resilience and leadership skills during the weekly quiz. The quizzes are on a wide range of topics from last week’s news to historical topics. It provides healthy competition between Houses. All the quiz results go towards to the final House totals where a trophy is on offer for the winning tutor group.

Friday Futures:
This links in with our Ambition part of MCA’s character traits. Every Friday tutor groups explore the Sector of the Month resources which include videos and publications linking to a particular industry.

Year 11 students will be invited to attend assemblies based on post 16 opportunities during the Autumn 2 and Spring 1 half terms.

Learning Conversations:
Learning conversations are recorded on Individualised Learning Plans as per the academy calendar. Within a tutor group learning families have been set up so that informal learning conversations can happen on a more regular basis than as stated on the calendar. This way targets can be reviewed more frequently and students can support each other.

Targeted learning conversations also take place. The progress of the students within the tutor group is monitored and support put in place where needed. These can be viewed via Go4schools.

House Competitions:
These occur throughout the year and involve activities that students really get involved in. Examples last year included ‘Match the Teacher to the Caricature’, ‘Christmas Corner’ and a competition between students on SAM Learning.

Charity Events:
These occur throughout the year to help raise funds for worthwhile causes both in this country and abroad. As an academy we support national charities and we choose one local charity each year. Last year this charity was the local St Nicholas Hospice for whom we raised £1,139.26. We also raised £928.21 for Children In Need and £929.10 for Sport Relief. We also completed 146 boxes for the Operation Christmas Child.

House Ethos: