Skip to content ↓

Houses

The House system originated from the Bushey Grammar School providing a sense of identity and belonging within a larger school community.

All staff and students are assigned one of four Houses developing strong loyalties and taking inter-House competitions very seriously, most notably House Sport and House Music. There is fierce but friendly competition to earn House points throughout the year in a variety of activities including academia, music, sport and drama.

Our current Houses are Attenborough, Franklin, Seacole and Turing. Click on a House name to learn more about them.

  1950 1969 2019

Red

Cassio

Newton

Turing

Blue

Clarendon

Sutherland

Seacole

Yellow

Essex

Auden

Attenborough

Green

Monmouth

Drake

Franklin

 

The tradition of the house system at Queens’ is an integral part of our school’s long, proud and historic identity, and central to every child’s Queens’ experience. Generation after generation of Queens’ alumni are proud to tell you which of the four houses they were a part of when they were at Queens’, and what house events, competitions and traditions that they took part in over their years here.

Students proudly wear the colours of their house everyday on their blazers, ties, house sportswear and bags. They can stand for student leadership positions within their house, earn STAR points for their house, and ultimately compete for the honour of their house via the prestigious Robert Brown Trophy, awarded to the highest achieving house each year.

Attenborough


'The future of humanity and indeed all life depends on us'

David Attenborough is a British broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural history documentary series forming the Life collection, a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on Earth.

While Attenborough's earlier work focused more on the wonders of the natural world, his later work has been more vocal in support of environmental causes. He has advocated for restoring planetary biodiversity, limiting population growth, switching to renewable energy, mitigating climate change, reducing meat consumption and setting aside more areas for natural preservation.

Curious; Persistent; Honest; Considerate

Franklin


'All that is necessary for faith is the belief that by doing our best we shall succeed in our aims'

Rosalind Franklin was a British scientist best known for her contributions to the discovery of the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a constituent of chromosomes that serves to encode genetic information. Franklin also contributed new insight on the structure of viruses, helping to lay the foundation for the field of structural virology. Rosalind Franklin was born in 1920 and died in 1958. She was an English scientist who made x-ray images of DNA.

Franklin's colleague, Maurice Wilkins, and two other scientists called James Watson and Francis Crick received the Nobel Prize, but Franklin died before the structure was discovered. The Nobel Prize can only be given to living people, so she was never fully rewarded for her work.

Ambitious; Resilient; Generous; Thoughtful

Seacole


'... and the grateful words and smile which rewarded me for binding up a wound or giving a cooling drink was a pleasure worth risking life for at any time'

Mary Seacole was a Jamaican-born British nurse and businesswoman who showed great kindness and bravery tending to sick and wounded soldiers during the Crimean War. She nursed sick soldiers so kindly that they called her 'Mother Seacole'.

As a dual heritage woman living in the Victorian Age, Mary was also a pioneer of her time. She ran her own businesses, loved to travel, and often risked her life for others.

Independent; Brave; Compassionate; Attentive

Turing


'Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine'

Alan Turing was a British mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst and war-hero. His ambition revolutionised the field of computer science through theoretical work and he helped develop the computing devices that underpin the internet and all modern electronic equipment. He is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. Turing's perseverance and astute cryptography helped him to crack the German U-boat code, becoming a hero of the Second World War.

Resourceful; Determined; Humble; Polite