House system
Staff and pupils alike are assigned to a house named after one of four Saints:
Bosco, Seton, Carlo or Savio.
The house system threads throughout the life of the school. Every pupil belongs to a house and is able to contribute to the success of their house every day through earning house points. Whether it be through positive behaviour, acts of kindness, reading, charity work or attending a club there are plenty of ways for pupils to collect as many points as they can every day.
House points 171123pptx.pptxHouse competitions allow pupils the opportunity to represent their house in a range of different competitive opportunities. Whole year group sports competitions run alongside subject competitions such as creating a landscape in a box - geography; Design a lab coat - science; maths and film quizzes.
House assemblies take place each half term. This is where pupils from all year groups come together, providing the perfect opportunity to celebrate success, learn about the house ethos and find out what opportunities lie ahead in the forthcoming term.
The house system is supported by a student led leadership system with pupils from years 7-11 taking on the role of house captains. Assistant heads of house are selected from CTK6 and work closely with staff and pupils to organise teams and events.
The house system provides a range of different opportunities for all pupils to develop their interests and talents, become confident, independent and resilient and to develop their character in The CTK Way.
Bosco – Confident and Resilient
Saint John Bosco was an Italian priest who focused his efforts on making sure that those young people from poor backgrounds received a good education. The work that Marcus Rashford has done for disadvantaged children whose families struggle to buy food could be seen as a modern day example.
He would enthuse and motivate those from poorer backgrounds by teaching them new trade skills so that when they left school they could get a good job and support their families.
Just like Rashford, not everyone was supportive as they thought that young people were second class citizens but Bosco was resilient against those who were against his mission. He was confident that his vision to educate and empower young people was the right thing to do.
“Young people need to know they are loved.”
Seton – Ambitious and Independent
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was a keen reader and was known for her kindness, patience and common sense. Despite suffering great loss, both financially and personally, she believed in the importance of Catholic education and achieved her ambition to open the first Catholic school in America to bring reading to young people. The death of her husband and financial losses during the civil war left her independent and made her achievements even more incredible.
Similarly, JK Rowling, before becoming the worlds most successful author, was a single parent who really struggled financially and was almost made homeless. Knowing that she had a special talent in writing, she juggled caring for her child and writing Harry Potter in the hope it would improve their life!
“Live simply so that all may simply live.”
Carlo – Respect and Courage
Blessed Carlo Acutis was a normal teenage boy with an extraordinary faith. His hobbies were computer programming and playing on the PlayStation. All who knew him were inspired by his kindness and his service to others. He had a deep-rooted respect for everybody, which was informed by his extraordinary faith in God.
Carlo used modern media to try to spread the faith and to influence others. He also secretly helped the homeless and the poor as well as supporting anyone in school who was going through difficult times.
He had courage in the face of his illness and never let it stop him from his mission to help others through his faith and his actions.
Blessed Carlo Acutis was beatified in 2020 and is on the path to Sainthood.
“All are born as originals but many die as photocopies.”
Savio – Compassion and Honesty
Saint Dominic Savio was a hard working young boy who dedicated his time to prayer from a very young age.
In school he would always work hard and would be compassionate to those who were having problems in their families. He would also stand up to those who made life difficult for others, intervene in fights between other pupils and encourage others to be kinder in their words and actions.
He learnt not to complain about small and insignificant things and he was always honest and instructed others to be honest as he knew that God was watching.
“I am not capable of doing big things, but I want to do everything, even the smallest things, for the greater glory of God.”