School House System
At Ferndown Upper School, our culture creates our Ferndown Family, which encourages and creates a support network for our whole community. The House structure, through tutor groups, further embodies the Ferndown Family by ensuring that students have a familiarity and additional belonging – to their House and their School. Houses are a great way to introduce competitions, provide structure, give students a chance to speak out, discuss British values and much more. The Heads of House regularly implement challenges and tasks along with discussion points for the class that allow our students to form a stronger bond in their tutor group, House and subsequently as part of our Ferndown Family.
The Tutors and Heads of House also provide another route for the students to access support along with many other support opportunities in the Ferndown Family.
Sports Day is the jewel in our inter-House competition crown. In this event, Houses compete directly with each other and while it is fierce the students feel a sense of comradery with their teammates, with others from their House competing elsewhere, and with their teachers who are also enthusiastic and eager to take part – and to win!
Students earn House Points as part of their rewards for good behaviour and effort, focus and resilience. More information on the Rewards and Sanctions can be found on the Behaviour & Rewards page under Parents > Expectations for Students in the top menu. Every praise point earned boosts the student’s House, and at the end of the school year the House with the highest number of points receives the House Cup along with some other goodies.
Other rewards for the House leading the ranking includes a five minute headstart on lunch breaks, so students have first choice of the Café’s menu.
Ferndown Upper School has four Houses, each with their own colour and named for inspirational people who were once students at this school. The House colours can also be seen on students’ ties, as identifying each other facilitates bonding across year groups and different classes, where students may not share lessons together but may become firm friends and support each other.
Mrs. S Chater
Read Head of House
Read House
Charlotte Read was a student at Ferndown Upper School, who was diagnosed with cancer at just 13. She faced chemotherapy, neurosurgery, and the amputation of her right lower leg with unflinching courage.
Flying a plane, swimming with dolphins, and passing A-Level, GNVQ, and GCSE exams were among Charlotte’s many achievements, and she never stopped trying to be her best.
Her family and numerous doctors were full of praise for her. They said: “She was so determined that the illness was not going to ruin her life. She went through all her treatment with a smile on her face. She was so strong.”
Read House is named for her Courage & Determination.
Mr. S Harray-Simpson
Thornton Head of House
Thornton House
Lieutenant John “JT” Thornton, Royal Marines, died fighting in Afghanistan in 2008.
John was such a positive role model at FUS, both in terms of his work ethic and his keenness to take part in all aspects of school life.
He was the inspiration for the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation, which gives out bursaries to our students so that they can ‘realise their dreams’. The JTYAF supports young people from a wide range of youth organisations in Dorset and Wiltshire, providing them with scholarships and bursaries to support their personal development and the pursuit of their ambitions.
More information about the JTYAF can be found Here.
Thornton House is named for his Ambition & Loyalty.
Mrs. F Moyano
Cheetham Head of House
Cheetham House
Sam Cheetham was an outstanding student with a passion for speed and motor racing. Sam had a rare heart condition and sadly lost his battle with this in 2013.
Sam never let his heart condition stop him from doing anything he wanted and he never gave up, striving to achieve his goals.
Cheetham House is named for his Bravery & Resilience.
Mr. M Holliday
Ashton Head of House
Ashton House
Greg Ashton is an alumnus of Ferndown Upper school who went on to study physics at University, completing a PhD in gravitational waves, tiny ripples in the fabric of spacetime created when black holes collided.
When he began his PhD, these gravitational waves had not yet been directly observed but in September 2015, the LIGO detectors made the first detection, and Greg was co-author of the research paper. This was a watershed moment for astronomy and won the founders of LIGO the Nobel prize in 2017. He is now Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he divides his time leading the LIGO collaboration’s working group that finds black hole collisions and teaching.
You can read Greg’s Alumnus Profile Here.
Ashton House is named for his Curiosity & Excellence.