School House

Welcome to School House!

"I have been Head of School House since September 2023. School is a House with a huge history and tradition attached to it, sometimes even referred to as the ‘original’ House due to its origins as the boarding house until the 1980s. I have also been a Tutor in School House, so I know it is a fun and motivating environment that encourages pupils to thrive. School’s Tutor team are all experienced, caring and eager to support pupils on their journey at Norwich School. I look forward to building positive relationships with pupils and their families, and ensuring that their experience at Norwich School is a happy and fulfilling one."












"My name is Adam Bell, and I am the House Captain of School House. I joined Norwich School in Lower 4, and am now studying Economics, Geography and Graphic Design at A Level, alongside holding an Art Scholarship. I plan to study Geography at university. I have enjoyed getting involved in Amnesty International, Mock Law, Model United Nations and Young Chamber, a school-funded society which allows pupils to create their own business in sixth form. Looking ahead to the coming year, I’m excited to continue exploring my academic interests as well as my ongoing extracurricular activities. " 

House History

Unlike the other houses, School House is not named after a distinguished ON or Head. It owes its name to its origins as a boarding house. In nineteenth-century schools, it was normal practice to call the boarding house ‘the school house’ (of which the Head was also the Head of House). The last Head of Norwich School to function as Head of School House was Andrew Stephenson in the 1950s. The House then continued as the boarding house, based in School House and in the Palace, until 1989, when boarding was phased out.


As boarders could spend unlimited time practising for the House Shout, results were invariably a marvel of synchronised close harmony, and their competitive spirit lives on today. 

House News

By Eleanor Lewis March 4, 2025
In keeping with Norwich School tradition, Valpy House led the celebrations of Shrove Tuesday by serving pancakes to the school at breaktime. Pupils in the house are encouraged to bring in toppings that they think everyone will enjoy. The traditional lemon & sugar option is still a big seller, while the more adventurous tastes could add bananas, strawberries, cream, marshmallows, and this year's new trend was biscoff spread. We sold almost 150 pancakes this year, with the proceeds raised going to Action Cancer UK. There was also a large bag of leftovers, which were donated to a local foodbank.  Also at lunchtime we held a pancake flipping contest, with the winner flipping their (plastic) pancake 44 times in 30 seconds. Can you beat that?
By Eleanor Lewis March 4, 2025
As part of a FONS joint bid, board games have been purchased for the 4th Form and Repton House to encourage team building and friendships! These games are in the 4th Form office for tutees to use and some have been allocated to Repton House tutor groups! We have already seen that playing these games builds skills in teamwork, collaboration, healthy and friendly competition, strategy and problem solving as well as being a useful tool to help pupils communicate. Relationships between peers and tutors have been consolidated through game play as is evident from the photographs taken. During important conversations a game can act to put pupils at ease; to start a conversation; to distract and to comfort. During a busy school week, playing a board game during social times or tutor times can act as a stress reliever allowing pupils to relax and have fun which we believe will improve their overall wellbeing. Finally, we have seen that all pupils in the tutor groups get involved, irrespective of ability, gender or friendship group. We believe we are therefore, promoting inclusivity and engagement and enhancing the overall sense of community. In the future, we plan to add to our store of board games. Andrew Rowlandson runs the Board Games club. At the same time as we applied for the bid, he asked parents for donations, which too bolstered our supply. We would very much like to create a board games library, where pupils can sign games in and out. Many thanks to the FONS for their generous support.
By Eleanor Lewis December 11, 2024
11 December 2024 saw the return of the Cokesian Ball after a four-year gap. The U6 pupils have fond memories of the event, so they could think of nothing better than reinstating it this year! The House were invited to have cookies and squash in the Refectory after school before moving to the Blake studio for a 1630hrs start. We were treated to an array of different and slightly whacky performances across the evening from each tutor group, which ensured that light-hearted fun was at the centre of the event. M5C got the evening going with their own take on a short Nativity, which was expertly narrated by Rory Evans and starred Miss Tilbrook as King Herod. The use of props and name tags ensured everyone was able to keep up with the story! L4 and U4 Coke combined forces to perform an original rap with tongue-in-cheek content about the tutors in Coke House! It was exceptionally well written and performed with guest appearances from both Mr Moore and Mrs Brown. U5C treated us to a 'unique' (!) rendition of the 80s Christmas classic, 'Merry Christmas Everyone' by Shakin' Stevens, where audience participation was actively encouraged to keep the tune going! There was a lot of love for the L5 performance where a few volunteers joined the team to for an incredible interpretation of 'Jingle Bells' using the much-loved Boomwhackers. L6 had come up with another original involving eating chocolate, and of course, everyone loved to get involved! Groups of approximately 8 pupils had to make their way through a chocolate advent calendar as quick as they could. The only complication was that they were only allowed to use a knife and fork, and there were time penalties for using their hands. Bonus points were awarded for flicking the chocolate into the air and catching it in their mouth! The performances finished with the U6 group running a 'Who am I?' style Kahoot quiz where they put together a mixture of unique, funny and slightly silly facts about them so the rest of the house has some dirt on them for the remainder of the year! The evening concluded with an expert summary from Mr Hopgood as our resident judge for the evening. He did incredibly well to sit through (and tolerate!) the evening and he even managed to somehow draw out a number of positive comments about the performances! The overall winner of the funniest/silliest performance was M5 Coke with their take on the Nativity, so clearly it was all downhill from the first performance of the evening! A huge thank you to all involved for a low-key, let-your-hair-down, fun and silly evening. There were a lot of laughs had by all.
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