On Friday, two weeks ago, for the first time in William Clarke HISTORY, each of the 8 super Houses met from Years K-12 to get together and socialise to further establish their team spirit and inter-year connections. With ball games, painting, and lollies on the menu, as well as the “post-recess high,” it was to be a certain success.

As Senior House Captain, it was fantastic to see everyone getting involved and having a great time, but also to see the hard work of the House Captains and their House Co-ordinator paying off. The planning that led to the event started last term, before the first K-12 House Meeting was cancelled. Devastated that they had to wait, the House Captains were able to get straight into planning this term and execute what they’ve been thinking of for weeks.

On top of the delayed Meeting, last minute inconveniences saw two House Captains unable to attend, leaving two Houses one House Captain short. To the credit of the remaining House Captains, things still ran smoothly. From floating between each House Meeting, I can accurately state that the overall vibe was IMMACULATE!

The enthusiasm of our House Captains and House Co-ordinator, with the help of their House-Vice Captains in Year 11, House Leaders from Year 6, and Junior School House Co-ordinators, saw each House building their identity and culture, with the introductions of mottos, bible verses and of course, the most exciting part, the mascots!

On the K-12 House Day, the school community was introduced to some new faces:

• Andrews’s Narwhal
• Darling’s Dolphin
• Hassall’s Hawk
• Johnson’s Lion
• Langdon’s Panther
• Robinson’s Robbo the Red Raptor
• Warren’s Wolfie the Wolf
• White’s Polar Bear

All these new additions will fit immediately into the permanent image of the Houses within the College and will continue to represent the values and mottos of the new Houses and everything they stand for today, in the many years to come. Maybe one day, when the school’s grown four times the size that it is now, and the mascots are well-known throughout the community for being portrayed largely in every carnival and school event, you’ll look back and remember the day it was revealed for the first time!

Floating between each of the Houses, I witnessed many wild and wonderful things…

• Ordered chaos in White’s game of bingo looked crazy, yet heaps of fun!
• The energy Langdon gave off during their numerous outdoor ball games was super contagious – and if I wasn’t with our School Captain, Liv S, I probably would’ve joined in!
• Back in the Bran-White, Darling’s well-organized games saw lots of inter-year mingling and many new relationships develop (big ticks from me!).
• Johnson’s minute to win it challenges were well run and encouraged teamwork within the House, making it a clear force to be reckoned with in the future.
• Robinson’s two truths and a lie meant that the whole House could learn more about their leaders and get lollies in the process – a big hit with the younger ages!
• Warren’s game of Bullrush was crazy (to say the least), but extremely effective in promoting friendly competition within the House, and building a culture of positivity around exercising.
• Seeing people in groups with someone from every year group was extremely encouraging in Andrews’s Meeting – especially when they started painting and drawing, giving everyone a chance to get to know each other whilst not getting bored.
• Even in Hassall, the chaos over finding someone who’s lived in Dubai effectively encapsulated the ideal energy of a K-12 House Meeting.

With many more of these Meetings to come, we can’t wait for the Houses to continue growing in culture and spirit. The aim of the Meeting two weeks ago wasn’t only to reveal the House motto, bible verse and mascot. It wasn’t just to introduce the leadership either.

Developing a competitive nature within the school was a BIG PART OF IT – there can’t be a fun school year without some much-needed Inter-House competition, right? Especially with the tension between some Houses, like Robinson and Johnson, at an all-time high, (with Johnson’s House Co-ordinator being caught talking “smack” about Robinson’s House Co-ordinator at a volleyball match last term…). I mean, if you’re not going to Inter-house Sport to win, what are you there for?

Despite all these things heavily contributing to the point of the Meeting, if you left your House that day feeling like you had a deeper understanding of who’s in your House, and maybe even made a friend in a different year group, then our job as House Captains was a success! The K-12 House Meetings exist to build stronger connections within the College and promote an inclusive environment, where all students feel comfortable to be themselves.

On that note, don’t be that person that doesn’t stay with their House during Inter-House Sport because they “have no friends”. After the Meeting, you should have at least one…

The K-12 House Event meant every single student was able to be a part of a significant change in the history of the school. The response from the student body was extremely positive, and, we, as your House Captains, will do everything we can to keep you feeling positive about it. Your House should be that one place within the school that you can always rely on, where you can go to smile, laugh or cry… and play King Caractacus. From Mr Arthur’s very first intentions of the Meeting, if just one student went home and said to their parents they’d met someone new, or played some new fun game, or anything positive about the day, it would be a success.

From my observations, it was clear it was.