House System
My name is Mrs Davenport and I am the Braunton Academy House Coordinator.
The Academy has moved to a Year based system with Heads of Year replacing the previous Heads of House. During the planning and transition to the new system, we recognised that we do not want to lose the House system and ethos.
Belonging to a House gives students an identity and sense of pride in a supportive environment and my aim is to raise the profile of the House system.
There are four Houses, each named after one of the beautiful local beaches: Croyde, Putsborough, Saunton and Woolacombe.
House Points
Students will have the opportunity to gain points for their House in the following ways:
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House Competitions – there will be a varied series of House competitions and events throughout the year from all areas of school life. This will ensure that everyone has the opportunity to represent their House in something that they enjoy.
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Positive Behaviour - Heads of Year will award House Points in the form of tokens to students who demonstrate positive behaviour around the school. Students will drop these into the coloured House Boxes situated in Student Reception.
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Best Attendance – the House that tops the attendance data each week will gain points for their House.
These points will accumulate and be recorded on the House Championship display board in the Isaac Hall foyer.
There will be opportunities within each House for students to take on extra responsibility and apply to become House Captains, who will help organise the competitions and events.
The House Championship calendar will culminate with the Annual Sports Day and a House Championship Cup awarded to the House that has accrued the most points over the whole year at the final assembly.
House Competitions
Braunton Academy Songwriting House Competition
During Lockdown Mrs Davenport and Mr Street launched an exciting new song writing house competition. The was open to all students in the school.
Mr Street was thoroughly impressed by the standard of entries. Songs were submitted in a variety of styles and genres including, acapella, electronic dance music and acoustic pop/rock. All the students below receive a certificate and a small prize. Choosing a KS3 and KS4 winner was very difficult.
The KS3 winner is Aisha Hewitt with ‘You’re the only one for me’. Her song begins with two wonderful dominant 7th chords on the piano that grab the listener's attention. The song continues with a passionate declaration of love delivered with Aisha’s beautiful, R n B inspired, soulful voice. For a moment there is a satisfying departure from the first 2 chords as she sings the refrain “You’re the only one for me” accompanied by a descending piano motif. Throughout the song Aisha is developing and decorating the melody as the intensity of love for this person grows. Wonderful. Well done.
The KS4 winner is Will McPherson with his wonderfully tender song ‘I’ll Wait right here’. A wonderfully delicate acoustic guitar pattern sets the tone right from the beginning. The feeling of tension, loss and yearning comes through beautifully in Will’s vocal delivery and lyrics, while Will uses the chorus effect on the guitar to enhance the texture of the main refrain. Overall, a moving song we can all relate to. Wonderful!
All the students provided great tracks. Charlie Jones and Tom Palmer led the way with electronic music production. Tom’s fantastic 90s house style tune has you clambering for the dance floor. Charlie produced a mini song cycle of 2 pieces referencing surf conditions: ‘3 foot sunny’ ‘5 foot cross’.
Well done and congratulations to all who took part. All results are shown below:
Braunton Academy House Songwriting Competition Results
KS4 winner - Will McPherson: I’ll Wait Right Here
KS3 winner - Aisha Hewitt: Only for Me
KS4 runners up: Ruby Collins, Poppy Nuthall, Taylor Bennett,
KS3 runners up: Izzy Almond, Isabelle Roome, Sasha Falkas, Isaac Gregory, Daisy Cox
(Group Entry: Lexie Jay, Luke Boerboom, Dylan Samuel - Poh, Jessica Yeo, Eve Horgan) 1 certificate each.
Electronic Dance Music Winners: Tom Butler, Charlie Jones and Leo Lane-Humphries
Winners Will McPherson and Aisha Hewitt both receive a lovely moleskin music notebook as well as some other musical goodies. All runners up will receive some other musical goodies and a certificate to inspire them on their songwriting journey. Please click the link to listen to their tracks.
Snack Shack Competition
Many thanks to all those who took part in the Design a Sign for the Snack Shack competition. We received some great entries and everyone who took part will receive House Points.
However, after much consideration we are delighted to announce that the winner of the Snack Shack House Competition is:-
Bea Lindenbaum - 8DM - Croyde House
Here is a picture of Bea with the winning design!
Bea received a £10 Amazon voucher and her design will be made into a sign for the new Snack Shed which opens after Easter.
Welly Wanging Competition
Our annual Welly Wanging house competition took place in the week beginning the 28th June. Well done to everyone who took part. The results were:-
Year 7
1st Will Adams - Saunton House
2nd Caleb Martin - Woolacombe House
3rd Fin Cole - Croyde House
4th Joel Kennard - Putsborough House
Year 8
1st Mack Lyall - Putsborough House
2nd Charlie Hill - Croyde House
3rd Oliver Latu - Saunton House
4th Daniel Espinosa-Corston - Woolacombe House
Year 9
1st Jamie Townsend - Croyde House
2nd Theo Plaza - Putsborough House
3rd Benjamin Phillips - Saunton House
4rd Dimitri Brundle - Woolacombe House
Year 10
1st Dennis Psaltis - Woolacombe House
2nd Stanley Rimmer - Croyde House
3rd Dylan Evans - Putsborough House
4th Liam Barber - Saunton House
House Championship Results
Well done to all the students who entered the many different House Competitions over the last school year! We had some great lockdown photographs, some amazing Fantastic Beasts, some brilliant songs written and recorded, some great artwork and of course, some great Welly Wanging! House Points were awarded to everyone who took part.
Students also collected House Points for best attendance, good and excellent classwork and homework and their participation in extracurricular activities.
All of the points accrued by every student have been added to the House totals and I am delighted to announce that SAUNTON HOUSE are the winners this year!
We are of course disappointed that we couldn't hold our traditional end of year House Afternoon to celebrate this and hope we can organise something in the Autumn term.
Mrs Davenport
House Coordinator
