In the process of moving reception this summer, I went through the Academy’s trophy cabinet. As well as finding the Churchill County Secondary School Academic Cup, from 1959 (which we awarded on Presentation Evening to Isaac Burchill), I re-discovered the House Cup.
It was somewhat tarnished, but an hour with some silver polish and some elbow grease and it came up beautifully shiny! I am pleased therefore to announce that we are re-instating the overall House Competition for 2019-20. The Churchill Cup will be awarded for a combination of:
- Conduct Points
- Attitude to Learning
- Attendance
- Inter-House Competitions
- House Matches
- Sports Day
Why do we need a House Cup?
The House system is an vital part of Churchill’s identity. When I arrived as Headteacher in 2016, it was top of the list of things staff, students and parents wanted to “keep” as part of the Academy. We want every student to feel part of the community, and part of their House – affiliated and aligned to something bigger than themselves. Whenever they receive an R1, or gain an “Engaged” or “Highly Motivated” grade on a report, they will not only be benefitting themselves but also contributing to their House total and the overall competition.
How do you win points for your House?
- Conduct Points: every time any student in the main school receives an R1, R2 or R3 award, those points will automatically count towards the house total. Concerns (C1, C2 etc) count as minus points.
- Attitude to Learning: at each reporting point in the year, the combination of attitude to learning grades within each house will be added up to generate a house total. The most points will be awarded for Highly Motivated grades, then Engaged, and so on.
- Attendance: points will be awarded according to the average attendance within each year, broken down by House, with an overall attendance trophy for the house with the highest average attendance over the year. Every day a student turns up to school, they are not only helping themselves but also helping their house total!
- Inter-House Competitions: the Poetry Competition, Senior Trek, and so on will all contribute points to the overall total. There are also plans for some exciting new competitions this year – watch this space!
- House Matches: Team PE already keep running totals for these termly competitions. The points from each competition will contribute to the overall total; there will also be a trophy for winning the House Matches competition.
- Sports Day: points are already awarded in Sports Day; these will contribute to the overall total, as well as the award of the Sports Day cup.
We’re really looking forward to the competition this year – and may the best House win!
The Headteacher's Blog 
Many Happy memories from 1971 to 1978 ,some of the boys scrabbling [begging at the end of lessons for house points ] or better still, being awarded them for good work…are there any records of which houses won during those dates?
“1971 intake year ” are a very solid group , we formed to come to the reunion open evening and loved seeing round our old school before the changes ,followed by a get together at the Railway Inn . We have shared many stories about which house was best and why. Disco dancing at break in 1973 in Hannover apparently [they always seemed like the trendy house …Windsor was more formal but with quiet dignity!]
We still to this day carry very strong allegiances and identities with our houses. This loyalty and commitment nearly 50 years later [!!] proves the House Cup system works!
It is a joy to see that Churchill Academy is still as innovative ,warm ,open, caring and creative , with high standards in 2019 as it was for us , as the brand new Churchill Comprehensive School in 1971.
We are so proud of Churchill School , how it formed us as socially aware humans and just how much we laughed and loved each other and still do to this day. We had some wonderful teachers who inspired our careers . But above all , we were happy at school.
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Thank you for this inspiring comment! The current cup only dates back to the 2000s, but I’ll see if I can find any earlier records. It’s clear from the number of parents who insist their children are put in the same house as they were in, that the house allegiances run deep! I’m glad you’re still following what we’re up to – and that you approve!
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Thank you it is good to hear that parents still feel the same . If records still exist from the 70’s I am sure we as a group would love to know [I suspect that Hannover may well have come out on top but would love to be proved wrong !!]
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