Brooke House

Welcome to Brooke House!

"As Head and Deputy Head of Brooke House, we see our roles as supporting the pupils and tutors in their endeavours - to celebrate their successes and to help them develop resilience in the face of challenges. The course of learning is not linear; through a pupil’s school journey there will be highs and lows, but in being part of Brooke House a pupil is never alone in this experience. Brooke house provides a ‘community within a community’ where we foster positive relationships built on integrity, trust, and ambition. We value pupil voice, being part of a team and having opportunities to lead. We also strive to provide a vehicle for pupils to explore their passions and demonstrate the values of being a Norwich School pupil upholding and fostering a collective and empathetic environment – sharing in each other’s achievements and working together to support one another."







"My name is Edie Martin, and I am the House Captain of Brooke House. I joined Norwich School in L5, and have since enjoyed playing 1st XI hockey and football, alongside working with the Close Creatives Collective and playing in the Guitar Ensembles. I am studying Classical Civilisation, English Literature and Photography at A Level. I am looking forward to getting involved in all our house events this year! 

House History

Brooke House takes its name from the legendary ON Sir James Brooke, the Rajah of Sarawak. He attended the School from 1815 and was reputedly “completely unreceptive to the idea of learning”. He allegedly hid Head Master Valpy’s cane under floorboards, only discovered after his leaving. He went on to carve out a career initially in the army. After this was cut short by injury, he used a substantial inheritance to buy a boat and sail to Borneo, bound for adventure. Here he exerted his influence and force of personality over pirates, headhunters and rebellious tribes, ruling over Sarawak for 27 years.


Brooke House is a welcoming and inclusive body of pupils and tutors alike. Not only are they caring and supportive of peers and colleagues, but they are also highly motivated and competitive! Members of Brooke House are encouraged to thrive and achieve, both academically and within the co-curricular sphere, and also to uphold and foster a collective and empathetic environment within the House – sharing in each other’s achievements and working together to support one’s endeavours.

House News

Friendly Competition and Teambuilding for Lower 5 at Bramley Lakes

By Eleanor Lewis • October 3, 2025
Despite the grey skies and constant drizzle, the opportunity to be crowned as the winning Lower 5 tutor group of Bramley Lakes, 2025, meant that all pupils gave it their all to bring home the coveted shield. Within their House tutor groups, and supported by tutors and pastoral prefects, the competition was fierce, and the lead chopped and changed throughout the day. Each group was being scored on their communication, effort, peer support and positivity.  Activities included, trebuchet building, crate stack and other high ropes challenges, axe throwing and archery. Water balloons were fired from the trebuchets at rival Lower 5 tutor groups, with particular pupils getting even more soaked in the wet weather. It was a pleasure to see all tutor groups working together, and making the most of the day. Despite Nelson's best efforts, it was Coke that triumphed in the end, retaining their crown from the previous three years! Can Coke go for an unprecedented five in a row next year? Only time will tell.

Coke House Annual Visit to Holkham Hall

By Eleanor Lewis • April 29, 2025
On our recent Coke house trip to Holkham Hall, we were lucky to have ideal weather to admire the grounds in their full beauty. As soon as we entered the hall on our tour, it was apparent how interconnected the hall was with Coke house as all throughout the hall, there were many paintings of relatives of Sir Edward Coke, whom our house is named after. We were amazed at the sheer volume of artwork in the house from paintings to statues to murals. We learnt about the Palladian architecture style of the whole estate, meaning that there was a considerable importance placed on symmetry; It’s truly amazing to stand in the centre of the house and see through the whole property. One of the activities we did was preventive conservation, helping document emerging damage in the hall so that it can be monitored and prevented from further deterioration. After completing the necessary work, we took to the gardens surrounding the grounds for a well-deserved break – playing croquet and looking around at the various plants and herbs being nurtured by the gardeners working at the hall. Varying croquet skill levels and severe (but friendly) competitiveness meant we finished the day on a high. We left Holkham hall enriched with a deeper understanding of Coke’s history, and a better knowledge of our peers. - Nova Adkins, Zach Bradley, Rose Cook and Leon Lui - L6 pupils

Valpy House Celebrate Shrove Tuesday

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?
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