Coke House

Welcome to Coke House!

"My role as Head of Coke House is most rewarding. I work with a fantastic team of tutors who are extremely dedicated and passionate about each pupil enjoying their time at Norwich School. We work closely alongside senior pastoral, academic and co-curricular staff, to ensure that each pupil’s needs are met, and they can go about their daily journey through school positively. We aim to support all pupils in the House to achieve their potential in an empathetic and compassionate environment, whilst helping resolve any difficulties and celebrating the many successes. The House takes its name from Sir Edward Coke - Barrister, Judge, and politician during the 16th Century. He pursued his career with a balanced perspective, an open mind, and a determination for morality – these are the values that we hope to develop in our pupils as they progress through each year and thrive in our House. “









"I’m Katie Smith and I am House Captain of Coke House. I joined Norwich School at the start of Lower 6 and I study biology, geography and psychology for my A Levels. My highlights at Norwich School Sixth Form have been performing in the Senior School musicals Guys and Dolls and Grease for the last two years, playing hockey and netball for the second teams and being part of the Senior Girls Choir. I can’t wait for our House events this year, such as Cup Run and Sports Day!"

House History

Coke House was founded in 1945 and is named after Sir Edward Coke, who was Speaker of the House of Commons and Attorney-General under Elizabeth I and was Chief Justice under James I. Coke was a zealous prosecutor of Sir Walter Raleigh (“Thou art a monster. Thou hast an English face but a Spanish heart”) and of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators. He is attributed with coining the phrase: "the house of an Englishman is to him as his castle". He laid the foundations of his family’s great wealth and is without doubt one of the most influential legal minds this school has ever produced. 


Cokesians are expected to make the very best of their individual academic, musical and sporting talents, and to use those talents both for their own improvement and for the betterment of others. While inter-house competition is enjoyed, co-operation is highly valued, fairness is paramount and winning is a consequence of hard work. 


Much of Sir Edward’s influence lives on today and, in some small way, this House follows his lead with a balanced perspective, an open mind, and a determination to do what is right.

House News

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?

FONS Provide Fun for Fourth Form and Repton House

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.
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