School House

Welcome to School House!

A woman with long blonde hair is wearing a blue sweater and a necklace.

A young man in a graduation gown and tie is standing in front of a building.

"I have been Head of School House since September 2023. School is a House with a huge history and tradition attached to it, sometimes even referred to as the ‘original’ House due to its origins as the boarding house until the 1980s. I have also been a Tutor in School House, so I know it is a fun and motivating environment that encourages pupils to thrive. School’s Tutor team are all experienced, caring and eager to support pupils on their journey at Norwich School. I look forward to building positive relationships with pupils and their families, and ensuring that their experience at Norwich School is a happy and fulfilling one."

My name is Darcy Wilkins, and I am the House Captain of School House. I joined the school over 10 years ago and have cherished every second. Throughout my Norwich School experience I have particularly enjoyed creating my own business through Young Chamber and continuing to developing my Rowing career.

I am now studying Business Enterprise, Psychology and Photography, alongside holding a Sport Scholarship for Rowing. In the future I plan to study Business at university, after taking a gap year to travel the world with friends that I have made at Norwich School."

House History

Unlike the other houses, School House is not named after a distinguished ON or Head. It owes its name to its origins as a boarding house. In nineteenth-century schools, it was normal practice to call the boarding house ‘the school house’ (of which the Head was also the Head of House). The last Head of Norwich School to function as Head of School House was Andrew Stephenson in the 1950s. The House then continued as the boarding house, based in School House and in the Palace, until 1989, when boarding was phased out.

As boarders could spend unlimited time practising for the House Shout, results were invariably a marvel of synchronised close harmony, and their competitive spirit lives on today.

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.