Valpy House

Welcome to Valpy House!

"I have been a teacher at Norwich School since 2007 and have been Head of Valpy since 2020. As well as teaching Maths, I also coach hockey, athletics and orienteering, in additon to helping on DofE expeditions, and sharing my love of nature and wildlife with pupils. I hope that the House system at Norwich School encourages pupils to get involved in a wide range of activities during their time with us. In Valpy, we try to monitor the whole picture and encourage everyone not to be afraid to have a go, whether this is in a science lab, on stage or on the sports field."













"My name is Will Clarke, and I am the House Captain of Valpy House. I’ve been at Norwich School since Lower 2 (Year 3) and I now study Theatre Studies, English Literature and 2D Photography. Post-Sixth Form, I hope to go to a conservatoire where I can further develop my theatrical abilities. I have a Performing Arts Scholarship and have been involved in lots of performances as well as being a part of the 8th Norwich Sea Scouts, Chapel Choir and the Close Shaves Choir, intending to continue my commitment to these in the coming year. I hope that Valpy House can live up to last year’s success in house music in this year’s competition."

House History

Edward Valpy, Head 1811–29, aroused strong emotions in pupils. While some remembered him with ‘cordial gratitude, respect and even affection’, others saw him as a snob and a tyrant. His reputation for corporal punishment was legendary; but he was apparently less brutal than his counterpart, Mr Keats of Eton. Valpy was also a scholar of great merit, publishing in Latin and his old boys regarded him highly enough to call the first ON club ‘The Valpeian Society’. Under his headship, pupil numbers flourished exponentially.


When a new House was needed in 1962 to absorb increasing school numbers, Valpy's name was the obvious choice. He had raised the number of boys in the school from tens to hundreds during his headship, having spread the academic reputation of the school beyond the bounds of Norfolk and Suffolk. Valpy’s disciplined sense of order however can appear lacking however during the chaos of Valpy Pancake day.

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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