House System

House system at Lady Lumley’s School

Acland was named after The Rt Hon A H Acland who was the Minister for Education in the 1890s. He officially opened the school on our previous site at what is now Pickering Junior School in 1905. ​
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Feversham was named after the Lords and Earls of Feversham, whose home is Duncombe Park House in Helmsley, and who have contributed greatly to the history of the school.  ​
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Highfield house was the third to be created, in 1954, after the school expanded and moved to the current site in 1952. The house was given the colour red. Mr Highfield was the school’s first headteacher as Lady Lumley’s became a co-ed School in 1905. He was Headteacher for 25 years. ​
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In 1973, another increase in numbers meant Hainsworth house was created, and associated with blue. Hainsworth is named for Mrs Dorothy Hainsworth, who had been a Governor for 50 years, and Chairwoman of the Governors for a further 10 years.

In September 2022 we introduced to further houses, this was done with the help and support of John Smith, author of the History of Lady Lumley’s.

The fifth house to be created was Leslie house. Miss Leslie was the first female teacher at Lady Lumley’s Grammar School in 1905​. She was amongst the first women in the country to be allowed a university education. ​Miss Leslie moved to Scotland having married in 1911. At this time married women were prohibited from teaching, so she had to leave her career.

The sixth house was also added in 2022, Addinall house. Miss Addinall was one of the longest serving teachers having worked at Lady Lumley’s for 35 years as an English teacher. She revived the school magazine and organised hundreds of theatre visits. Miss Addinall one of the first women to be given the title Freeman of York after gender restrictions were moved in 1979.

Student Leadership

Head Teacher’s Ambassadors

In 2022 we revived student leadership. As part of this, we created the position of Head Teacher Ambassadors. Students are selected having completed an interview with the Head Teacher and Head of Sixth Form. The Head Teacher Ambassador roles are flexible, allowing students to lead in an area of interest and expertise. The Ambassadors support a variety of Open Evenings and events, as well as meeting the Head Teacher on a regular basis. The Ambassadors support the running of the student leadership as well as supporting assemblies and other school events.

House Leaders

Each house has a leader who is chosen from Ks4 and Ks5. As House Leader, students run House Meetings each fortnight as well as attending meetings with Senior Staff. House Leaders support the running of the house system, by contributing to assemblies and other aspects of school life. House Leaders are supported by a Staff Mentor.

Tutor Leader

Each tutor group is assigned one of the six houses. Students remain in this house throughout their learning journey. When students join Lady Lumley’s in Year 7, they are put into a tutor group. A house is then assigned to that tutor group.

Students then apply to be a Tutor Leader, to represent the tutor group at house meetings.

All student leaders complete training in school.