Flintshire school’s new house system reaps rewards

A recently introduced rewards scheme that has been linked to the house system at a Flintshire high school is already being hailed a huge success.

There are five houses at Flint High School, all named after Welsh mountains to give each student a sense of community within school.  

Part of Sam Harbour’s new role as associate headteacher was to rejuvenate the reward system.  She explains: “I looked at how we might combine the way we reward students for their achievements with the existing house system, which has worked so successfully at the school.   

“By rolling out the house system, students can now collect achievement points individually and for their house.  

Every house has two ‘mountain leaders’ who are prefects.  Their role is to help lead their house, and there are weekly competitions or ‘missions’ where they can gain points for their house. 

These points might be for good uniform standards, punctuality, good deeds, using Welsh, and entering house competitions such as the eco-challenge or raising awareness for initiatives such as Red Nose Day. 

There is also a league board to plot progress and trophies are given out each week for the ‘top form of the week’.  The aim is to reach the top of the ‘mountain’ by the end of the term and a house prize will be awarded to the winners during the summer term.   

For individual rewards, there is a ‘star of the week’ which is awarded to a student in each year group to recognise their success, and a tariff system whereby students reaching a certain milestone will be rewarded with certificates and prizes from the head of year and the headteacher. 

Mrs Harbour added: “Flint High School is focusing on positivity and celebrating hard work and success.  This is the culture that we want in the school for our learners.  The house system is doing this; students are more aware of the achievement points they have gained and are loving the trophies in school. 

“It is starting to create a more positive mindset amongst students which is fantastic, and I think it’s given them a fresh energy after the difficult times we have all been through.”