Tuesday 29 April 2008

All about the house system

This week sees more house assemblies as house leaders either congratulate their houses or tell them to hurry up and beat the current leaders. Since the system's appearance last year, we've wondered why and wondered exactly what it means for Temple Moor.

Already we have forms, so the house system wasn't implemented to group students together. What it does do, though, is provide easier competition throughout the school by a simple segmenting into quarters - never mind the eight forms and seven years, this method gives competitions an extra incentive and a simpler breakdown.

But what of the names? Clearly TMHS ditched the old house names - Manston, Scargill, Dunstan and DeLacy - for science-themed ones, because of the Science College status. The current houses - as you're no doubt aware - are Rigel, Capella, Sirius and Vega. Alright, so they're all named after stars - but why these ones? They are not the brightest stars in the sky (barring the Sun, Sirius is the brightest, followed by Canopus then Arcturus) and they're definitely not the closest (Alpha Centauri is a bit of a silly house name, though). So why these four random stars, two of which are technically binary systems*?

The colours are (according to Wikipedia) the same four as used in the old house system. However, this was botched this year by ties that are different shades of the colours - mostly looking hideous.

There's not a lot more to say about the house system - except last year's winners were Sirius. It's not another horrendous scheme, thank God, and it actually seems to be a good idea for competition, if nothing else. Let's hear what some students think:
  • "I don't think it really makes a difference to be honest"
  • "It's sh*t...we were fine before. If it's not broke. Don't fix it"
  • "hasn't really made any form of impact"
  • "Completly Rediculous And Pointless"
  • "pointless"
If you disagree with this post, or think those pupils' quotes are wrong, leave a comment or email us.

*Binary systems have two stars in them. For example, there's Capella A and Capella B. Sirius appears to be one star, but is actually two - imaginatively called Sirius A and Sirius B.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoy the fact you've used my opinion.

Anonymous said...

sirius' two starts are called cannis major and cannis minor their called sirius because its another name for dog

Anonymous said...

Have we really got nothing better to complain about than this? Are these the burning issues of our times? And who did you ask for opinion? Five comments hardly make a statistically significant sample. Oh, and if subjective criticism is to be the aim of this blog, how about Thor comes up with a better idea for house names. Go for it Thor! The world awaits your wisdom...

The West Wing Mole
PS Why do blog mods ignore disagreeable opinion? Afraid? Is this 1984?

Unknown said...

Not exactly a burning question but a better idea for Templar Truths. This post is more like how here should be run (as said before). A place for discussion not TMHS bashing.

And I like the House names. However I liked the interform. WOOO! Year 7 Football 2002 Winners! That's going back abit now...

Thor said...

To the first anonymous:
Canis Major is a constellation which contains Sirius.

To the second anonymous:
No, this is not a burning issue - but who says Templar Truths is just the latest news?

Five comments are statistically insignificant, you're right. This is why I asked people to leave comments with their thoughts.

Usually any "disagreeable opinion" is badly spelt rubbish that merely throws around a few insults.

As for house names, a science angle might be appropriate with Science College status, so what about names of famous scientists? Hawking, Einstein, Newton and Darwin. Failing that, you could have Proton, Quark, Plasma and Supermassive Black Hole.

Anonymous said...

Supermassive Black Hole? Hmmmn, I think they'd have to Muse on that one...

Melaisis said...

Lmao. Me and MC-Manus are leading the Rigel one tomorrow.

Its pretty dire, but may well be still superior compared to the other house assemblies, apparently.

Anonymous said...

Well! Kudos to Thor for entering the spirit of debate *doffs cap*. Now that your credibility is restored, perhaps I aught to respond in kind.

I like your idea of using famous scientists' names. However, this demonstrates the difficulty of choosing house names that are inoffensive and apolitical. Take Einstein: his associations with the state of Israel may cause difficulties for some. Newton's Rosicrucian leanings might raise eyebrows. As for Darwin, religious parents might have something to say. Nevertheless, let's develop this theme! For myself, I would choose from: Zoidberg, Quatermass, Nemo, Davros, Frink, Spock, Klump, Strangelove, Blofeld, Avon, Untonium or Robotnik. Admittedly, these are perhaps more controversial than your own list, but more fun eh? And for the smartasses amongst us, how about: apocritic, bzrk, cortexin, miraclo, profem or gingold? I guess these might be a little obscure for some, perhaps even a source of anxiety for teaching staff. [I know you are reading this - dammit, what passes for an education nowadays if you don't know what these are?]

Oh, stop me, before this becomes a stream of conciousness...speaking of which, how about psychological terms? Amygadla, ganglion, bipolar, catharsis, etc. Who would lead such houses? Answers on a postcard please...

West Wing Mole
PS Thanks Thor, this has been fun!

Anonymous said...

Clearly the only appropriate names for the Houses are bungalow, maisonette, mansion and duplex.

But would a bungalow be suitable as a house? Or a maisonette? Or a duplex? Indeed is a mansion a house or a House? I believe that one department would make clear there are many mansions in my (c.f. JC's) Father's house.

Frankly, this is a topic fraught with complexity and pitfalls. How brave the school were to choose the names they did, how brave.

Unknown said...

How about the names "Komo," "Greennough (the Male variety)," "Lawrence" and "Mad Smez."