House System
The House system is an integral part of Cranbrook's pastoral care program, and complements classroom pedagogy, specific welfare policies, co-curricular activities, learning support, counselling services and religious education to nurture the development of each student.
The Housemaster plays a pivotal role in the pastoral care of each student within the House. The Tutor is concerned with the welfare of individual students in his/her tutor group and is the primary pastoral carer of these students.
The House system is designed to promote an environment in which students feel known, safe, valued, engaged and purposeful. A student's House is his home in the School. It is a place in which he leaves his belongings, and the place from which he begins and ends his day at School. It is part of his identity and part of what distinguishes him. The House provides knowledgeable and caring adults as mentors and role models for the students in its care. It is the structure through which the School provides individualised care, personal guidance and character development experiences for each student.
Houses are vertically structured and provide opportunities for students from Year 7 through to Year 12 to mix with each other in formal and informal settings. Older students learn to care for, and encourage and support younger students in cross-age tutor groups and through "buddy" and cross-age reading programs. Younger students can identify mentors and role models. Tutor groups within the House allow for strong bonds of friendship and support to develop between students of similar and different ages. Houses honour and strengthen their traditions, and celebrate their identity through social gatherings, trivia and cultural evenings, assemblies, Chapel services and participation in inter-House competitions. In this way each student can identify with, and feel connected to, his House.