The House System

The Four School Houses

The four school houses are named after the surnames of previous principals of the school, Remarkably, in the 125 years existence of Ebrington PS & NU (as of 2025-2026 academic year), there have only been six principals: Mrs James Boyd, Mr John Boyd, Mr Robert Ramsey, Mr Roy Wright, Mr Nigel Dougherty and our current principal, Mr Brian Guthrie.

Boyd-Blue House

In April 1901, when Ebrington School opened its doors in the church hall of Ebrington Presbyterian Church to more than 100 pupils, Mr James Boyd was advanced as the first school principal. This is a role he would remain in until 1918, throughout the years of WW1, and he was succeeded by his brother, Mr John Boyd. Mr John Boyd remained as principal of Ebrington School from 1918 right through until 1952, so the Boyd Brothers led an ever-expanding school for 51 years in total.

Ramsey-Red House

Mr Robert Ramsey succeeded Mr John Boyd as principal in 1952. With numbers continually growing, it was during his leadership that the school made the move from Ebrington Church Halls to new premises in Ulsterville Avenue. Mr Ramsey and staff, as well as all the pupils, must have been very proud of their new surroundings, having bright spacious classrooms, canteen facilities on site and the luxury of having their own playing fields.

Wright-Yellow House

Mr Roy Wright took over the reins in 1972 and led the school through a time of rapid expansion, with enrolment peaking at almost 550 pupils. This culminated in an extensive building programme to the now ‘old’ school building at Ulsterville Avenue, which added many new classrooms. He would remain as principal of the school until 1996, giving 24 years of service as principal.

Dougherty-Green House

Mr Nigel Dougherty became principal of Ebrington PS & NU in 1997 and remained in place until June 2018. He had been a pupil of the school, himself from 1961-1967, so clearly new what it was like to be a member of #Team Ebrington from an early age. During his time, he had many significant events, but two key ones were celebrating the 100 years anniversary of the school in 2001 and then coordinating the move from Ulsterville Avenue to our current magnificent school site in March 2017.

Principles

The House System is primarily about creating smaller communities within the school that promote diversity and create a sense of identity, competition and belonging and will add an extra dimension to the social structure of the school.

The House System is a mix of pupils of all ages, from Year 3 to Year 7. Each House represents a fair cross-section of the school community. Each house incorporates pupils with a mix of gender, attainment and abilities and SEN. When moving into Year 3, if a child has had an older sibling in a house, they will be placed in that house also.

Why we use the House System

School Culture

 - To provide a method of strengthening the school culture.

- To give pupils a way to demonstrate responsibility, team-skills, cooperation, leadership and pupil voice outside of the classroom environment.

Inclusivity & Sense of belonging

 - Every pupil experiences a need to belong and when the school becomes large this could be difficult. The house system provides a small school feel, a way of ensuring that every pupil's voice is heard and everyone feels that sense of belonging.

- The House system provides a way to meet the pastoral needs of the students, where every pupil is known and no one is left behind.

Success / Sense of self worth

 - When pupils take part in House events and perform for their house it gives them a sense of self-worth and achievement that may be more difficult to achieve on a school wide level. For example, pupils who take part in an activity for sports day who may not otherwise be able to represent the school at sport.

Sense of healthy competition

 - Every pupil will be encouraged to participate in as many house events as possible during each year.

- The house system will develop team spirit whilst, at the same time, encouraging a sense of loyalty and friendly competition.

- This will also encourage a sense of ownership in the house which in turn will increase the healthy competition and so on.

Sense of security

 - When students feel secure and their needs are met on a pastoral level, it will also help them to perform better academically and will have a positive impact on other areas of their education.

Positive behaviour management

 -   A very important role of the house system will be for positive behaviour management.

House points will be awarded to individuals for various positive behaviours and achievements. These will be accrued throughout the year, culminating in a final house cup that will be awarded in an end of year assembly.

There will be no sanctions applied to this system - i.e. house points will not be deducted for negative behaviours, rather dealt with separately. The house system will reward the positives at all times.

House Structure

 Mrs McCrea coordinates and oversees the overall running of the ‘House’ system, assisted by Mrs Armstrong when it comes to House assemblies. Every school employee should be a member of a House, with the exception of the Principal. Each house is led by their Head of House staff member/s who are supported by a team of teachers and non-teaching staff.

Pupil positions within the house system include House Captain (Year 7) and a Vice House Captain (Year 6)

These posts are voted for and appointed by Head of House in September of a new academic year.