The House System

St Edmund's has a distinctive, possibly unique House System for the Senior School, with four Houses, organised to take boys and girls (day and boarding) from each of the Senior School Forms, and a fifth element - Owen - to which all boarding pupils belong. The four main Houses have about 80 pupils each, and are administered by "Housemasters" (although two of these are female members of staff!). The Housemasters are supported by Deputy Housemasters, a tutor team of seven to eight staff members, a House Captain chosen from the Upper Sixth, and House Prefects.

The four Houses have very different personalities, and occupy different areas of the School. They take overall responsibility for their members during the school day, between morning registration and the start of "evening duty" at 7.00 pm; after this point, Owen takes over responsibility for boarding pupils until the following morning.

Baker House

Baker House is named after William Baker (1841-1910), who was the Treasurer of the Clergy Orphan Corporation, which owned and managed the School from its foundation up until 1997; it is the most physically independent of the Houses, occupying the ground floor of the Baker Wing.

Wagner House

Wagner House is named in honour of Henry Wagner (1840-1926),grandson of Joshua Watson, after whom Watson House is named. Wagner founded two scholarships at Oxford University, specifically for boys from the Clergy Orphan School, as St. Edmund's was then known. Wagner House is sited on the first floor of what was "Big School", immediately above Warneford House.

Warneford House

The benefactor Samuel Warneford (1763-1855) gives his name to this House; Warneford's generosity enable the school to purchase the current site in Canterbury, and construct the main building in 1855. The House occupies the lower part of what was "Big School".

Watson House.

Joshua Watson (1771-1855), grandfather of Henry Wagner, was, like William Baker, a Treasurer of the Clergy Orphan Corporation, and he devoted 35 years of his life to charitable work on behalf of the School. Watson House occupies the first floor of the main building, overlooking Canterbury city.

Owen

Owen supersedes the daytime House structure of the School from 7.00 pm until 8.30 am, for all our boarding pupils. The House takes its name from a recent and respected Chairman of Governors, Major General John Owen.

Our boy boarders are housed in year group units, or study-bedroom accommodation from the middle fifth upwards.

Girls from all five year groups occupy the upper floors of the New Wing and there are also up to 12 senior girls housed in the Baker Wing.

The four Housemasters and the Head of Boarding keep close contact over all issues concerning the boarding community at St Edmund's, and all attend the weekly Housemasters' meeting with the senior management team of Headmaster, Deputy Head, Director of Studies and Chaplain. The Owen team also includes visiting tutors.