Almost every primary and secondary school in the Australia employs the use of the house point system. This is more than mere tradition: the house point system offers a plethora of positive benefits and opportunities that make school life infinitely more enjoyable and accessible for Australian students. These benefits range from increased camaraderie between students, encouragement of friendly competitiveness, a development of self-identity, the nurture of invaluable skills and more.
A Bond Between Australian Students:
First and foremost among what students learn from a house point system is the importance of forming a bond between each other. As each house a student is sorted into typically remains the same for the rest of their schooling career, friendships between housemates are common and help to facilitate a sense of camaraderie among students. In addition, each house typically spans the breadth of year levels, meaning that junior students are mixed in with seniors as well. This provides seniors with the opportunity to welcome first year students into a supportive and friendly environment. It also foster a discussion between students of all year levels that may be missing in the school yard. This goes even further with digital integration within house points systems.
Digital house points apps such as Housebytes connect all classes across the school and tally them up onto a joint scoreboard. To register an account click here and start your online house point system today.
Friendly Competition:
Perhaps the most obvious benefit of the house point system is the friendly competitiveness that it encourages between inter-house students. The school houses play their most prominent roles during sporting events, such as swimming carnivals and athletics day, but also dictating the house points earned by the debating teams and chess clubs. Not to mention, academic achievements of all kinds are celebrated within the student’s house, such as high exam marks and state-wide exams.
This system allows every Australian student, regardless of their strengths or talents, to participate in scoring points for their house. Furthermore, the point system encourages students to strive for higher marks and achieve more, whether it be in sports, hobbies or academia.
Responsibility:
Another important skill that students learn is teamwork amongst peers. As each house typically encompasses a large number of students, it means the fastest and most efficient way for a house to win its year cup is for everyone to work together. This coincides hand-in-hand with the fact that most events facilitated by the houses, such as sports or debating events, are typically team-orientated in the first place.
Students learn to organise themselves into teams that are the best at certain sports or events, and this is all overseen by house captains – who themselves learn the importance of responsibility as they direct their peers.
A Sense of Identity Among School Houses:
A sense of identity is another prominent value learned by a student participating in the house system. By actively engaging in house events and earning points, an Australian student can feel a sense of self-worth, the importance of contributing to something greater than themselves, and being surrounded by teammates who actively encourage the student to reach their full potential.
These positive benefits, provided by the house system, ranging from the inception of long-lasting friendship groups to learning the value of responsibility and teamwork, show precisely why schoolhouses are used by so many Australian schools. Because, in the end, what the students learn from their house is the most important part of their school life.
To access house points resources/worksheets for your school, visit websites such as:
These will provide access to Free and Paid resources. For a FREE online house points app and manager head to Housebytes.co to start a free account and connect up to 5 teaching accounts together for FREE.
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