Every girl entering Wycombe is assigned to one of nine Senior Houses. Whilst UIII girls go into Junior House for their first year, they are still allocated a Senior House before they arrive, enabling them gradually to get to know some of the girls in their House during their first year and easing transition. Girls move from their Senior House into Clarence at the end of the lower Sixth.
Geographically the Houses are split into three areas:
Abbey Houses: Pitt and Rubens;
Outhouses: Airlie, Barry, Butler and Campbell;
Daws Hill: Cloister, Shelburne and Wendover.
There are some architectural differences between the Houses (although the pairs of Outhouses are identical in design) and inevitably some differences in character and ‘feel’, although this is a subjective and indeed changing matter. It is worth noting two points in this connection: firstly, girls (and sometimes House staff) enter and leave the school, thus, whilst there is continuity as far as possible, no House is ever completely the same from year to year; secondly, Wycombe, unlike some schools, does not have a policy of allocating girls with particular interests or skills (e.g. high musical ability) to one House. On the contrary, we endeavour to ensure that, where possible, there is a good cross-section of girls with different interests and strengths, and girls from different Prep Schools, in each House.
Choosing Houses
Girls and their parents are encouraged to visit the school on Open Houses Day in order to meet the Housemistresses and the girls. They may, if they wish, express a preference for a particular House or area to the Director of Admissions. Sisters of current pupils and daughters of Seniors always have priority when spaces in a particular House are limited.
The final allocation of a place in a Senior House is made by the Director of Admissions and the Senior Housemistress, who try to balance the wishes of girls and their parents with the principles outlined above. It should be noted that, for both pastoral and logistical reasons, it is not always possible to accommodate stated preferences. Having said that, it is our normal experience that most girls, having met the girls and House staff in their House, are quickly convinced that their particular House is the best, irrespective of which one it is, or even whether it was their original choice!
