House System: Pride, Passion & Participation

All students at Davenant will be in one of three new houses , Gillingham, Salisbury and Whitechapel.

The aim of the House system at Davenant is to ensure all students can represent their house in one of the many competitions that will be available over the year. These competitions include Sports, Music, Choir, Chess, Science, Maths, Debating and many more.

To have pride in your school and house, to have a passion in a particular skill or hobby and to share and participate with other students is part of our core values. We want our students to have every opportunity to broaden their experiences and skills.

History and background of the 3 Houses

We wanted our House names to reflect our school community and be unique to us as a school. After much debate and discussion, input from staff and student council it was finally agreed that we would adopt the house names of Gillingham, Salisbury and Whitechapel. These names represent three areas that had a significant impact on our founder, Ralph Davenant’s, life. The house names reflect his journey, they a tribute to our founder and reflect the school motto ‘Nurturing Mind (formative years) Body (working Life) and Spirit’ (family and clergy background).

Gillingham: 1639.

The birthplace of Ralph Davenant and his siblings, where his father Dr Edward Davenant was the vicar of St. Mary the Virgin.

Gillingham

Salisbury: 1572 -1641.

John Davenant (Great Uncle) was Bishop (1621- 41) and was a big influence on Ralph’s father.

Salisbury

Whitechapel

Whitechapel: 1668 -1680.

Ralph Davenant’s last job as Rector of Whitechapel St.Mary/ Mary Matfelon. Ralph was buried in the Church Grounds on 16 February 1680.