As well as belonging to a year group and tutor group, each student also belongs to one of three houses.

The main function of the house system is to develop a sense of identity or belonging and to celebrate achievements. Each house at JMS represents a river in Abingdon and each student will belong to either Thames (Blue), Stert (Red) or Ock (Green).

Every member of staff and every student belong to one of the 3 houses.

It is important for students to have the opportunity to play an active role and contribute to a community within their school, which allows them to develop skills and talents and acknowledges their successes in a wide range of ways. We encourage students to play an active role in the success of their house. Individual and team efforts are rewarded as well as participation. Students are expected to contribute to Inter-house competitions throughout the year.

Recognition

Students have the opportunity to be recognised at JMS by being awarded House Points.  These are awarded by staff in line with our school values including attendance, progress and attitude to learning.

Our School Values are:

• Passionate about Learning
• Proud of our Creativity
• Keen to Inspire
• Determined to be the best
• Value ourselves and each other

Student Leadership

All Students at JMS are offered the opportunity to apply to take up a leadership role. Each form then selects two form ambassadors who work closely with their Director of Key Stage/ Deputy.

These ‘ambassador’ roles are designed to give students an opportunity to help change specific areas of the school they feel could be improved or are passionate about.

From the form ambassadors, students can apply to be on one of three whole school committees:

• Well-being
• School improvement
• Community (including fundraising/charity work)

The committees meet regularly with a member of SLT staff to write and review their action plans. They present updates at Governer meetings and share their progress with the school community.

Taking up a leadership role is part of the Character Education Map at JMS and these opportunities can be taken both in class or via one of these ambassador roles.