For me, the two defining features of an Area School are that firstly, it takes students from Years 1 to 13 and secondly, has strong links to the local community.

All four of my children attended Oxford Area School from a very young age, the youngest from Year 1, and all four maintain friendships right back to their early years at the school and, despite having moved away, still feel a strong attachment to Oxford.

So what does this have to do with the Houses at our school? Well like the school, each House contains students from Years 1 to 13 and at House events such as our Decade Day in Term one, we witnessed this working together as a team from youngest to oldest.

The Houses also give a large number of our students an opportunity at leadership. Unlike a standard Year 9-13 high school, where the leaders would come exclusively from Year 13, we encourage students from Year 7 upwards to take leadership roles, preparing them early on for greater responsibility later in their school career.

Last week we had House Week, with a Matariki theme. Each House organized Art and Crafts activities at lunchtime for children in the primary school. For me, it was wonderful to see our students from the high school involved in both the organisation of the week and in running the activities. The interactions between the senior and junior students are a joy to witness and bring home to me that at Oxford Area School we truly are one school.