Many schools already have a House system, but not all House systems feel alive. Some were created decades ago and have barely changed since. Others use themes such as street names, trees or colours, which pupils struggle to connect with. When a House system no longer inspires children or staff, it quietly fades into the background. Displays lose impact, enthusiasm drops and points are given out occasionally rather than used to shape culture.
The good news is that an outdated House system can be refreshed quickly and powerfully without discarding everything. By using the Guardian System figureheads, schools can breathe energy and meaning into their Houses while still keeping the names and heritage their community knows.
If you want a full overview of how a modern House system works, you may find this guide helpful: School House System Ideas: The Complete Guide for Primary Schools.
Keeping Your Names, Updating the Identity
Many schools want to keep their traditional House names for historical or local reasons. Names such as Pendleton, Ashcroft, Chesham or Redgate often matter to the community. The challenge is that pupils do not always understand what these names represent. They lack identity in a way that children can see, recognise and rally behind.
This is where the Guardian figureheads offer an instant solution. If your Houses are named after local places or people, each name can be paired with a Guardian identity:
- Pendleton – Falcon
- Ashcroft – Tiger
- Chesham – Bear
- Redgate – Wolf
This approach preserves your heritage while adding a powerful, child-friendly visual identity. Displays become more engaging, pupils can recognise their House on badges or banners and staff can link behaviour recognition to something meaningful and visible. The names stay, but the identity gains personality.
Or Make a Clean Break and Use the Value Houses
For some schools, existing House names carry no attachment at all. If the Houses feel random, outdated or uninspiring, this is an ideal moment to move fully to the Guardian value Houses: Maluhia, Armastus, Fedelta and Kebaikan. Each House has a clear identity, colour, figurehead and meaning that pupils understand instantly.
These values do not limit pupils to one trait. Instead, they give the whole school a shared set of aspirations. Every child can show kindness, peace, perseverance and love. No House owns a value. The Houses act as figureheads for the values that shape the culture of the school.
For more detail about the meanings behind these Houses, see: Why Our Guardian House Names Are Rooted in Global Values.
Refreshing the Visuals Makes the Biggest Impact
Old House systems often feel tired because the visuals no longer inspire pupils. Updating displays, badges, certificates, crests and banners can completely change how the system is perceived. With the Guardian System, schools can modernise their identity quickly without designing everything from scratch. The figureheads—tiger, wolf, bear and falcon—bring immediate energy to the environment.
Visual inspiration can be found here:
Using Values to Reinforce Behaviour Without Labelling Pupils
A common problem in older systems is that values become tied too closely to House identity. One House becomes the kindness House, another the perseverance House, and another the teamwork House. This unintentionally pigeonholes pupils.
The Guardian System avoids this entirely.
Every child can demonstrate every value. A pupil in Pendleton can show kindness. A pupil in Redgate can show perseverance. A pupil in Ashcroft can show calm focus. Values are shared and universal.
Teachers anchor praise in the values themselves rather than the House name:
- “Thank you for showing kindness.”
- “That took real perseverance.”
- “I can see excellent calm focus there.”
This approach helps the House system evolve from a scoreboard into a behaviour framework rooted in fairness and aspiration. For more on behaviour and values, see: Using House Systems to Improve Behaviour Across the School.
Refreshing Competitions Without Reinventing Everything
Many outdated House systems rely on the same events each year. The Guardian values make it easy to refresh competitions so they feel relevant and purposeful. Without restricting values to specific Houses, you can run:
- resilience relays
- teamwork or community challenges
- creative art tasks
- reading or problem-solving tournaments
- calm focus challenges
- kindness weeks
Any House can shine in any area because the values belong to everyone. For more ideas, see: 17 House Competition Ideas to Boost Team Spirit.
Staff Buy-In Improves When the System Makes Sense
Refreshing a House system often comes down to clarity. Staff need a structure that is simple to use consistently. When the Guardian System is introduced, the values are clear, the visuals are memorable and the point system is straightforward. Teachers award 1–3 points for above-and-beyond behaviour, achievement or effort, while SLT award larger amounts when appropriate.
This clarity means staff actually use the system. When every adult applies it consistently, school culture begins to shift quickly and positively.
A Modern House System Without Losing Your Roots
You do not need to erase tradition to modernise your House system. You can keep your existing names, update the identity with Guardian figureheads or adopt the value Houses in full. Either approach adds clarity, colour and meaning to your system.
A modern House system feels alive, purposeful and fair. With the Guardian System, schools gain everything their current system has been missing—without months of redesign.
If you want to launch quickly once refreshed, this guide may help: How to Launch a House System in One Week.
