the house system

Pupil Voice

Our pupils are placed into one of four Houses named after notable figures with connections to Twickenham.

our pupils lead

Leadership Opportunities

Every pupil has the chance to hold a leadership role during their time at Kneller Hall School. We believe strongly in giving pupils real agency: the sense that a young person can influence and effect positive change, and contribute meaningfully to a wider school project. Pupils lead through four committees, each guided by Sixth Form student leaders working alongside senior staff. School Council Prefects represent their peers in school governance. House Prefects lead within our house system. Sustainability Prefects drive our environmental and eco-school initiatives. Community Prefects champion engagement and service within the wider community.

all-round achievement

The House System

The House system offers our pupils the opportunity to thrive through competitions in the arts, sport and all-round achievement, with House allegiance and identity fostered throughout the school. Each House is led by a member of staff as the Head of House, whose role is to encourage everyone to contribute to the collective success of their House and to get involved wherever they can as they compete for the annual House Shield.

House Captains and House Ambassadors are appointed for each House and are given opportunities to benefit from leadership training. They are encouraged to organise and co-ordinate their fellow pupils and to use their initiative to help with competitions and fundraising activities throughout the school year.

Montagu House

Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu was a woman who defied convention, most memorably by promoting smallpox inoculation to Western medicine after witnessing it during her travels across the Ottoman Empire. She had to educate herself, as her father did not see the value in an education for women. In 1721 she stayed in Savile House which was on Heath Road, Twickenham, to escape the smallpox epidemic in England.

Singh House

Daughter of the last Maharajah of India, Princess Sophia Duleep-Singh (1876-1948) was also the goddaughter of Queen Victoria. She lived in an apartment near Hampton Court and was a high-profile suffragette; you can see the blue plaque on the house today. She used her wealth and privilege to advocate not only for women’s rights but for others whose voices were not heard.

Swift House

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, poet and cleric, best remembered for his work ‘Gulliver’s Travels’. He was a regular visitor to Pope’s house in Twickenham and he became active in the government politics of the day. On his return to Ireland, he was appointed as Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral.

Pope House

Alexander Pope was a poet, translator and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English writers of the early eighteenth century, best known for his satirical and discursive poetry and for his translations of Homer. He came to Twickenham in 1719, where he oversaw the construction of a house on the site of the current school and designed a famous garden that was connected to the house by an underground passage that became known as Pope’s Grotto.

SUSTAINABILITY

The Kneller Sustainability Plan

Kneller Hall School is part of the growing global community that is taking positive action to tackle the negative effects of climate change. We have prioritised ‘Sustainability’ as one of our objectives in our School Development Plan (SDP) and are working hard to embed environmental sustainability into our thinking and actions.

To fulfil our ambition, we are currently going through a process of audit, review and consultation. We recognise that we need to understand and address our biggest environmental impacts and then build a clear strategy to maximise the opportunities for improvement in these and other areas.

The Environmental Sustainability Strategy Plan is a clear statement of our intent to respond to current environmental issues.
Over the next two years, our aim is to develop an ambitious and forward-looking strategy that contains specific aims, operational objectives and detailed supporting plans.

As a school, we are determined to be part of the solution, and we feel optimistic about joining the fight to build a better future for us all and our planet.

12th November 2025

Dukes Education’s Pupil Earth Summit

Four Lower Sixth and four Upper Sixth students from Kneller Hall School attended the summit at Dukes Education in central London. It marked ten years since the inception of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (UNSDGs).

Students from Years 10-13 from across Dukes Education schools nationwide attended in person and students from Dukes Education schools across Europe attended online. Each school presented on a different goal, with some of them sitting on a panel to then face some robust questions about their presentations.

We were extremely proud of our presenters on UNSDG 13 “Climate Action” – namely Esme, Darwin and Jack G – who did a great job of sharing their ideas. Darwin then did a star turn on responding to the questions that assailed panellists as she represented our team on the Q & A panel.

We are equally proud of the students who attended the event in a facilitation capacity: Jack O and Aila introduced and facilitated the groups and panels; Rohan, Cooper and Kiki supported the smooth-running of the event from beginning to end.

17th – 21st November 2025

Sustainability Week

Our Sustainability Week in November 2025 was a huge success, with many pupils completing carbon pledge cards, and acting upon them by, amongst other things, walking or cycling to school, using public transport, reducing meat consumption for a week, using less paper, increasing their recycling, and switching off devices when not in use.

Our catering team joined in the fun by providing more plant-based meals at lunchtime and in particular a delicious celeriac and fennel tart which disappeared rather more quickly than expected. We also organised lunchtime litter-pick sessions which were very well attended by pupils and staff.

This was both a house and an individual competition – many congratulations to Montagu house, overall winners on points, and to Charlie T in Year 8, the individual winner, who was delighted to accept his hamper of goodies in Form Time.