In the final part of a four-part blog series, we explore what it means to be a member of each SGGS House. Next up is Ursa, as told by the current House Captains, Katherine and Holly.

 

‘Creativity, teamwork, and resilience’

The first things you need to know about Ursa is that we’re the House of the bear, and we live by our motto of ‘creativity, teamwork, and resilience’. For us, this is more than just a few words. Whilst bears are known for being empathetic, joyful and altruistic, they’re also all individuals with unique personalities, and this is reflected in everything we do. Whether you consider yourself as Winnie the Pooh or more like Baloo from the Jungle Book, diversity is always celebrated in Ursa.

 

Whilst we’ve loved being back at school and seeing all of our House again, raising spirit hasn’t always been easy. With different bubbles and social distancing, we’ve been rethinking the different ways we can bring everyone together. But, through virtual assemblies, online competitions and getting to know the new girls via teams, we’re finally getting used to it.

 

Spirit of the bear!

House enthusiasm across year groups never goes unnoticed, and as usual, we’re always amazed by the keen spirit of Ursa bears! This was especially evident in the selection process for our Year 11 House Prefects during the last few weeks. Unsurprisingly for Ursa, this was a very difficult task. Not only did we receive over fifteen applications, but all of them were of the highest quality and calibre. The sheer number of girls eager to represent Ursa and give their time to promote House Spirit was amazing, and we’re confident that this wholehearted attitude towards participation isn’t going to change anytime soon. Whilst admittedly it was strange getting to know the new Year 7 from two metres away, taking the time to do so has helped keep us united as a House, and on both sides it was lovely to know there would be some friendly faces across the school.

 

We’re also proud to say that, not only this term but over lockdown, Ursa has performed incredibly in all of the House Competitions; we were thrilled to win the Music Cup and the House Shield, and now, just weeks into the new school year, it seems our winning streak will continue! We were blown away by the numerous entries we received for the House Acronym competition (more than any other house). Every entry was an amazing example of the creativity at the heart of Ursa, with the winning entry being ‘Unique, Resilient, Smart, Achieving’ from Lilia Godsell and Salma Ahmed. We are so proud of the way that, despite being separated, the House has once again come together to participate as a team and ultimately win first place! As House Captains we’re warmed by the fact that so many students want to work with us to make our school the most vibrant place it can be. Seeing everyone getting involved and trying their ‘beary-best’ makes us excited to see what we can do next!

 

What is next?

Closing this half term, we’ll be announcing our Prefects and the stars from our new ‘Star of the Month’ competition, something we’re looking forward to sharing with everyone. But, most importantly, we can’t wait to start planning the famous House Festival at Christmas. From everything we’ve achieved as a House so far this year, we’re confident this Christmas will be an amazing time for Ursa bears, not only in terms of winning, but to once again lift our House spirit in the time when it is most needed.

 

Missed the previous House Blogs? Found out all about Cygnus here, Orion here and Phoenix here.