House and pastoral systems
Boarding Houses
The school is divided into five Houses – a junior house and four senior houses.
Each house is in the charge of a resident Housemaster or Housemistress, Housemothers and several Assistant Housemasters. We ensure that all students are housed in comfortable, modern accommodation, with an extremely good staff to students ratio.
St Philip House
St Philip is a small and friendly house for students in the 1st and 2nd Form. Most of our boarders have not lived away from home before, but they make friends very, very quickly.
Housemaster: Mr Watson
Housemother: Mrs Watson
Wootten House
The first girls' house at The Oratory is named after Mrs Frances Wootten, the first Dame of the Oratory School when it was founded by John Henry Newman in 1859.
Houseparent: Dr V Fogg
Housemother: Ms Mayhead
Norris House
Norris was the newest house to be built and is located close to refectory, chapel and games pitches. The house is renowned for both its sporting and cultural achievements.
Housemaster: Mr Muckalt
Housemother: Mrs Day
FitzAlan House
FitzAlan is a very sociable house, whose best features are its large and central Common Room and its friendly atmosphere.
Housemaster: Mr Dodworth
Housemother: Mrs Phoenix-Herbert
Pastoral Care
Our community is defined by very strong pastoral care; the nurturing of each individual student is at the very heart of school life.
We have a dedicated Deputy Head Pastoral who takes a key role in overseeing the happiness and wellbeing of everyone in the school, and our resident Chaplain has the care of all students regardless of religious affiliation, but all our staff are involved in Pastoral Care. The majority of staff live on site with their families and are heavily involved in the co-curricular life of the school. This helps them get to know the students outside of the classroom, and relationships are strengthened on the sports field, in the theatre or in the music department.
From the time they enter to the time they leave, our aim is to ensure that each student is valued as an individual. The warmth and support of the school enables the Oratory students to develop a strong self belief and resilience that will support them throughout their life.
We are very proud to have students from so many different nationalities in our school
Our students come from all over the world making The Oratory a diverse and exciting community in which to live. We have a special interest in the pastoral care of all overseas students and we aim to help everyone settle happily and smoothly into their new environment.
When a new student arrives, they are warmly welcomed to The Oratory family.
The sense of community is what I like the most in my house! Uzezi - Boarding for two years
“The staff always make us feel as if we are in a family”
- Joonmin - Boarding for three years
I am happy with the number of extra-curricular activities available for us! Danila - Boarding for six years
