Launch of new House - Carter House

A sixth house is needed for the increased number of pupils coming in for September 2021. After much discussion and deliberation, the new sixth house continues the house tradition of the school and the school’s vision and Christian ethos: to have life and to do so abundantly.

The new school house will be named Carter, after the inspirational female jazz musician: Betty Carter.

A Brief Overview of Betty Carter (1930-1998)

Carter was an American jazz musician, known for her improvisational techniques and complex singing including scat singing. Vocalist Carmen McRae once remarked: "There's really only one jazz singer—only one: Betty Carter.”

Her passion for jazz, her resilience and independence, despite the pressures to conform to styles of the time, led her to create her own label called Bet-Car Records which became the sole recording source of Carter's music for 18 years.

Carter often recruited young accompanists for performances and recordings, insisting that she "learned a lot from these young players, because they're raw and they come up with things that I would never think about doing."

1993 was Carter's biggest year of innovation, creating a program called Jazz Ahead, which took 20 students who were given the opportunity to spend an entire week training and composing with Carter, a program that still exists to this day and is hosted in The Kennedy Center.

How will Carter House fit with the current house system?

Betty Carter also fits well with the house system as the third musician, equaling the number of mathematicians and musicians that make up the houses. Her surname also fits well with SAINT-C to represent ‘Cecilia’s’ in the school’s name.

Pupils in Carter House will wear ties with an orange stripe, a strong dynamic and energetic colour that fits with the current bright colours of the existing houses.

 How will pupils know if they’re in Carter House?

We will not be pulling pupils from an existing house to join the new house. So, for example, if your child is in Newton, they will remain in Newton. Instead, our new Year 7s in September 2021, will start the 6th house and Carter House will build from there, year in, year out, until pupils from Year 7 to 13 populate the house.

We look forward to welcoming new Carter House pupils with a new house leader in September!