Welcome back Lowe & Lonsdale

Against all headwinds, it is wonderful to see Denstone College thriving. Since the opening of ‘The Prep at Denstone College’ in September 2021, the interest in a Denstone through-education has been significant; the holistic education in this beautiful part of Staffordshire continues to be desirable. But with expansion and growth comes risk and therefore we must be responsive to the changing nature of life at the College.

The purpose of this email is to inform you of our exciting plans to open two new houses in September 2023. Such is the rate of growth that pupils in the College have outgrown the pastoral structures we have in place and to that end, we are proactively increasing the number of houses to ensure the very highest possible level of pastoral care. Lowe House and Lonsdale House were historically boarding houses here at Denstone College which closed in 1987 and therefore it is right and fitting that we should be opening two new houses bearing the same names and colours and thereby keeping the legacy alive.

Understandably, there are a number of practical considerations involved in opening two new houses and I hope this email comes some way to explaining the organisation of this development. Pupils currently enrolled at Denstone College will remain in their current houses. From September 2023, new pupils into First Form, Third Form and Lower Sixth will be allocated across all 8 houses, including Lowe and Lonsdale. For the academic year 2023-2024, Lowe and Lonsdale will organisationally work together as 'one house' until numbers increase suitably to separate them into their own units.  Until such a point, the two houses will work together in competitions, tutor group allocation and as the building blocks of the new houses. Pupils in the current Lower Sixth will be afforded the opportunity to remain in their current house but to put themselves forward to be the Captain of Lowe and Lonsdale 'on loan' for the academic year 2023-2024. 

In order to remain true to the past, Lowe will adopt the colour purple and Lonsdale the colour red. This will be reflected in the new uniform offering (for ties and pin badges for 2023) and the new sports kit (available September 2024). Heywood House will no longer use red, but revert to its traditional black. 

In due course we will be announcing the new Head of House of Lowe and Lonsdale and the supporting tutor team who will be working hard to get these houses established. By September 2024, we will have pupils in 6 of the 7 year groups and it will take no time at all to establish the houses. 

This is incredibly exciting times for the future of the College and we look forward to the arrival of these two houses in September. New children allocated to these houses will have a huge opportunity to be pioneers and to shape the houses of the future.

Old Denstonians who were in Lowe and Lonsdale are invited to join us for the official re-launch during 'The Big Birthday Party' on June 24th in the Old Denstonian tent.