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Cheney Houses
The five Cheney Houses are named after inspirational global figures that we feel represent the diversity and aspirations of our school community. The House system enriches student life with a calendar of exciting and unusual competitions and collaborations, and provides our framework for rewarding students' efforts and achievements.
Hawking
Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.
- 8 January 1942 - 14 March 2018
- English theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author
- Born in Oxford
- Diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1963 which he lived with for 50 years
- Well-known for making science accessible to all
Mandela
"A FUNDAMENTAL CONCERN FOR OTHERS IN OUR INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY LIVES WOULD GO A LONG WAY IN MAKING THE WORLD THE BETTER PLACE WE SO PASSIONATELY DREAMT OF."
- 18 July 1918 - 5 December 2013
- South African, anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader and philanthropist
- President of South Africa in 1994 - 1999
- Country’s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully democratic election
- He spent 27 years in prison for fighting for his beliefs
- He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Seacole
...and the grateful words and smile which rewarded me for binding up a wound or giving a cooling drink was a pleasure worth risking life for at any time.
- 23rd November 1805 - 14th May 1881
- British Jamaican nurse healer & businesswoman
- Set up the 'British hotel' during the Crimean War where she nursed many serviceman back to health
- Seacole tried to be sent to help the service personnel in the war, but was refused and so travelled indepedently to help others
- Seacole broke social rules and prejudices to do what she thought was her moral duty
Turing
We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done
- 23rd June 1912 - 7th June 1954
- English mathematician and computer scientist
- Turing contributed significantly to the code-breaking work that was happening at Bletchley Park during WW2
- Turing is well-known for his pioneering work on Artifical Intelligence
- Turing was not celebrated in his life due to homophobic views
Yousafzai
We realise the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.
- 12th July 1997
- Pakistani activist for female education
- Well-known for her human rights advocacy
- In October 2012 Yousafzai was shot on a bus because of her views on female education
- Yousafzai co-funded the Malala fund, a non-profit organisation
- Yousafzai studied in Oxford
