Day

There are three Day Houses, situated within the proximity of The Green Court, each one consisting of a mix of boys and girls within every year group.

Although the school day is deliberately structured to run along the lines of a boarding school, the House system enables the day pupil to benefit as much as the boarding pupil from the experience of a King’s education. The House is the day pupils’ base for the school day: a place to work, to relax and to socialise with friends. The Day House is intended to mirror the Boarding House in every respect – except for the provision of beds!

All meals throughout the day and at weekends can be taken in the Dining Room, so that a Day pupil need not go hungry if there is a requirement to remain at school for an evening commitment such as a concert or play rehearsal.

House loyalties are strong, and many co-curricular activities occur on a House basis. A highlight of the year is the House Song competition in The Shirley Hall just before the October half term.

Carlyon

Carlyon House is a mixed day house. Its name commemorates the evacuation of the School to Carlyon Bay in Cornwall during the Second World War.

Accessed through a door in the yard between the Edred Wright Music School and the Shirley Hall, the house was formerly a row of shops on Palace Street and includes an attractive courtyard garden.

Opened in 2005 by Major-General Patrick Lee, Carlyon is situated on the main school campus within easy reach of classrooms, the aforementioned Music School, and, perhaps most importantly, the Dining Hall.

Housemaster: Mr Mark Smiley

Mr Smiley joined King’s as a Biology teacher in 2001, having previously taught at Wellington College, Crowthorne. He became Housemaster of Carlyon in 2017.

He currently supports the Cranmer Society (an informal Christian meeting) at King’s and is involved with hockey, tennis, and mountain biking on the co-curricular side.

An outdoorsman, Mr Smiley enjoys exploring the islands off the west coast of Scotland with his family, kayaking, birdwatching, walking, running, cycling and tennis. He is also a trustee at a local church.

Head of House: Anton Davies
Housemaster: Mr Mark Smiley
carlyon@kings-school.co.uk 

Marlowe

Adjoining the Deanery, Marlowe House is the oldest of the three Day Houses. Day boys had been organised separately for some years and they competed in house matches from 1929 but it wasn’t until 1935 that they were listed as a separate house, which was named Marlowe in 1936. The house is named after poet and dramatist Christopher Marlowe OKS. The studies are named after characters in Marlowe’s plays and some fascinating archive material on the playwright is displayed on the stairs.

Set in the heart of the School, Marlowe benefits from beautiful views over the Green Court, easy access to classrooms, the Shirley Hall and the Edred Wright Music School and has all the facilities of a boarding house except the beds.

Notable former members of Marlowe include Harry Christophers CBE (founder and conductor of The Sixteen), Edmund de Waal CBE (ceramicist and writer) and James Berry (former MP for Kingston and Surbiton).

Housemaster – Mr George Harrison

Prior to joining King’s in 2015 Mr Harrison worked as a solicitor at Allen & Overy in London and later as a schoolmaster at Manchester Grammar School. He became Housemaster of Marlowe in 2017.

He teaches History and is part of the Durnford Society which organises historical talks for pupils. He holds a First Class History degree from the University of York and a Master’s in History from the University of Manchester.

He provides extension classes for Oxbridge candidates and his background in law allows him to aid those considering law courses at top universities.

His passions include French history, American novels, cooking and trying to train his Labrador.

Head of House: Fatima Jibai Al-Shebib
Housemaster: Mr George Harrison
marlowe@kings-school.co.uk

Mitchinson's

Mitchinson’s House, a mixed day house, opened in the Mint Yard in 1982. It moved to its new site in February 2018. The new building had once been Bligh Brothers Coachworks, where two of the Chitty Bang Bang cars were partly built for Count Zborowski (1895-1924). His exploits inspired Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang stories. The house is named after John Mitchinson, Headmaster 1859-1873 and co-founder of the Headmaster’s Conference.

Located on St Radigund’s Street, a mere stone’s throw from the main entrance to the School, Mitchinson’s provides pupils with just a short walk to the Art, Photography and DT departments and closer access to the Malthouse campus, the Recreation Centre and Birley’s Playing Fields. The spacious open plan design brings the whole house together with a glass courtyard and skylight windows flooding the building with light.

Housemistress – Mrs Emma Ladd

Mrs Ladd teaches Physics and has been at King’s since 2001. She previously taught at Duke of York’s Royal Military School in Dover and was made Housemistress of Mitchinson’s House in 2012.

She likes to sing and often takes part in concerts at school as well as enjoying reading, crosswords and walking her dog. She takes part in Pilates as part of the Activities programme and practises this outside of King’s too.

School Monitor: Anna Yakushina
Head of House: Emma Yiu
Housemistress: Mrs Emma Ladd
mitchinsons@kings-school.co.uk