Welcome to The Orchard. Situated in the centre of the School, The Orchard had its beginnings in 1857 (the School’s 300th anniversary) when the Rev. William Johnson began to take boarders in a house on the site of the current vicarage. It was Johnson who was principally responsible for making Porta Vacat Culpa the school motto. This formidable individual also holds the record for longevity as a Repton Housemaster, holding the post for forty years! Such was the popularity of the House that the then Headmaster Steuart Adolphus Pears commissioned a new building to be built on the current site, behind the recently erected School Chapel. The Orchard was thus the first school house outside the Arch - or at least the first that can claim continuity to the present day.
Its name is apt, given that it used to be surrounded by an orchard, which today forms part of the garden of The Abbey. The House motto is Scientia Docentiae Fructus which means ‘Wisdom is the fruit of knowledge’ and this, together with the crest, has recently featured on a new leisure shirt.
The boys are accommodated in bed-sits with all Sixth Form boarders in single rooms. The larger rooms sleep three and day-boys are assimilated into the bed-sits. Year groups are roomed together and are given the opportunity to change rooms each term. There are two TV rooms, each with a large LCD Digital TV as well as Sky Digital and a surround-sound DVD player, and each attached to a kitchenette with milk, juice and hot chocolate dispensers, as well as a fridge, toaster and microwave oven. The computer room, which has just been renamed The Kirkland Room, contains four PCs with a central laser printer and every bed-sit is linked to the Internet via the school network. There is also a table-tennis room.
The most popular room in the house is our lovely dining room, not because of the WiFi hotspot but where the boys are spoilt by our excellent chef, Mr Chris Jones. We cater for many diets, including vegetarians, and offer a healthy, well-balanced menu. The House facilities are very comfortable and every room is fitted with new, modern furniture.
The House is a close-knit, friendly and mutually supportive community which operates on the basis of fair play, honesty and integrity, supported by reasoned discipline, understanding and consideration for others. It is an environment where high standards are expected but, at the same time, we are mindful of the fact that the House is also the boys' home.
I would be more than happy to show you around the House and to introduce you to my wife Rachel and of course the boys.