Perseus House

"Whatever it takes"

House Colour: Robin Red
Named after the Constellation of Perseus
Location: Northern Hemisphere

Coordinates
Right Ascension: 03h
Declination: +45°

Perseus was the son of the Greek god Zeus and the princess Danae.

When Perseus was born, King Acrisius locked Danae and Perseus in a wooden chest and threw it into the sea. The chest floated to an island where it was rescued by a fisherman who was brother to the island's king, Polydectes. Polydectes offered them protection and Perseus was raised in his house. Polydectes may have had an ulterior motive as he later tried to force marriage on Danae. The king tried to mislead Perseus by saying that he intended to marry someone else. Perseus was so relieved that he promised the king a rather extravagant wedding gift, the head of Medusa.

Medusa was one of three sisters, daughters of Ceto and Phorcys, who was transformed into a hideous creature by the goddess Athene.. Also known as the Gorgon, Medusa had serpents for hair, huge teeth, and a protruding tongue. One look turned people to stone. Athene helped Perseus gather magic equipment and gave him a shield to use as a mirror so that he would not look at Medusa directly. Perseus flew to the Gorgon's den with his winged sandals, and, using the shield as a mirror, cut off Medusa's head and buried it.

Perseus the constellation, is usually depicted showing him holding Medusa's head, with the bright star Algol marking her eye.

Just like the legend, Perseus House students are ingenious, courageous, hard-working and considerate of others. They take part in Academy events and the Interhouse competitions and enjoy working together on charity fund raising events that we run throughout the year. This year Perseus House students raised £1665 for charity during the Sponsored Walk.

Each term, meetings of House Group Representatives are held in the House Council, where Perseus students' views and ideas are raised and debated.

Tutors in Perseus House are keen to support the students in their House groups. The Tutors are ably assisted by their Form Prefects. This ensures that all students are encouraged to be actively involved in all the Interhouse competitions and events that we run.

Some notable performances this year have been winning the Interhouse Rounders competition and finishing runner-up in the Interhouse Quiz, Art and Modern Languages competitions. This was on top of a strong performance at the biggest event of the year, the Interhouse Athletics Championship, where Perseus finished in third place.

With the wide variety of events that we have, there is certainly something to suit students of all abilities and interests.

Perseus House students are encouraged to "give it a go" and participation and success are two of our key focuses for this year.

House competitions are important part of every student's life at Tollbar Academy and Perseus House students are no different.