House System
Origins & House Names
The Enniskillen Royal Grammar School House System was established in 2017 during the second year of amalgamation. There are four Houses in the school, named after four local mountains visible to the south of the Lough Shore site: Belmore, Benaughlin, Cuilcagh and Trien. Amongst the reasons for selecting the names of local mountain peaks was the concept of aiming high and conquering challenge, linked to our school motto of persevere and excel, “Perstare et Praestare”.
Each House has an associated colour, originally linked to the colours of the school and the local county of Fermanagh. In 2018 we were excited to be able to launch our new House Shields, thanks to the work of Mrs J Stephenson and a team of Year 10 pupils. Based on the theme of the four local mountains, the design team considered the associated wildlife found within Marble Arch Geopark and designed four animal based graphics, each symbolising the skills and qualities associated with successful competition.
House Name |
House Colour |
House Symbol |
| Belmore | Gold | Hare |
| Benaughlin | Blue | Eagle |
| Cuilcagh | Red | Fox |
| Trien | Green | Stag |
In its first year, the House System established a healthy sense of competition between rival members as they competed in over thirty different house competitions and events through the year. These included sports, creative and expressive arts and a number of academic challenges. In the first year of competition, Benaughlin were crowned winners of 2017-2018, following a nail-biting finish to Sports Day in June 2018, unseating Trien from what had looked like a guaranteed victory.
House Membership
House membership includes all pupils across the school as well as all teaching and support staff. New members of the school community are allocated to a House which they remain in for the duration of their time at school. In keeping with the legacy schools’ traditions, affiliation with a House is linked to family, in which all siblings and parents will be allocated to the same house. Each year, the allocation of house membership is done in order to achieve a balance of age and gender across all four houses.
House Points
House points are acquired in 4 ways:
-
- SIMS house points for excellence and contribution
- Attendance house points awarded at the end of each month for 100% Attendance for that month
- For participation
- For position within inter-house competition
All pupils are eligible to earn House Points for excellence, contribution to the school community and 100% attendance.
For each house event, one house point will be awarded for each participant or entry made.
For each house event, final position within inter-house competitions will be recognized though the allocations of points as outlined below. Each event will be graded based on the scale of the event and the likely number of participants. (BRONZE, SILVER, GOLD & PLATINUM).
From the outset of each competition/event, the category of competition should be made clear to all participants. At the end of each event, final positional points will be consistently allocated according to the House Points Matrix
ERGS House Point Matrix |
||||||
| Inter-house competition | Positional point allocations | |||||
| Category | Description of level | Example | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | 1st |
| BRONZE | Small scale competition involving small cohorts of pupils. | Weekly numeracy challenge
|
5 | 10 | 15 | 20 |
| SILVER | Medium level event involving an identified cohort or year group | Year group specific cooking competition.
|
10 | 20 | 30 | 40 |
| GOLD | Medium to large scale team event involving a significant number of competitors | Inter house sports competitions/plays/music/talent shows | 20 | 40 | 60 | 80 |
| PLATINUM | Whole School event involving a large number of pupils from across the school | Sports Day | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 |
The House Point Totalometer is regularly updated after each event and posted on the School Website and App, as well as displayed within school, to keep all members of the community informed of ongoing inter-house position.
House Competitions and Events
A calendar of events is currently been put together for this coming year and we look forward to seeing as many members of the school community as possible getting involved in the full range of activities on offer. All House events are worth House Points for both participation and position. The goal for each year of competition is to win the highly sought after ‘House Cup’, presented during Prize Night. In addition, the winning house indulges in the ‘House Celebration Banquet’ held at the beginning of the following year.
House Cup Winners
Enniskillen Royal Grammar School is a new academically selective voluntary grammar school that opened on 1 September 2016.
Enniskillen Royal Grammar School is co-educational and non-denominational.
Latest News
Name: Jonathan McBride
Year I left ERGS: 2023
A’ Level Subjects: Digital Technology, Moving Image Arts, Performing Arts (Stage Management), German (AS Level)
Post School Pathway: Studying BA Broadcast Production at Queen’s University Belfast
Current Role: Broadcast Engineer at Bauer Media Audio NI (owners of Cool FM, Downtown Radio and Downtown Country) – based in Belfast
Since coming to university, I have been involved in just about everything media-based. I stage managed and assistant directed a 10-night run of Shrek: The Musical in the Ardhowen Theatre, alongside doing sound and lighting for multiple smaller plays in QUB with the Players’ Society.
My passion soon switched to radio, however, with me joining Queen’s Radio (Northern Ireland’s only student radio station) in my second week of university. I spent two years as Head of Programming and Scheduling, alongside spending many months as Head of Technology and Head of Online, and I have served as Station Manager for the past year.
I also took to the mic, hosting my own show on Belfast community station Blast106, four nights a week over 10 months. My degree has given me the opportunity to create stories and report on everything from red squirrels to small-batch coffee roasting and the decline of high streets in Northern Ireland.
I have been working closely with U105 Radio for the past year, acting as an engineer in the office and at events and outside broadcasts such as the Balmoral Show and Belfast Children’s Festival, getting to meet so many people and having a ball!
I have also had the opportunity to attend many conferences across the UK and Ireland, where I have met industry professionals and like-minded students who are now friends. Through a contact I made at one of these conferences, I somehow ended up securing a full-time post as a Broadcast Engineer with Downtown Radio.
Naturally, this journey all started at ERGS, where I was able to build my confidence, interpersonal skills and teamwork skills, all of which have been key in my journey. My sincere thanks go to the wonderful staff and support at ERGS for setting me up so well as I head into the industry!
Young Artists Summer Showcase
Congratulations to Emily Scott Yr 9, whose artwork Self Portrait has been selected for the prestigious Royal Academy of Arts Young Artists’ Summer Show 2026 online exhibition.
This is a fantastic achievement, showcasing Emily’s creativity and technical skill on a national platform. The exhibition, run by the Royal Academy of Arts, celebrates the very best in young artistic talent, and we are delighted to see her work recognised in this way.
Success for ERGS Pupils at the Art Section of Fermanagh Feis
Congratulations to our talented ERGS pupils who achieved outstanding success in the Art section of this year’s Fermanagh Feis.
Our Year 8 pupils achieved a clean sweep, securing 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, along with a Highly Commended award.
1st place: Fatimah Al Zahra for “Extra Terrestrial”
2nd place: Josh Abe Jins for “Extra Terrestrials”
3rd place: Nicole Stickland for “Spaceman”
Highly Commended: Daniel Taylor for “Event Horizon”
Success continued across other year groups.
In Year 10, Leile Laporionak achieved 1st place in the Art section for “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
In Year 9,
2nd place: Keira Salcedo for “Nightlife”
3rd place: Lily Gallagher for “Moths Under a Lamppost”
Congratulations to all our fabulous artists who won awards, and to those who submitted fantastic entries. We are incredibly proud of the creativity, effort and dedication shown by all our pupils.