Many of our ONs will be aware of a number of changes to our school House system over the years with the most recent change being in September 2021, when we introduced a new, fifth House in memory of ON Alfa Sa'adu (Class of 1970).

We have discovered lots of interesting facts about our school House system including the fact that the school did not have any Houses at all until 1920. Luckily for us, much of our school's history has been recorded by former Headmaster David Taylor in his splendid book, 'Mr Adams' Free Grammar School' which includes the following 'House' facts:

• The school did not have any Houses until 1920. 
• Four Houses were created by J.W. McLellan Shuker, Headmaster 1903-26, purely as a way of differentiating between teams in sport. The Houses were named Boarders, Town, Country (A-L) and Country (M-Z).
• Ten years later, Houses started to be named after the individual Housemasters and colours for each House were introduced.
• By 1934, the Houses were Adams (orange) for boarders, Robinson (green), Dyke (light blue), Taylor (dark blue) and Harman (mauve).
• The system stayed that way until around the late 1940s when the Houses became Adams and Ward for the boarders and Aston and Chetwyn for day pupils.
• In 1982, Adams and Ward Houses amalgamated to form School House.
• The House names of Clive, Darwin and Talbot were all used for intermittent short periods at various times between 1948 and 1970. Old Novaportan David Buckless says he remembers five Houses during his school years of 1959 to 1964 (Adams, Ward, Talbot Darwin and Clive) with day and boarding pupils split.
• Talbot, Darwin and Clive were collectively revived in 1988 and School House ceased.
• Webb House was created in 1994 when the school became four-form-entry.
• In 2021 Clive House was renamed Owen House in memory of the soldier and war poet Wilfred Owen.
• A further expansion of the school resulted in a five-form entry system in September 2021 and the creation of a new school House, named after alumnus Dr. Alfa Sa’adu who sadly lost his life to Covid at the start of the pandemic.
• Unlike the five Houses in the 50s/60s , today's five Houses  - Darwin (blue), Owen (red), Sa'adu (purple), Talbot (black & white) and Webb (green)-  are a mix of boarders and day pupils.  

Sa'Adu House - The Purple House

Alfa Saa'du attended Adams from 1963 to 1970 as a boarder. He was the son of Nigeria’s minister of agriculture before the revolution of the early sixties and is remembered with great fondness by many of his old school friends as being someone who always had a smile on his face and who was immensely talented both academically and on the sports field.

After completing his education at Adams, Alfa went on to study medicine at University College London. He had a longstanding career in North West London as Medical Director at Ealing Hospital and later Deputy Medical Director at the London North West University NHS Trust. He was also a member of the North West London Clinical Board. Despite retiring in 2016, he remained determined to help and treat patients as much as possible by working part-time at the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Welwyn, Hertfordshire. He sadly died on 31st March 2020 of coronavirus after a two-week fight against the virus. 

Headmaster Gary Hickey explains: “Our school community was deeply saddened by the news of Alfa’s passing. When pupils and staff were invited to choose a name for the school’s new, fifth House, Sa’adu was a very clear contender right from the start and we were absolutely delighted when Alfa’s wife, Diane Sa’adu, gave us her blessing. Our school has stood for almost four-hundred years and I can’t think of a more fitting way to introduce a new House into 21st century Adams than by honouring one of our own who gave so much in the service of others.  Our pupils enjoy a strong House spirit and our House system is an integral and vital part of school life. Alfa is, without doubt, a very worthy role model for our young people.”

We were thrilled to be joined for the official opening of Sa'adu House by Alfa’s wife Diane and their son Manny, grandson, nephew, sister-in-law and brother-in-law, who all made the trip up from London to join us for the first day of the new school year and the first day for Sa'adu House.