The Blucher
The Blucher
The HM
Sam Owen joined Wellington in 2007 as a Spanish and French teacher, and was appointed Head of Spanish in 2015. He took over as Housemaster of the Blucher in January 2017 and enjoys all aspects of Wellington life – he coaches squash and tennis, and organises Christian Union meetings.
Sam’s passion for languages continues outside school. Following a Spanish and Portuguese degree at Oxford – where he was a scholar – he went on to set up gap years for British students in Mexico and the Gambia, and has been involved in programmes for street children in Mexico, Chile and Paraguay. Sam has also established bilingual immersion trips for Wellington language students in France and Spain.
Sam is married to Martha and they have a daughter and three sons: Scarlett, Francis, Alexander and Guy. Martha is a journalist specialising in the equestrian, rural and lifestyle markets. She won three blues for lacrosse and a half-blue for skiing while at Cambridge. She has also been involved in the broader life of the College by running both lacrosse and polo at Wellington.
The House
Situated in the heart of college, adjacent to Great Gate, The Blucher is a physically large House with exceptional facilities, more akin to an out of college house, but with the advantage of being right in the middle of the school buildings. The Blucher has 60 boys from ages 13-18 and is renowned for its friendly and inclusive atmosphere. Our vision is to create a house where the boys hold kindness and a willingness to get involved central. This helps create a warm, supportive, tolerant, non-hierarchical and fun atmosphere. I also believe passionately in student leadership, and aim for the Blücher boys to take responsibility for the development, spirit, and activities of their house. At the heart of this is a sense of service – and the boys are involved in a number of house charity initiatives. They have created various initiatives such as the ‘DeliverBlu’ waffle delivery service to raise money for our charity Tiger Kloof School; participate in EdClub – helping educate kids in a slum in Nairobi; and we run a service trip every other year to Tiger Kloof to help in the township. I like to think that a willingness to get stuck in; giving everything a go without fear of failure; and kindness to others are what creates the Blücher spirit.