Boarding House Blog

Lent Term 2010

Congratulations!

Top Boarding plus earner:

1. Ross Yates

House Prefects:

1. Richard Morgan

2. Alex O'Donnell

3. Eliza Hamilton Fairley

4. Alex Wilkinson

5. Nat Hatch-Johnson

6. Tristan Abery

Week 10

Well play week is finally here.  The boarding house was rather quiet during the evenings this week as many of our senior boarders were treading the boards at the Wilde Theatre for the production of 13.  On Tuesday night the rest of the Boarding House headed to the theatre full of enthusiasm for what lay in store and we certainly weren't disappointed.  The show was absolutely amazing, so much so, most of the boarders chose to go and see it again the next day!  From a boarding perspective it was wonderful to hear the boarders in the audience give an almighty cheer for their fellow boarders performing on the stage.  Mika, Charlie, Alex, Ollie, Thor, Eliza, Richard, Nat, Sophie and Jenny - well done, you were all fabulous!

Week 9

Matron's Boarder of the Week:

House Parents' Star of the Week: Charlie R

How quickly the end of another term comes around!  Due to the play '13' next week, we had to have our end of term celebration this week to ensure everyone was able to take part.  Once again (at the boarders request) we headed for Coral Reef for fun and laughter in the rapids and down the flumes.  Everyone had a great time as per our 2 previous visits this year and went to sleep very quickly on their return.

For the few who didn't get to go this time (and that's another story!) we had a lovely evening in the House.  With a game of poker in the Year 8 dorm (of course not for money!) and the Wii set up in the Common Room the House had a very relaxed vibe.  In fact it was lovely to be able to sit with the seniors and have a decent chat about this and that - something that can so easily get lost in the hectic lives everyone leads.

Every boarder is entitled to have a 'Birthday Table' when it is their birthday.  Kirstie and her team of chefs create an amazing cake and the children on the table have lemonade and crisps with their meal.  Small touches, but enough to make the day feel a little more special when you are far away from home and family.  This week was Ross's turn and here is the wonderful cake they all got to tuck into after a fairly out of tune version of 'Happy Birthday' was sung (and the obligatory banging on the tables!)

Week 8

Matron's Boarder of the Week: Callum

House Parents' Star of the Week: Tristan and Alex

With exams over, parents evenings finished and the play a couple of weeks away, it was nice to have a fairly 'normal' week in the Boarding House.  On Monday night the boarders had the choice of a swim with Miss Palmer or sewing with Mrs Stevens. By the time I came into the Boarding House at 8pm, some of the girls had begun to make some lovely cuddly creatures from Bramley Hedge

Tuesday night saw a huge array of activities on offer - wide games, yoga, art AND ICT!   We had a new visitor this week, Sarah, offering a yoga based activity.  Sarah is an instructor, trained for working on relaxation techniques with children.  The boarders who chose to attend were a little nervous at first but once they started Sarah's Harry Potter themed session they were both invigorated and relaxed at the same time!  In addition, Mr Ross ran wide games outside for those needing to burn off some energy and Mr Gillam was based in the Malan building for those feeling creative.  It is a night like this that you truly see what boarding can offer - children interacting with each other and able to choose an activity that suits their mood and helps them to unwind at the end of the day.

Wednesday night brought excitement to our Boarding family. Imogen took her first steps!  Well an event like this needs to be celebrated and so it was - extra tuck all round!  The Boarders broke into a spontaneous round of applause when I told them, and that was before they knew about the tuck!  Imogen certainly loves all her playmates in the House and enjoys all the attention she gets from the Boarders at our nightly House meetings so it was lovely to see them interested in her development too.  The night's films were 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' for the seniors and 'Water Horse' for the juniors.  Our weekly film nights will soon be coming to an end as the evenings become lighter.  Bring on the BBQ evenings instead!

With Mr Edwards on duty on Thursday night all the boarders were outside and charging around.  The usual fun was had by all as we looked forward to exeat.

Have a lovely weekend and see you all on Monday for the final 2 weeks of term.

Week 7

Matron's Boarder of the Week: Netra

House Parents' Star of the Week: Maria

On Sunday Mr Taylor was in charge and took the boarders to the seaside!  A trip to Brighton with visits to the Sea Life Centre and Brighton Pier ensured that everyone had a great day.

Week 6

Matron's Boarder of the Week:

House Parents' Star of the Week:

Firstly, many apologies for the delay in updates to the blog. Due to a couple of computer glitches I was without the necessary software for a while, but we are now back up and running!

Sunday night saw many of our boarders returning to school after various exciting trips around the globe, or precious time spent with family and friends.  Most of the Year 8s didn't have the most lively of half terms due to preparing for their CE trials this week, but hopefully their extra preparation paid off.  With the Year 8s in 8EW sitting important exams this week, the whole House needed to be on their best behaviour.  The Year 8 boarders were encouraged to participate in some of the activity session each evening, but return to the House at the earlier time of 7.30pm to get in some extra study before getting a good night's sleep.

For a change, Mr Edwards was in charge on Monday, but Manhunt fans were not disappointed and soon they were running around the building and hiding in bushes - just like a normal Thursday!  Mrs Stevens had a small group in the Old Library making pompoms and Imogen seemed to have great fun in pulling as much wool from the basket as she could!  Pleasingly the Year 8s started the week well, and were soon all at their desks and completed 1 hour of solid study in preparation for Tuesday's exams.

On Tuesday there was wide range of activities for the children.  Mr Ross organised a handball game in the Sports Hall (with slightly amended rules to not hit all the staging constructed for 13 rehearsals!), Mr Gillam opened up the art room and Miss Fergusson was in the ICT room.  On nights like this, there is always something for everyone and it also gives the boarders an opportunity to catch up with any extra work requiring the computers or to send e-mails to friends and family.

On Wednesday, it was Year 5 parents' evening so we had quite a full house for film night.  In Search of the Castaways was being shown upstairs for the juniors and She's All That was shown in the Old Library for the seniors.  A few children missed out on tuck tonight due to losing a few too many pluses for talking after lights out (remember - stopping other people from getting to sleep is always taken seriously) but it was still pleasing to see that well over 90% of the House were tucking into their sweets or crisps.

On Thursday, the boarders were required to work together as a team as Miss Palmer put together a treasure hunt/quiz.  This required the boarders to work as a team and visit various places on the school site to find the answers to the questions.  The 6th formers from Wellington were also here to help and read stories to our youngest boarders before heading back to their Houses to complete their own prep!

Friday was a busy evening with 13 boarders at the IAPS swimming gala and the Greenish competition in the Arts Hall. Several boarders wanted to support their friends who were performing in the Greenish competition and Mr Barron took them to watch.  Mr Guest and Mrs Brice took the remaining boarders to the pool for a free swim and a game of water polo.  A very relaxing and refreshing way to end a tough week of school.

Once Saturday school had ended and everyone had left after senior section netball and rugby 7s we were left with just 2!  With only Sasha and Isabelle boarding this weekend we decided to make it a family affair... After supper, the girls gave Imogen her bath and chose her pyjamas. Mr Brice took the girls to the shops to hire a DVD (not sure he was too impressed by their choice!) and then we made popcorn before settling down to be entertained by Lindsay Lohan and friends.

On Sunday, Mrs Phillips enjoyed a lovely 'Girls Day Out' with a great mixture of shopping, cinema and pizza...  Please read Mrs Phillips report in the Eagle

Week 5

No awards this week due to half term trip to Coral Reef

Week 4

Matron's Boarder of the Week: Mika

House Parents' Star of the Week: Frank

This week is 'Make-a-Difference' Week in school with the theme 'It's News to Me'.  Throughout the week, the children will be given opportunities to improve their knowledge of and discuss current affairs.  We will be participating in this event in the Boarding House by postponing supper by 15mins to enable all the boarders to watch the 6 o'clock news every night.  There will also be a range of newspaper articles displayed around the House and a news quiz for the children to enter.  I hope that by the end of the week the children all have a greater understanding of the world in which they live and the events that are happening locally and worldwide.

Sunday saw us all venturing out to Regent's Park and London Zoo.  Now, one must realise that many of the animals in the zoo are used to warm and tropical climates.  A grey February day was not perhaps going to be the best day to visit but we had a great time and saw a huge variety of creatures, great and small.  London Zoo is taking its role as conservationist seriously and there are many breeding programmes to help endangered species.  We had fun watching the penguins get fed, watching the lamas spitting, searching for the reluctant (and probably very cold!) monkeys, admiring the giraffes, wondering at the marvels of the tropical fish, glad that the snakes were behind the glass, laughing at the very human-like gorillas, getting steamed up in the butterfly house, standing as the tropical birds flew free amongst us, oinking with the New Zealand pigs and trying to guess what a komodo dragon bite was like!

Here are some pictures

Week 3

Matron's Boarder of the Week: Hamid

House Parents' Star of the Week: Ben C

This week we welcome more staff into the House to enable us to offer even more activity choices on some evenings.  Mr Ross will be joining us for the activity session on a Tuesday and Mr Barron will be running an additional activity session on a Friday.  With over 50 boarders on some evenings, this will hopefully not only add to the range of activities that we can offer, but also ensure that any one activity isn't too crowded.

On Monday Mrs Palmer decided to open up the Wotten building to provide the children with a different range of activities.  The ICT room was open for those who wanted to work on their newspaper articles for make a difference week (have a look in the Old Library for the children's fantastic work) and then she ran a dance session in the Arts Hall for those feeling more energetic.  I heard at House Meeting that Netra has some fantastic moves so I'm hoping to see those on the dancefloor at our next boarders' disco! Mrs Brice stayed in the House with sewing and Hama beads, and with the TV on in the Common Room there was a place to relax and chill out for those feeling either creative or in need of some quieter time and a chat.

With our new improved line-up for Tuesday night,  Mr Ross organised a handball competition in the Sports Hall and Mr Gillam opened the art room in the Malan building.  Miss Bailey took some board games to the Old Library so once again there was hopefully something for everyone.  The evenings really are organised for the children's benefit and new activity suggestions and ideas are gratefully received!

On Wednesday night there were a few weary faces and with exeat on the horizon, everyone is in need of a break and a full weekend at home.  With the Chipmunk's film and the Spiderwick Cronicles on offer, everyone was free to choose from either film.  It was pretty much a 50-50 split and everyone was quick to bed and all lights were out by 9pm and the House quiet.

We welcomed our helpers from Wellington on Thursday and they continued with the Hama bead and sewing creations that were started on Monday.  Mr Edwards and Mr Udy ran around in the dark with the remainder of the boarders having their usual fun as they hide in bushes and chase each other around the grounds, all in the name of 'Manhunt'!

Have a wonderful exeat and we look forward to seeing you rested and back in the House on Sunday from 7pm

Week 2

With the snow melting fast it was great to get 'back to normal' both at school and in the Boarding House.  With the children back out on the games' fields in the afternoon, we could go back to our normal activity/prep/bedtime routines in the evenings.  On Monday night, Miss Palmer and Mr Udy took the boarders to the pool for a free swim for everyone.  The majority took up this activity, although Mrs Stevens offered a card making activity for those who prefered to stay dry!

As usual on Tuesday, Mr Gillam took the boarders to the Sports Hall for rather exciting games of dodgeball and by the looks on the sweaty faces at House Meeting, they had great fun and burned off a lot of energy, ready for good night's sleep.

Before Wednesday's films, the House got together for an opportunity to discuss ideas in preparation for next Monday's school council meeting.  Our reps, Anna and Liam, listened to a range of ideas (ice cream machines to formal dinners!) and then choose the 4 most popular suggestions to take to the meeting.  The minutes of the meeting will be displayed in the House as well as children's form rooms for them to know what is happening.

This weekend, Mr Barron and Miss Whalley were in charge and thanks to Alex's birthday part on Saturday night, they had the great challenge of 3 boarders to look after in the evening!  I think they had a lovely time, making popcorn and watching TV and DVDs and it was certainly a very relaxed evening.  During the day, Mr Taylor looked after the boarders and they helped to feed all the creatures in the science lab.  I think Isabelle has made a friend for life in George the dragon - not a replacement for her snakes at home, but someone she certainly enjoys looking after. Mr Taylor then set up the archery targets and they all had the chance to develop their skills for the remainder of the afternoon.

On Sunday, Mr Whalley took the boarders to Blackbush in the morning and then to the cinema in the afternoon.  They watched the 2nd Chipmunks film and had a great time - thank you Mr Whalley.

Week 1

Happy New Year!

This term we welcome Miss Tilda Ferguson and Mr Chris Udy into the Boarding House.  They are will us for a full calendar year whilst they are on a GAP year from Australia.  We also welcome Isabelle and Lucky into Coraline dorm and Ben into Larklight - we all hope you have a fantastic time here!

After the Christmas holidays, many of us were looking forward to the new term and getting back into the normal day to day routine - well that was until the snow arrived!  The vast majority of the House managed to return on Sunday evening, complete with snow suits and walking boots to ensure they were prepared for whatever was in store for us during the week ahead!  Snow certainly was a major feature for the first half of this week, but the novelty did wear off and many of us were glad to see the green grass again and hopefully an opportunity to get out on the games' fields.

With extended prep sessions for all pupils at the end of the day this week, our normal routine in the evenings was slightly altered.  This meant that there were a few longer activity sessions and hopefully something for everyone to enjoy.  This week the children had the following activities available to them: dodgeball, origami, music quiz, board games, DVDs, ICT, swimming and water polo. 

This weekend, with only 6 children in school, it was certainly going to be a fairly relaxed affair.  On Saturday night we went to the cinema to watch 'Did you hear about the Morgans?' and had a great time.  Mr Gillam was in charge on Sunday and took everyone to London to Madame Tussauds.  With it being Miss Ferguson's first visit to the Big City, I'm pretty sure that she was even more excited about the trip than they were!! Here are some photographs showing their encounters with the celebs: