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Boarding House Blog |
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Lent Term 2012 Week 4 Matron's Boarder or the Week: House Parents' Star of the Week: Full blog update later today - but a few pictures or our Sunday Morning fun in the snow! The workforce! Just as we were tucking into our Full English breakfast this morning, the Bursar arrived armed with shovels, and our trusty team were charged with the job of clearing paths ready for the children to come to school tomorrow. Our boarders are never known to make a fuss or complaint and of course they quickly set to the challenge. Divide a conquer was the name of the game and it was only a matter of minutes before the site was secure!
The fun! Then it was time to build a fort, a few snowman, have a snowball fight, play on the sledges and make snow angles!
The Little People!
What a morning! Now we're off to Pizza Express and the Cinema - Sundays don't get much better than this!
Week 3 Matron's Boarder or the Week: Max Baldwin House Parents' Star of the Week: Week 2 Matron's Boarder or the Week: Lucy Bridgwater House Parents' Star of the Week: Soichiro Asao The second week of term has flown by, in comparsion to the first. Life in the House has got back into a more relaxed and calm routine and as a result prep sessions have been effective and bedtimes adhered to much more closely. On Wednesday night we saw our biggest birthday table ever! With Lola and Issy both celebrating their 11th birthdays and having many of the same friends, it made sense to make one long table for them both to share. Lemonade and crisps a plenty and of course one of the kitchen's famous cakes!
Due to parents evening on Thursday, we ran that night as our movie night. The seniors thoroughly enjoyed the movie 'Red' in the Common Room, whilst the juniors enjoyed the comfy surroundings of Mr and Mrs Brice's lounge as we wait for the sound system in the Old Library to be fixed! They were all lovely houseguests although Imogen was a little perplexed to find quite so many children on 'her' sofa!
On Friday night there was a rare, junior/senior divide in the House. All our boarders in Years 3-6 chose to attend the EHA Bingo Night held in the Sports Hall. On their return (after helpfully being fueled by coke, sweets and pizza) they were full of enthusiasm about their evening's entertainment. With the juniors having a wonderful time at that event, it did mean the seniors had the run of the House for the evening and therefore could have a little more time and attention from the staff. Almost everyone headed to the pool first before taking time to finish off any prep for the week. Most of the Year 8s were busy writing their 'Dream' stories and those I managed to read were rather impressive. With only 6 boarders this weekend, Mr Barron and Miss Webb decided to offer something different on Saturday night. Instead of the usual, cinema, bowling or movie in the Common Room, they put on their warm clothes and headed to the ice rink to watch a local ice hockey match. I think the responses were mixed, however it is always nice to get offsite and see something new. On Sunday Mrs Gisbourne offered a creative and relaxing day. The day started with a leisurely stroll up to Crowthorne for a drink of Hot Chocolate. After a picnic lunch back at school they headed out to be a little creative at a local pottery painting centre. It was lovely to do something a little different on a Sunday and hopefully everyone has had the opportunity to create a little something ready for Mother's Day too! (Photos soon from Miss Smith). Week 1 Matron's Boarder or the Week: Charlie Wilkins House Parents' Star of the Week: Cressida Bass
And the peace and quiet of the holidays....... ........well and truly gone!
Monday night and the new swimming pool floats from Father Christmas were being used to great effect with Miss Palmer's crazy raft races. The Wii was on in the Common Room and a number of people were also busy in the art room with Mr Gillam. Unfortuantely they'd left before Mrs Brice arrived with the camera!
We're missing you mum, but its also great to be with our friends - there were certainly smiles all around this evening.... ************************************************************************************************************* Well the first week was certainly a long one! Our brains and bodies seem to take longer to adjust to the working routine after the Christmas holiday, therefore I think for both the staff and children, this week did feel particularly long. Getting back into the swing of things in the classroom and re-programming our bodies to feel sleepy at the right hour all takes time and it was a little tricky following the routines for the first couple of nights. That said, Thursday and Friday nights were very calm and relaxed in the House and it was clear that our community was back together again and enjoying each other's company. The new pool equipment purchased for the boarders' Christmas gift has proved to be very popular indeed this week. Swimming has been on offer 3 times and new children have been seen having a great time in the pool. Swimming is an ideal evening activity as not only is a bit of exercise a good way to relax before bed, but the children take their shower things and PJs to the pool with them so when they return to the House they are all ready for bed, therefore giving them much more time for prep and wind-down time before the crucial lights out. As well as swimming, children have visited the art room, played on the Wii, watched movies, played Manhunt and also played Pirates.
Each evening every year group is offered some quiet time for any additional study. The children in Year 8 are the only children required to complete any formal written work, however many of the other year groups often have some small learning tasks that they need to keep on top of, such as spellings, vocab learning etc (click here for more details of what the school expects from different year groups). During the Lent term we try to structure this time a little more for the Year 7 pupils so they are prepared for their written 3rd prep sessions when they are in Year 8. After M&B, the Year 7s head to the old library with a senior member of the boarding team and complete any outstanding study, or simply use the time to enjoy a good book. It is up to the children how this time is used, as long as something productive and worthwhile is occurring.
Year 7s studying on Friday night - reading, line learning, vocab learning, newspaper reading and Geography prep!
Year 8s completing their English '3rd Prep' on Friday night This weekend we had 6 boarders in on Saturday night so Miss Bailey and Mr Jenkins took them to see the new release of 'War Horse' at the Winnersh Showcase cinema. Quite a few tears were shed but the happy ending ensured a good time was had by all. As there were only 5 children with us for the trip on Sunday, Mr Skepper changed his plans and took them to Beaulieu Motor Museum in the New Forest. This must have been a day in heaven for our resident car enthusiast, Don! They took a ride on the monorail, visited the museum, explored the Top Gear exhibition and had a huge lunch in the restaurant. I think one additional highlight was the fact that they also had the opportunity to visit the new James Bond exhibition, due to open to the general public next Tuesday. Today was the press launch and once all the formalities were over our Eagle House boarders were some of the first members of the public allowed to view what was on offer. The children had a wonderful day and were very enthusiastic about it all when they returned to school for supper. Many thanks to Mr Skepper and Mr Charman for looking after them so well.
Bedtimes are always 15mins early on a Sunday night so there is a calm atmosphere as about 3/4 of our residents return this evening, ready for an exciting week ahead.
Welcome! Siddhant, Adam and Charlie - I hope you are excited about joining our boarding community and enjoy your time with us! Welcome back to everyone else - I hope your bags are packed, your clothes are named and you are looking forward to an action-packed 10 weeks ahead! Georgie Smith and Doug Charman - our new GAP students are eager to meet you all too.
Miss Smith Mr Charman Congratulations! Michaelmas Term Winners: Top boy plus earner - Oscar Heal Top girl plus earner - Stephanie Davis Dorm Competition: Tidiest girls' dorm - Ingo Tidiest boys' dorm - Freefall Tidiest girl - Alice Jennings Tidiest boy -
For previous term blogs please go to the Blog Archive
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