Boarders' Bulletin January/February 2022

This half term has seen Scott continue to impress with their cooking capabilities. Mrs Moore and Mrs Rodgers have kept the girls busy at the weekends. The girls have been well represented in the various netball teams and it is great to see us dominating player of the match on numerous occasions. Well done to Amy who performed in the school production of Grease, the show was amazing!!

This term has seen some great tutor trips, with more to come next half term with the biggest house event being this week to the theatre to watch Six. An amazing show and highly recommended!

The house feels alive with vibrant energy and it’s always fantastic to enter the house to find the boys fully immersed, whether in conversation, card games, debates, video games, cooking or even on one occasion a drawing competition! There are some moments in particular that stand out. The invention of the game ‘trounders’ followed by a competitive head to head between the Yr10s and 11s, with the 11s narrowly claiming victory. A series of tutor trips, with the main focus being on food and lots of it! A super intensive and competitive house tournament of table tennis after a takeaway to celebrate the final evening of this half term. A fantastic spread of traditional Chinese foods, cooked completely from scratch by a group of boys on their own, to celebrate Chinese New Year.

I’ve also been very proud of how the boys have managed to maintain high spirits throughout, especially when we had a couple of cases of COVID and working as a team became more important than ever. Everyone got stuck in to make sure the house kept running smoothly and the positive atmosphere never faltered.

Amongst the Covid dodging, there has not been much time for the usual array of activities but the house still managed some fun! The whole house headed out to watch Grease and were super impressed with the amazing talents of their peers. We celebrated Chinese New Year in style and had a range of delicious treats to try. The last evening of term saw Blubery focusing on packing and pizza as a Dominoes feast was enjoyed as a thank you for such a strange half term!

Chilling at the weekends has been the order of the day for most, not surprisingly given the weather and the short days, though there have also been plenty of mid-week visits to restaurants, bowling for the Y13s, some mountain biking and plenty of table tennis. Preparations have also been underway for the House Shout competition after half term, and the furnishings in the house are taking shape, with a new paint job and furniture for the boys to enjoy.

All three tutor groups managed to get out for some fun, with Mr Kenny's group going to the cinema and for McDonalds, and Mr Rogers and Mr Collins-Smith's groups combining for a night of Chinese Takeaway. The competition between the groups is hotting up for the fabled honour of being the 'best' tutor group by the end of the year.

Looking ahead to next term, there's a lot to look forward to. And with the weather getting better (by British standards) and the nights getting lighter, it's always nice to move into the second half of the year. Big congratulations to all those boys who received Bronze, Silver or Gold merit awards for the term, and I'm sure all the boys will be mindful to reflect on their academic progress, with the Reported Assessment results having been circulated in the last fortnight. When we come back next term, I know that will take a focus, as we get back into the classroom.

We are also thrilled to welcome Daisy to School Lodge. Daisy is from Adelaide, South Australia and will be with us as the ‘house gap student’ until the end of the calendar year. She's already doing a great job!

Double-double burger night for Year 13, learning how to make homemade Nandos on the weekend, roaming around the Kent country side in beautiful spring weather, Laserquest for the 6th Form with Mr Caro and Mr Benford, Italian night for Year 10 and a trip out for an all-you-can-eat buffet were the highlights.

Despite ongoing COVID scares we managed some sport against Rammell, started nightly football games on the Astro back up in the slightly warmer weather, along with the obligatory protein loading and gym sessions to work off all of the food and also managed to remember (just in time!) to buy some Allantynes for the girls!

Much excitement has been generated by the re-appearance of the sun and the prospect of next term being free of COVID restrictions, allowing the boys to invite visitors to the house and freely mingle at social events! In and amongst all of this, I am assured that much revision has been done as we begin the process of preparing for the Mocks after half term, and the looming public exams that will be upon us very shortly!