Our boarders kick off the year with an amazing In Weekend

Last week saw us start the year with over 100 boarders, a handful of new staff and, included in the these boarding numbers, were 25 new faces.

As a staff, we couldn’t wait to fill the Houses with children; the school came to life on Tuesday evening and this weekend, the pulse of the school was beating as strong as ever.

After rugby training for some, the children enjoyed an array of activities on Saturday afternoon – the go-karts could be heard tearing around the course, children could be heard giggling on their treasure hunt, there were children getting their faces painted and treated to a spa, to mention but a few of the activities on offer. Supper was a chance for the Year 8s to step up and show the juniors how it is done! The Year 8s made their own fires and had to cook sausages and burgers for their tables. The food was a delicious success and the children enjoyed a BBQ picnic on the lawn outside the dining room. The evening ended with movies and treats in the Houses.

Sunday started with Chapel by Mr Shaw who spoke of forgiveness and love for each other – rather fitting and a message that will be witnessed and modelled by all in our boarding community. After chapel, the children wrote their first letters home of the year, and then headed off to pre-lunch activities. The go-karts were out again, blackberries were picked to make jam, the kayaks made an appearance, a tightly contested golf tournament was underway on our 6-hole course, slime was being manufactured by the bucket load in the science lab and a man hunt took place in the woods. Off site, Miss Rudd took a bus load of children to the Dicheat Fun Run – and although it was meant to be a fun run, our children couldn’t help but be competitive and we took the first four places in both the girls and the boys races. Well done!

After a scrumptious roast lunch (and yummy sticky toffee pudding), we enjoyed a spot of rest on the sunny, immaculately cut main lawn and then took our annual boarders photo. Do make sure to see this on the website! After rest, the Year 8s went on the traditional Year 8 walk around Cadbury Hill and Corten Denham – a six mile circular route, which included a stop at the local pub for a well-deserved ice-cold drink. The children back at school enjoyed a Bake Off competition, circus skills, a campfire, Nerf wars and chilling with friends around the grounds on their bikes and scooters.  

The younger children were treated to a movie and popcorn in the late afternoon, before we all gathered together for supper.

We all had a wonderful weekend and I would like to thank the children for being such fantastic company; we certainly know how to do boarding well and this weekend was certainly no exception.

Mr Schreiber

Click here to see all the photographs in our Flickr album