What a whirlwind the last three weeks have been in the Prep Boarding House. With life in boarding moving at full speed, this roundup brings together the last three weekends, packed with familiar favourites, exciting trips, special visitors and what has undoubtedly been our busiest week of the year so far.
Week 16 may have been a shorter week due to Exeat, but that certainly didn’t stop the fun. The children enjoyed a range of much-loved boarding activities, making the most of time in the JB Hall alongside our ever-popular baking sessions. A particular highlight was the wonderfully lively Beetle Drive Extravaganza with Mrs Green. After a busy few days, the children headed into the Exeat weekend for a well-earned rest and recharge.
The following week saw the boarding house spring back into action with a brilliant mix of activities. Table tennis, movie nights, board games and card games filled the house. A group of children also went up the Senior School to play squash, which they loved.
A trip to Monkey World was a highlight, along with a range of fun activities on Saturday morning. On Sunday, we welcomed our visitors, 27 boys and girls, who joined our boarding house for the week.
Week 18 will certainly be remembered as one of the busiest weeks of the year, with the boarding house peaking at an impressive 46 boarders on Thursday. I would like to thank the catering team, estates team, Rodney at the Prep School (for helping move and build the additional beds!), Matron and the domestic staff for the extra cleaning and care, and the Prep School staff who supported us with additional activities. A huge thank you must also go to the boarding team, who worked tirelessly throughout the week, learning new words and phrases to help our Chinese visitors feel at home, managing illness and tiredness, putting on extra activities, and being up early and late as we navigated the effects of jet lag. Their dedication, flexibility and good humour were outstanding.
Most of all, I am incredibly proud of our boarders. They embraced the experience wholeheartedly, warmly welcoming our Chinese visitors. Their willingness to adapt, include and engage is what made the week such a success, and they were an absolute credit to the boarding house throughout.
Activities across the week were varied, including a table tennis tournament, cinema night, bake-off challenge, art room fun, board games, gaming sessions, Times Tables Rock Stars competitions, rock art and mindful colouring. We finished the week with a fantastic Chinese–English quiz, exploring both cultures through famous faces, landmarks, world flags, geography, maths and a music round. Watching the children, both our boarders and the Chinese pupils, singing along together and even breaking into spontaneous dance moments was a real joy.
As a small thank you, we treated all the boarders this weekend to a trip to the cinema followed by supper out, a very well-deserved reward after such an extraordinary week.
Once again, the boarding house stepped up, went the extra mile, and showed exactly what makes our community so special. I could not be prouder of every single one of them.
David Jones
