Hello again and welcome!

Happy 2018 everyone! We, from the Ashford School boarding community hope you had a wonderfully restful (and productive) holiday and are looking forward to kicking off the New Year in style.

Wow, where did that year go? Our apologies for being offline for so long. We've a lot to catch up on, so let's get on with it.

Departures and arrivals:

Over the last year, we have seen the departure of the previous Year 13s to their higher education. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them on al they have achieved here. We will miss them greatly, but will look forward to seeing them come back to visit. We also saw the arrival and just recently, bid farewell to, our Gap Students: Miss Watts, Mr McClean and Miss Tindale. We would like to thank them for everything that they did to enhance the lives of the boarders and wish them well for the future. We would now like to welcome our three new Gap Students: Mr Solé, Miss Cutler and Miss Reynolds. We wish you every success here.

One particular arrival of note in the last term, has been our new Chaplain, The Reverend Bellamy. As well as looking after the spiritual development of both pupils and staff at Ashford (including taking our regular church services at St Mary's, Ashford), he is also available to talk to students and staff about anything they wish. He is to be found in his office on the Reading Gallery every Thursday.

Artistic talent on show:

Who will forget the outstanding performances of all in last year's musical production, Chicago? The dance numbers, particularly, involving boarders Caroline, Maria and Yuki were eye-catching to say the least. We look forward to seeing this year's show Guys & Dolls, again featuring many of our boarders. Break a leg to Mr Hall, Miss Banner and cast! We also had the stunning A-level and GCSE Art exhibition with many boarders' work on show. Congratulations to all and Mrs Rayner and the Art Department for all their support. Music featured heavily too, with many many concerts taking place. Recent highlights included the Newcomers Concert (including our own Miss Cleary), the Christmas Concert and Carols by Candlelight with boarders Claire and Jack performing beautifully in the Chamber Choir. Bravo to everyone involved and to Mr Riley and all the music teachers for all their time and work.

Boarders can and do music practice most evenings in the Music rooms and all the above is just testament to all their passion and persistence.

Giving to the community:

With the arrival of Rev. Bellamy there has been a particular focus in the school this year of giving back to the community (local or global) that we live in and giving thanks for the opportunities that it has provided for us. A great chance to do this has been provided through the recent addition of Community Action Projects as a part of the senior (Years 11-13) Co-curricular activity program, where Head of Boarding Mr Liston has set up his Tanzania project. In this activity students meet to come up with ideas to raise funds for a trip to Tanzania in which they will help to improve community facilities for those who need it most. New ASIC boarder Janet took time out of her half term to visit people with mental health issues, while Jana, one of our new HMC scholars read a poem (as a member of our CCF group) in a recent commemoration ceremony in Ashford town centre to mark the centenary of the First World War Battle of Cambrai in which many gave their lives to protect our freedoms. (more information at: http://www.centenarynews.com/article/battle-of-cambrai-centenary-events-get-under-way )

AIB Need to Know:

We are delighted to introduce the first installment of a new Need to Know element of our boarding blog in which we will answer some of the more frequently asked questions surrounding boarding in Ashford School.

Who's Who?

Firstly, as we have had some changes in personnel since last year, we will give you a Who's Who? (and Where?) of the Ashford School boarding community:

Head of Boarding (and Houseparent of Alfred House: Boys Year 10-13): Mr C. Liston

Deputy Head of Boarding (and Houseparent of Brabourne House: Girls Year 8-13): Mrs A. Williams

Boys Boarding Captain: Garron

Girls Boarding Captain: Kristina

Alfred House:
Houseparent: Mr C. Liston (Government + Politics)
Deputy houseparent: Mr R. Cowan (Chemistry)
Assistant Houseparent: Miss H. Maitland
Resident tutors: Mr A. Cook, Mr H. Straw, Mr S. May (all three PE), Ms N Martin-Herbig (German) and Ms P Sagastuy (Head of MFL EAL)
Non resident tutors: Mr S. Burke (SSI CCF), Mr T. Hall (Head of Drama)
Responsible nurse: Ms J. Field
House Captain: Faisal

ASIC House:
Houseparent: Mr L. Kadinopoulos (EAL and Global Perspectives)
Assistant Houseparent: Miss C. Beroule
Resident tutors: Miss J. Spires-Harold (Art) and Miss J. Cleary (Religious Studies)
Non-resident tutors: Mr N. Munteanu (EAL), Ms N Martin-Herbig (German) and Ms P Sagastuy (Head of MFL EAL)
Responsible nurse: Ms J. Field
House Captain: Janet

Brabourne House:
Houseparent: Mrs A. Williams (Business)
Assistant Houseparents: Miss A. Pepper (EAL)
Resident tutors: Miss C. Wellings (History and RS) and Miss H. Jelfs (PE)
Non-resident tutors: Miss N. Rayner (Head of Art) and Miss J. Wilson
Responsible nurse: Mrs S. McCormack
House Captain: Yiyi

Brooke & Refuge House:
Houseparent: Mr A Appleton (Geography)
Assistant Houseparent: Mr W. Willenberg
Resident tutors: Mr T. Vafidis (History and Head of Pilgrims), Mr A. Maskell (English) and Mr O. Bishop (PE)
Non-resident tutor: Mr I. Rayner (Art Technician)
Responsible nurse: Ms M. Hall
House Captain: Adebayo

Floating Assistant Houseparent and I.C. Travel arrangements: Mrs P. Paine

Gap Teachers: Mr Solé, Miss Cutler and Miss Reynolds.

Next time... Who does what?