United in diversity

As promised in the last blog, here are a few of the names that make boarding at Ashford School as great as it is:

Brooke and Refuge: Yr6-Yr13 Boys
Mr Single, Head of Boarding at Ashford School
and Housemaster
Mrs Cashdan, House Matron
Mr Munteanu, House Tutor
Mr Dudley, House Tutor
Mr Forse, House Tutor
Jessica, the cat.

Brabourne: Girls' House
Mrs Single, Deputy head of Boarding
and House Mistress
Mrs Connel, House Matron
Miss Cawardine, House Tutor
Miss Jelfs, House Tutor  
Mrs Barber, House Tutor


Mrs Penfold, 'Floating Matron'
Mr and Mrs Rayner, House Tutors at Brooke and Refuge and Brabourne House

Alfred: Yr10 - Yr13 Boys
Mr Vaughan, Housemaster
Mrs Eagle ,House Matron
Mr Kadinopoulos, House Tutor
Mr Atkinson, House Tutor
Mr Straw, House Tutor
Dr Wood, House Tutor


Now, each and every one of these people are dedicated to providing a home from home for our 150 plus boarders (apologies to any I may have missed). In this too are Boarding Captain, Bruce; Deputy Boarding Captain and Head of Brabourne, Vlada and Joon, Head of Alfred, and it's them along with all our boarding boys and girls that really make the place what it is.

What with the new school year well and truly under way and what with so much going on, it is often easy to forget that many of the boarders here are new to Ashford and also new to Britain! Thousands of miles from their homes in China, Russia, Kazakhstan and others, they are trying out life in a different culture, with all the possible shocks that could bring.

With this in mind, during the last week, we have been asking some of our new boarders what their first weeks in Ashford School and boarding have been like. Here are some of their thoughts, but first some words from the present Year 13 Boarding Captain, Bruce:

"It has been my honour to be a part of the Ashford boarding community. As this was my first time being in a boarding school, I was really concerned about how it would be before I came here. This thought was then erased by the warm welcome from the staff and the past boarders. Ashford creates a comfortable environment for boarders to socialise . There are loads of social activities in school , such as trips and workshops during weekends."

Yr 10:

Alex: "By the end of the first week I liked everything: people, food, sports, teachers and of course, mates."

Angel: "[over the first week] The boarding house has filled up with love and joy and I've got to know lots of friends. Everyone has been very generous and friendly."

Jonathan: "I like school assemblies because I can share that feeling that I am a part of the school...We can think of ourselves as a body, this makes us feel close...In sports activities people always praise and encourage each other."

This feeling of unity was echoed by Vova who "liked the system of boarding that mixed people from different countries together. This helps to improve language skills and make new international friends."

Wonderful demonstrations of these points of view were to be seen this last week as a number of boarders turned up on damp Saturday morning at Ashford Rugby Club to cheer on their friends as Ashford School took on (and narrowly lost to) Buckswood.

Boarding Captain Bruce (more from Bruce in later blogs I'm sure!) was in the thick of it, making tough tackles and taking a nasty knock himself, though he soon cheerfully shook it off. New boarder Mwaniki was only making his second appearance; seasoned campaigner Michael put in some ferocious hits and generally got in Buckswood faces and Subair threatened with some sparkling runs and had a deserved try controversially disallowed. Over on the Development 15 pitch, boarders Chak, Howard, Islam, Farid, Dan, Petr, L.A., Yuri and Mischa all put in sterling efforts in a brave defeat. Well done to all the boys!

On Thursday night it was the Chinese Autumn festival to mark the Autumn Equinox and Bruce had organised a Sparkler night in which, with the help of Mr Cowan and Mr Vaughan, the boarders joyfully lit up Upper Nightingale Field. Though it is a Chinese festival, boarders from many countries joined in with the festivities and Mr K even learnt a bit of Cantonese (thanks Kevin!)

The following day, before even the last crumbs of Moon Cake had been swept up from some of the rooms, Bruce was canvassing our Eastern European boarders as to what festival they'd like to celebrate later in the year.

Keeping up our different cultures' traditions can comfort those so far from home, but sharing them with others keeps our community strong.