Movers and Shakers

 

Hello all and welcome to the first entry of the Summer term. Yes the summer is here, though those (un)fortunate enough to be on the Geography field trip to Fairlight this week would not necessarily have noticed!

Something that most people will certainly have noticed (at least you would have hoped so) is that it's exam season again. Two years (9 months in the case of ASIC students) of hard graft and late nights coming to fruition in less than two hours in an exam hall. This may be a cliché, but doesn't it always seem to be the teachers that are more stressed than the students? Those of us privileged to have access to the boarding houses would say that whatever nerves there are (and we're sure they're there) are being well hidden or expertly dealt with. Good luck to you all in your efforts.

Before I go on, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Holmes and her team of invigilators for expertly setting up and running these examinations every year; it couldn't be done without them!

The Summer Term is always one of big changes and events at school and as usual, our boarders are in the thick of it. One of the most nerve-wracking and eagerly anticipated of these is the appointment of next year's prefect team. During the first weeks of the term the year 12s are invited to apply for a prefect position and their peers and teachers are invited to nominate who they think should have one. Once that is complete a rigorous selection process (somewhat over 2 hrs) takes place that includes many senior teachers and the current senior prefect team. Among criteria considered are: leadership qualities, flexibility, team spirit and the ability to communicate well with all members of the school community. So, without wasting anymore time, congratulations to: Odelia, Chak, Alex, Jonathan, Ochuwa, Amanda, Tini, Caroline and Sascha (if we have missed anyone out we apologise). They have already started their duties and we're sure they'll continue to do a great job.

Here at Ashford School, it is a small matter of pride that not only do we give our students every opportunity to do things that they've never done before, but that they nearly always take that opportunity and succeed. What's more, in many of these cases, they do it mostly by themselves. This was beautifully illustrated in the recent 'Minute to Win it' game show run by our Amnesty students in aid of Cancer research. Tini, Maria, Ochuwa and former boarder Lucas were compares beyond compare as they marshalled a competition of fantastic hilarity between students and teachers, featuring such games as 'Elephant's Trunk' and 'Defying Gravity'. There was some controversy as to the result, but all could agree it was a wonderful lunchtime's entertainment and for a worthy cause.

On a smaller scale Amanda from ASIC has set up and is currently running Ashford School boarding's first pool championship. She has organised the event from the start and will see it through to its culmination this weekend. Here you can see some photos of the action taking place:

However, when we talk about 'adventurous learning' there can surely be no more of an adventure that is currently being undertaken by the Year 11 ASIC students as they prepare for their Shakespearean debut. As you may know, 2016 marks the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death. The Royal Shakespeare Company are running a number of events to mark this and perhaps the most exciting of these is the Dream Team 2016 Playmaking festival. Here schools were invited to apply to rehearse and then perform a part of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. There were roughly 50 places for schools outside of Warwickshire and Ashford IC were lucky enough to be chosen. Their performance 'Lord What Fools...' will take place at The Other Place Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon at 10am on Monday 4th July and will be undertaken in the students' native languages and dialects.

Bearing in mind that these students are currently in the middle of important exams, they will have only two weeks to rehearse before they travel up. This may seem like a daunting task to these young people, many of whom have not acted before, but, under the expert tutelage of Ms Dengate and enthusiastically assisted by Mr K and Mrs Sagastuy, they are enjoying rehearsals and beginning to relish the chance that has been provided them. Here are some shots and video clips from the recent rehearsals:

Demetrius

Hermia

Helena

 

We will follow their progress eagerly as well as the Year 9 drama students, including boarders Tim and Doris, as they go to put on their adaptation at the 'Margate Shakespearean festival'. Break a leg all!

So, wherever they are or whatever challenge they're facing, Ashford Boarders are giving it their best, with the whole community behind them. That's what we do!

See you next time.

Boarders will rock you!

"Anywhere the wind blows..."

With those iconic lines and a dipping of the stage lights, the cast of 'Ashford will Rock You' closed a superb, rock strewn, uproarious opening night's performance of this adaptation of Queen's epic musical. Glow sticks waved, feet stamped, hands clapped until they were sore and, as one, the audience rose to its feet to acclaim another superb night's entertainment put on by students of Ashford School.

The school drama production is always one of the highlights of the Ashford year and there has been a buzz about the place since it was announced that it would be this piece being put on. For some, this wouldn't be the first time.

"It's been on my bucket list to do this musical again." ASIC's Maria told us one afternoon. "This is a dream come true."

As with all dreams though, it came with a lot of hard work. For months and months staff in the Drama and Music departments and students from across the Ashford Community had met and rehearsed songs, dance moves and lines until late in the evening and this was the culmination of all that work.

The aforementioned buzz reached fever pitch when, early in the term the cast received a signed photograph and note of encouragement from the living legend that is Queen lead guitarist Brian May. "Are you ready to rock?" it read. They certainly were!

For those not familiar with the story, the play is set in a fictional future Earth known as Planet More, ruled over by the despotic Globalsoft corporation that - led by it's leader, the scarlet-haired Killer Queen - has removed any trace of individuality from society. Music is sanitised, pumped through the internet, all dance moves are the same, musical instruments banned. Rebelling against this are a group, known as the Bohemians, a rag tag bunch, who cling to an ancient prophecy that 'a dreamer' would some day bring back the spirit of rock.


Killer Queen and the Ga-gas

Rockers: Galileo, Scaramouche and Pop

That dreamer comes in the shape of one Galileo Figaro, who hears snippets of songs in his head without knowing what they mean. Aided by the Bohemians and his 'don't call me' Chick' Scaramouche, they battle to thwart Killer Queen and her maniacal lieutenant - Commander Kashogi - and bring the prophecy to pass.



The Bohemians

Killers: Queen and Kashoggi

The play is littered with razor-sharp one-liners and in-jokes about the banality of reality TV - "We've only got this bit of the video, the rest is an episode of Britain's got Talent." - punctuated by the timeless rock anthems of Queen, including: 'Seven Seas of Rye', 'This crazy little thing called love' and of course 'We will rock you'. These were accompanied brilliantly by Mr Hall and his invitation rock band.

What many would have noticed on the night was that, among standout performances by the main cast: Jess, Jamie, Dexter and others, the majority of the chorus line was made up of members of Ashford School's boarding community. Daria, Tom, Jane, Maria, Kristina, Renata, Caroline, Katya and the irrepressible Timur, who raised smiles aplenty by just being himself in his dungarees and bright yellow socks. Yet another example of what we talked about last time, the whole community coming to together to produce some magic.



 



Behind the scenes the cast were aided by a proficient team of 'techies': lighting, stage hands and sound staff, as well as costume manager, Sister Jo, without whom none of it would have been possible. Others - including Ochuwa, Mo and Tini - helped out front of house, helping people find seats and keeping them refreshed in the interval. A big hand to them, the Drama department of Mrs Dinsdale, Mrs Dengate and Mrs Allum, the Music department: Mr Hall, Mrs Powell and Mrs Brown and above all, to the performers themselves.

To badly misquote another Queen classic: "They are the champions, my friends." Break a leg for the rest of the run and have a great Easter break afterwards, you've all deserved it!

BREAKING DRAMA NEWS: the ASIC Year 11s have been given one of less than 50 places to perform a small part of A Midsummer Night's Dream, in Stratford, as part of the Dream Team 2016 festival to celebrate 400 years since the Bards death in July. Watch this space for updates!

48 hours at Ashford School

As we have mentioned on many occasion before in this blog, we are a very strong community here at Ashford School. Almost every week there are occasions when boarders and day students come together with outstanding results to create something amazing or thought provoking.  These two adjective can certainly be applied to the events of the end of last week when, in just 48 hours we had ‘Dare to be Different Day’, the whole school Creative and Performing Arts competition and the Spring Concert.

Every year, the Amnesty group, headed by Miss Ball, runs Dare to be Different Day to focus people’s attention on the cause for human rights across the world. Every year students can raise money for great cause – this year, the Save the Children Syrian Refugee Appeal – by being silent (to highlight the right to freedom of expression), wearing a mask (the right to an identity or to highlight the plight of the many politically ‘disappeared’) or even blindfolded (the right to freedom of movement).

 

 

Last Thursday our students, and teachers, displayed just how much they care about these issues. There were many sporting Guantanamo-style orange prison jump suits (Yuki and Tini for example); Timur chose to be miserable all day (an amazing feat if you know this student!) but for many, the high point was Mr Newth sitting a lunchtime detention (‘Ode to a Water Droplet’ soon to be published!) There was a hearty bake sale too and Lukas’s Patriotic Pavlova was auctioned off for the princely sum of £18 to Mr Young.

We all look forward to seeing how much was finally raised, but you can be sure we’ll be trying to top it next year!

House competitions are always fiercely competitive and the CPA event didn’t disappoint. This year the theme was ‘Shakespearean’ as it is the 400 anniversary of the Bard’s death. Each house was given a play and asked to create a poster, a storyboard, a costume (mad out of wastepaper and bin liners) and an item of cookery based on it.

What’s great about these events is the buzz that runs through the house areas – we were lucky enough to be with Pilgrims this year and everyone was doing their bit. Chak was chopping, Kuso creating, Charlotte producing a marvellous manga representation of the climax of Romeo and Juliet and Bradley…well, his costume had to be seen to be believed! Each house then paraded their model and showed off their creations in front of a highly appreciative audience in Brake Hall.  After a weekend of much deliberation, Merchants ran out the winners  (by a single point) with their iPad-centred interpretation of Hamlet. Many thanks to Mr Barnett and the CPA faculty for all their efforts and to all the houses for bringing Shakespeare back to life.

The grand finale of the week was the much-anticipated Spring Concert. Throughout the last term the many music groups and soloists (under the tutelage of the school’s peripatetic teachers, along with Mr Hall, Mrs Powell and Mrs Brown) had been putting in the hours and wow, it showed on the night, as they produced a fantastic evening’s entertainment!

At 19:30 sharp Mr Hall, Mr Vafidis, James and Matt sung a cheeky four-part acapella to welcome everyone and to remind them to please turn their phones off. The theme of music bringing staff and student together was one that echoed throughout the performance. The school orchestra kicked off proceedings with a rousing suite from Handel’s water music.  Now, there are half a dozen boarders who play in this elite group – Kewen, Demi, Conan, Mook, Celini and Miso - it just goes to show the depth of talent we have. Many of these then went on to play in either the String Orchestra (with the appropriately titled ‘Plink, Plank, Plunk’) or the Wind Band (with a great set of marches from John Williams).

We are blessed here in Ashford to have incredibly talented pianists in James, Jervis and Govind. Where Jervis’s Prelude in G Minor by Rachmaninoff was stylish, skilled and nuanced, James’s ‘Cakewalk Smasher’ was gloriously bolshie and Govind’s three pieces imperious.

One of our favourite moments was the performance of the ‘Elastic Band’ made up of musicians who have only begun playing recently, playing music specially arranged for them by Mrs Powell. William and Rain joined in the joyful Pavan with Mrs Rylands, Mrs Odysseas and Mrs Cox. If these were beginners, the future of music here is very bright indeed!

The main event after the interval (no glass clinking please) was Haydn’s Nelson Mass sung by a 40-strong choir made up of the school Chamber Choir (including Shiyu, Maria, Mrs Hawker and Mr Vafidis) a group of guest singers and a number of brave souls from both the staff and student body who had just joined in at the beginning of the term to try something new. This group included Maths teachers Mrs Odysseas and Dr Britton, Development Director Mr Young and Head of EAL Mrs Sagastuy. These were privileged to be accompanied by four fabulous soloists and a superb orchestra (including Miss Leonard on the violin).

The mass was a masterpiece, with everyone giving their all in a performance that could have graced far grander stages with aplomb. To take on a piece like this requires courage and determination, particularly when it comes to singing in front of peers, friends and colleagues. Congratulations to all and a massive thank you to Mr Hall et al for your support.

When we look back at this amazing 48 hours in the life of Ashford School, it is incredible, but nonetheless true, to think that the preparation and practice for these events (lessons, meetings, activities) are a day-to-day part of our school and the boarders are in the thick of it and working with their day colleagues to make it happen. Now that’s what we call ‘Adventurous Learning’!

NB: We continue the creative buzz with the amazing ‘Schools Will Rock You’ rockin’ out Brake Hall on 17^th-19^th March. Be there!

Giving a Monkey's about cultural diversity

春节快乐!

Happy Spring Festival everyone! Welcome to the Year of the Monkey!

Now, here at Ashford School, and particularly within the boarding community, we are very proud of our cultural diversity and so, we always look forward to the first new moon in February upon which we celebrate the Chinese New Year.

There are several traditions that have sprung up over the last few years in order to mark this event on the lunar calendar. The first is the Chinese meal in the refectory. Mandy and her team of helpers decked the room out in beautiful red and gold decorations and the kitchen staff, with oriental chef Li to the fore, surpassed themselves with a sumptuous array of dishes including stir-fried beef, vegetarian glass noodles and a fiery hot and sour soup. Despite the blustery weather, the festivities moved outside where Mr Vaughan delighted all with a spectacular fireworks display. Our thanks to all involved.

This hadn't been the only feast though. Not needing any excuse for a good cook-up, boarders in both ASIC and Alfred had had the hot pots bubbling away on Sunday night (see photos below). Nobody can say we aren't well fed in the boarding community here!

Before moving on to the other tradition of the New Year period it would be fitting to add that this particular weekend marked birthdays for four of our Chinese boarders: Charlotte, Riley, Ryan and Amanda; very auspicious timing indeed! After the meal at school, all four marked the occasion with cake, gifts, balloons and boisterous games down in ASIC (balloon volleyball anyone?!). Thanks to Miss Beroule for organising that one.

On the Friday morning our final New Year tradition took place with the annual Chinese New year assembly in front of the whole school. Mr Buchanan had already laid the groundwork for this on the Monday, discussing things not to do at Spring Festival time; including eating porridge, bad luck Mr K! Under the guidance of Mrs Barber, boarders Jonathan and Caroline gave a very polished performance, explaining the different Chinese Zodiac signs and what characteristics those signs represented. To help they enlisted the help of Mrs Rayner, Mrs Waite and Mr Stoddart - Monkey, Horse and Rooster respectfully - who gamely demonstrated that there is indeed some truth in oriental astrology - where'd that rubber chicken come from then Mr Stoddart? To finish Jonathan had the whole hall wising each other Happy New Year in Chinese, and all this before period 1 had even started!

Now the houses are all quiet, with all the boarders having headed off home, to guardians' houses and the like, for the half term. As we approach exam season, there will be much holiday work to do, but we hope all will take the chance to rest too - that's staff included please!

Just before we do sign off, a couple of congratulations are in order. Every year we at Ashford School welcome two beneficiaries of the coveted HMC scholarship, which allows a select few overseas students to study here, at much reduced rates, for a year. This year both our scholars, Yr 12s Tini and Zuka, come from Georgia and we are very happy to announce that, after a superb start, both have been offered a place to stay and complete their A-levels next year. Congratulations to both and good luck for your on-going studies!

Have a happy half term everyone and see you when we return.

NB: in order to keep further up-to-date with boarding life in Ashford School, we invite you to please follow our two boarding Twitter feeds:

 @AshfordBoarding and @AshfordIC - see you there!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! We hope you all had an excellent restful holiday and are now raring to go for 2016.

Well, there have been lots of exciting things to report at the start of this spring term. Our year 11 and 12s have been busy with their mock exams during the these first couple of weeks and, judging by many of the results that we’ve already heard about, they should be on for some excellent grades this summer. Well done for getting through the mocks and also a big well done to all your teachers who have had to mark them! Isn’t that right Mr Vafidis?!

In other news, congratulations to boys boarding captain Sam on his offer to read Mathematics next year in Cambridge. We wish you luck with the process Sam. Congratulations are also due to Helena from Brabourne and Amanda from ASIC who have both won prizes in this year’s Ashford Photography competition. AIB will be joining them at the awards’ ceremony at Ashford College on 27^th January (Photos will follow) Well done girls!

Our boarders have been in fine form on the sports’ field too as our First Basketball team including Sam, Manson, Jackson, Peter, Balthazar, Michael, Marcus, Matthew and Zheng have put together a string of victories recently including a hard fought 58-53 win over the North School followed by and even more convincing 58-45 result against the same opposition. With captain Matthew pulling the strings and Manson and Marcus driving, Balthazar and Michael made an unstoppable combo at the net. Coming to a court near you!

Mandy and her team of boarders have also been busy organising the festivities for next month’s Chinese New Year. There’ll be a dinner and fireworks as well as an assembly (Traditionally organised by the EAL department) to celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Monkey. There’ll be more on this next time out.

Over in ASIC Mr K and Miss B have a new team of staff to help out and look after their boarders: Mr Vafidis remains, new CCF SSI Mr Burke, German assistant Miss Schorpp, Mr Butt and Mr Munteanu join. A great mix of old and new! Many thanks to Mr Vaughan and Mrs Williams for all your help last term.

Talking of Mr Burke, he has been working hard to start up Ashford School’s first CCF (Combined Cadet Force) contingent. An extremely informative assembly last Friday gave us all an insight of what new recruits could learn and become a part of should they join up. Every Wednesday from 15:45 to 17:15 they’ll be taking part in amongst other things: drills, field craft, navigation skills, skill at arms and various types of adventure training. More importantly, Mr Burke pointed out, CCF will develop leadership qualities and a sense of team spirit. Head along to the CCF Firefly page if you’d like to know more or find Mr Burke and ask him yourselves.

It won’t have escaped the eagle-eyed attention of most that we now have a new Head of Boarding, Mr Liston, who joins us from The Priory Academy LSST in Lincoln, and before that Cranbrook School, to take over the role vacated by the departure of Mr Single to Bournemouth Collegiate. Mr Liston, along with his wife and two children, has settled well into Ashford School and has quickly become a firm part of the community. It’s no mean feat to take over a management position one term into a school year, so AIB has been very lucky to take-up a few minutes of Mr Liston’s precious time for a few words of welcome and some gentle interrogation.

 

Q. What are your first thoughts about the boarding community at Ashford School and how do you think you’ve settled in?

The students and staff seem lovely and have been very welcoming. What struck me immediately about the school was that there is a wide cultural and linguistic diversity amongst the boarding population - which is a joy to be a part of – and yet such a strong sense of community.

Q. How does your role here compare with those you played in LSST and Cranbrook and what will you bring to it?

All three are very different schools and so each role was and will be different, but ultimately the role of leading a boarding house or leading a boarding community is largely universal. What will I bring? Well, I’d say, commitment, enthusiasm and a desire to ensure that Ashford School continues to be a place in which people can grow, thrive and learn; to live the adventure in a warm and nurturing atmosphere.

 

Q. What are your hobbies and interests outside of your job?

My family, first and foremost, spending time with my two lovely children, Ollie and Orla. For my sins I enjoy reading political biographies and running, cycling and swimming (all of which I do badly! laughs)

 

Q. What do you think the future holds for boarding in Ashford School?

There are already so many positives that need to be held onto, but there is also so much potential to move boarding here forward.

Q. Describe yourself in one sentence.

I’ll leave that one up to you.

 

On that enigmatic note, we’ll say goodbye for now and wish Mr Liston an excellent start to his new post and look forward to seeing how boarding in Ashford progresses with him at the helm.

A truly international House!

We gave you a little taster last time out about the new addition to to our boarding community, ASIC House. Well, there's been plenty going on down the bottom of East Hill and we'd just like to give you a bit of a flavour.

As the 'International' Centre ASIC is all about diversity and they've been celebrating it. First up was the 'International Bring and Share' night. On the first Sunday of the term, the Marlowe Room (ASIC's common room/kitchen area) was alive with the smells of the world as the ASIC students vied to break the world record as to how many chefs you could actually fit into a kitchen.

Ochuwa, from Nigeria, had been preparing and cooking her joloff rice and marinated chicken pieces since mid afternoon and boy, it was worth the wait! King created a hotpot of fish balls and pak choi while Jerry produced a memorable combination of scrambled eggs and tomatoes. Mr K, ably assisted by Balthazar, knocked up several round of Welsh cakes - they're not burnt, it's just the sugar caramelising, uh-huh! - and Kristina, Maria and Tini flipped our tastebuds with Russian apple pancakes with condensed milk. As all sat down to enjoy their efforts, Zachary moved from table to table replenishing cups of refreshing and palette cleansing tea. What impressed AIB on the night was not just the range of dishes - you can stop cooking now King - but how the entire group worked together and with respect for each other's dishes and how the cleaning up was undertaken with as much enthusiasm as the cooking itself. You'd never have thought these guys had only just met each other that week!

Ten days later and the Marlowe Room had been transformed into a musical stage for 'Hear the world sing' the ASIC international music night. Members of all four houses attended an evening of song and dance organised by Ochuwa, who led the way with some rhythmic Nigerian moves. To sing in front of people is no mean feat anyway, to do it in front of people you barely know, but who you see every day, is another so full marks to Amanda, King, Belinda, Pandy, Tini and Kristin who all put their fears aside and belted out their favourites. Tini even gave us a rousing performance of the Georgian national anthem, emotional stuff. There was plenty of fun too as Maria and Nika led the whole room in several Russian dances and Alex, Faisal, Matthew, Jason and Frank had all in stitches with their Cossack jig! Finally Mr K let loose his Greek heritage and the room linked arms in joyous accord. It wasn't so much a dance as a flailing of legs but no-one cared, everyone was having fun!

We're sure it won't be long before there is another international event down the hill and everyone will be more than welcome!

New faces, new places

Hello everyone! Good to be back after a great summer holiday. There have been loads of new things happening around the boarding community in Ashford in the last 3 months, so we're going to take this first blog of the year to give you a quick insight into what's happened.

Firstly, let's go back to the end of last term when, as the Year 13s left us, a new crop of prefects were announced, along with the all important post of School Captain. This prestigious position is a feather in the cap of all who attain it and this year that feather, for the first time, sits proudly in the cap of a boarder, Brabourne's Mo! Congratulations to her! In her short time at the school so far, Mo has been involved in virtually every aspect of school life, coming to particular prominence in debating competitions. She is an extremely popular choice as School Captain and we have no doubt that she will make a success of it. Good luck Mo!

With the new year, we have seen departures, additions and changes to the staff boarding team. We say farewell to Miss Swaine, Miss Salter, Miss Meja and after a stalwart eight years in Alfred House, Mr Atkinson. Good luck to them all in their future positions. The team has been augmented by the arrival of Mr Ireland (Alfred), Mr Field (Gap student), Mr Bragge (Brooke-Refuge) and Mr Vafidis (Brooke-Refuge and ASIC, more on that later). Mr Kadinopoulos has moved down the hill to become Head of ASIC with Mr Appleton stepping into his shoes in Alfred House. Last but certainly not least we also welcome Miss Beroule as the new Assistant House Parent of ASIC.

Most importantly we welcome all our new students, from all around the world, as they join our boarding community and become an integral part of Ashford School. We hope you have a fantastic time with us and I'm sure you'll make the very best of it.

Perhaps the biggest change to boarding this year has been the opening (after 5 years of careful planning) of ASIC house. Previously Bridge House and once the site of the school nursery, ASIC is part of the new face of Ashford boarding also being home to the new Ashford School International Centre. The new centre's role will be to offer intensive 1-year courses (this year IGCSE only) to international students to help improve their English language skills and enable them to join the main school. They will also board in the house.

Building work for ASIC finished at the end of July and was officially opened on 25th August. In his speech to those assembled, Chairman of Governors Mr Massey thanked those who had made the venture possible, not least our own Mr Cuffley (Head of Operations) and Mr Single (Head of Boarding) who saw the project through from conception and Mr Connolly (Head of Maintenance) whose team oversaw the construction.

In the weeks following the handover the facilities team, in all their guises, worked tirelessly to bring the house up to the wonderful state in which it welcomed our newest group of boarders. Particular thanks must go to Mr Pallett, Mrs Rowell, Mr Connolly and Mr Ricks and their respective teams for ensuring every aspect was as good as it could have been.

So, the big day, Tuesday 1st September came around and once the new children had trod the well worn circle around Brake Hall (thanks to the EAL, Admissions and Medical teams and Mrs Pender) the bags started to arrive - thanks Tom, Steve, Bill and Dan - shortly followed by the new ASIC boarders many accompanied by their slightly nervous parents. As first impressions go, we don't know whether the children were more impressed with the house or Miss B and Mr K were with their charges. Polite yet good humoured, they soon began to settle in, mingling with each other over games of giant Jenga. They clearly have the Ashford boarding spirit down to a 'T'. This was made even clearer, when AIB joined Mr K on boarding duty and witnessed some of the boarders helping their housemaster unload the new dishes and stack the dishwasher.

The first couple of days of the year came and went and though there were the usual uncertainties and occasional loss of direction, our new boarders soon began to find their feet. Maria from Russia walked straight into the chamber choir! Having heard the sound of the big band while doing his EAL tests Zuka from Georgia asked straight away to go and check it out. His fellow HMC scholar Tini had, by the end of Friday, signed up for 4 different activities and this a year 12 student! As she'd earlier said to Mr K, she is determined to make the most of her year here, and we believe she will.

Indeed, as we all walked up to the refectory one evening in the second week and it was clear that many were not a little tired after their first ten days, Tini gave the meaning to all we do and will always do here:

"If it's good, it's worth working for."  Indeed so!

Welcome back everyone and have a great year!

N.B. If you have anything that you would like to see on the blog, please let Mr K know as soon as possible and we'll get it uploaded. We want to hear from you!