A Christmas cracker!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful (well, it’s not great, is it?),

But the Old Gym looks delightful.

The lights are turned way down low.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it… (apologies to Dean Martin)

 

 

“Woah there!” you’re probably saying. “It hasn’t snowed here. What are they going on about?” Well, dear readers, you should have been at the boarders’ Christmas party last Saturday and you would have seen. What you also would have seen was the Coronation gym decked out as a Winter Wonderland; a wonderful array of party dresses and super sharp suits as well some of the hottest moves a dance floor has ever seen (so hot the fire alarm went off!) but we’ll get to that.

The run-up to Christmas kicked off with the junior boarders’ Fun Tuesday Christmas Special. A great spread laid on by Mr Dudley and Miss Ith, with Christmas hats supplied by Miss Swain and a quiz by Mr K was thoroughly enjoyed by the younger members of our community. At one point Yilong tried to wear ALL the hats, much to everyone’s amusement and the hotly contested quiz was finally won by Alex, Rain, Sanskar and Viktor. Thank you to Mr Dudley for organising all the Fun Tuesdays this term and we look forward to more in the New Year.

Keeping the Christmas spirit in full swing was the annual Christmas concert in which a large number of boarders took part. Mrs Williams informed AIB that this was an excellent occasion, with many wonderful songs and musical pieces performed, including the first outing of the Ashford School Big Sing group. Well done to Vlad, Howard, Isaac and many others for all the work you put in rehearsing and making it such an enjoyable evening for everyone. A big thank you too to Mr Hall and Mrs Powell for organising.

And now to Saturday. Well, the action started right after breakfast as Mandy and her team, including boarding prefects Yana and Shanahan, set to work decorating the dining hall. Once that was suitably festive, they turned their attention to the old gym. It has always been impressive to us here at AIB how involved our boarders are in what goes on, so it was no surprise to see many give up their afternoon to help turn the gym into a winter wonderland. Calvin was filling balloons; Michael was putting them up where no-one could reach them; Mr Siddle was lowering and raising beams to be decorated; Mrs Williams was putting together the wonderland scene; Mr K was sweeping the floor and Mandy was directing operations, but everyone made sure they asked Shanahan first!

Come 17:30, all the boarders and boarding staff in their Christmas finery sat down to a wonderful Christmas meal presided over by Paul and his staff (many thanks to you all). Every year the girls seem to outdo the last and this year was no exception, though a certain little Santa did steal the show.

With the last crumb of cheesecake munched, it was over to the gym, where the party really got started. We wer very happy to be joined by some of the senior prefects who had made the effort to come down and share the fun. It would take too long to mention everyone who lit up the dance floor that evening, but there are some who cannot be left out. Early doors it was Daria and Chris fairly ripping it up to whoops from the crowd. Janice and Kitty whirled like chiffon tornadoes and Mark was a bouncing sensation. However, most agreed that Timur was the heart and soul of the party; flitting from group to group, we don’t think there was a card he left unmarked by the end. At the end too it was he leading the cheers for Mandy, without whose tireless effort and boundless enthusiasm it would not have been possible. Thank you Mandy!

Now the excitement has died down we have but one week to go before our community breaks up for a well-earned winter rest. All hear at AIB would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. See you in January. We’ll now leave you with of the photos from that brilliant Christmas ball (keep an eye out for the snow!)

                                               

                                                  

                                                 

             

 

A winter's tale

Hello there all! Wow, it's been a long time and we at AIB are sorry that you have been kept waiting for your slice of Ashford boarding life for so long.

Well, since we last spoke, half term has been and gone and the year can be said to be in full swing. Those who were new faces back in September are now fully established and proving themselves worthy members of our great community.

So, what has happened? Amongst other things, we have had amazing trips, for example to Chessington World of Adventure and to Canterbury (many thanks to Mr Single for organising). We have had the music scholars concert where Jervis wowed all with his piano skills. There have been sports matches every week, with boarders from every year giving their all for their respective teams. In further musical news, watch out for Ash Bash this week as, at 16:30 in Brake Hall our school rock bands strut their stuff, be there or be square!

Members of all houses have been shining academically too: Zekai, Delia and Angel have represented the school in the second round of the UKMT British Maths Olympiad while Zekai was one of only three scientists to have qualified for the next round of the Physics Olympiad. Well done all and good luck. In fact, now is the time that many of our Yr 13s are nervously glancing at iPhones, checking their emails, to see if any university offers have come in. They'll come people, they'll come!

We have also seen the introduction of new boarding activities. As well as. amongst other things, the basketball, volleyball, gym and fitness sessions organised by Mr Butt each night and staffed by his excellent gang of helpers, Mr Hinton has set up a badminton competition that looks set to produce some epic battles. There are even rumours of a talent competition...watch this space!

Every other Tuesday night has once again, become the realm of Mr Dudley and the junior boarders as they head out for 'Fun Tuesday'. A recent highlight was the Battle Zone laser night that saw red and blue teams take on each other in a battle of the sharpest shot. After three team events it was every person for themselves and while Mr K had the illustrious honour of being the first to bow out (thanks  Emily!), it was Yilong who emerged victorious! More adventures to come soon.

Well, there it is in a nutshell. We promise that you will not have to wait so long for the next instalment and we wish you all a pleasant weekend.

Welcome back!

Welcome back to AIB everyone and to a new year of excitement and fun at Ashford School boarding community! We hope you’ve all had an excellent summer and have returned refreshed rejuvenated for another fantastic year!

Also we would like to extend a warm welcome to all those joining us this year. Along with our recognised Russian and Chinese/Hong Kong contingent, we’re thrilled to have new boarders from Latvia, France, Germany, Albania and Thailand. All of us in Brooke-Refuge, Alfred and Brabourne are sure you’ll settle in well and have a great time with us.

Before going on to other news, AIB would like to congratulate all our returning boarders who took their GCSE and AS levels last term. Looking at the results you did a brilliant job. Special mention should go to Shirley and Vicky from Brabourne who scored an average of 90% in their exams, amazing stuff girls! As Mr Thomson said in his sixth form address Thursday morning, these are results that inspire.

Boarders from last year will have recognised some old faces in new places this September. Mrs Williams is now housemistress of Brabourne who, along with Miss F-H, will be ably assisted by new girls’ Boarding Captain Yana. New boys’ Boarding Captain Daichi and Head of Alfred, Shanahan will be sure to provide support to Mr Vaughan and his house tutor team, headed by new Assistant Houseparent Mr Hinton. Congratulations Yana, Daichi and Shanahan on your appointments!

We at AIB like to keep abreast of things here at Ashford School and so we linked up with Mr Hinton and some of our new boarders, to hear what they think and feel about the year ahead.

Norwich born, new AHP Mr Hinton has plenty of experience in foreign climes, having just come back from a 13-year stint in South Korea and Hong Kong. An expert on S.E. Asian shopping centres by the sound of one conversation and a keen dragon boater, Mr Hinton has been an instant hit with the Alfred boys, who have appreciated his combination of good humour and discipline.

There's definitely a sense of fun there. Indeed he describes himself as "Friendly, incredibly annoying and generally pretty approachable." AIB didn't ask about the 'annoying' but could only presume it might affect boys who might not be the best at cleaning their rooms. When asked what he hopes to bring to his role Mr Hinton adds: "I will hopefully help the students realise that study, whilst being incredibly important, can also have a fun, more light-hearted side to it as well." AIB saw him at work, welcoming the boys back after a long week and saw just how much they appreciated this. What's Mr H. looking forward to this year? Getting to know the boys for one and in his own words."getting stuck into life in Alfred." We think you already have sir, welcome!

Now for the new boarders and in the true spirit of AIB we have a truly global input as Calvin from Brooke and Germany, Nicka from Brabourne and Russia and Garren from Alfred and Hong Kong all kindly agreed to tell us about their first impressions of their new life in the UK. 

It was plain to see what mattered to all three, academic improvement. Calvin feels that he has everything in the boarding house to help him thrive in his work; Garren looks forward to achieving high grades at GCSE while Nicka's wish is "to speak English as if it was my first language!" 

What made the biggest impression on these new faces? Well, Garren was very impressed with the school's sporting facilities (we've seen you making good use of them Garren!) and how he was made to feel instantly at home by the senior boys in his house. For Calvin again the welcome was what made it: "The staff really care about each person in the house." he says. For Nicka too it was a feeling: "It's not about the things," she enthuses, "it's about the atmosphere that you [the staff] have created." Calvin is already looking to give back some of that good feeling: "I also want to help where I can and be a role model to other students." We can see all three of you fitting in well here. Thank you for your input and we hope you have a wonderful time in Ashford school.

Well, that's about all for now, but with the year well and truly underway, you can be sure that AIB will be at the cutting edge as far as our boarders are concerned. So, watch this space because as the song goes "You 'aint seen nothing yet!"

A year in perspective

Well, it's been almost a whole school year now since AIB first wrote to you about how our boarders had found their first week back. Now it's come full circle and we would now like to bring you some of their retrospective thoughts on the academic year 2013/14.

Put simply, we asked our boarders two questions: What was your favourite point of the year? and What are you most looking forward to, or are nervous about, next year?

Alex from Brooke picked out the improvement in his language skills as a high point, while Vova highlighted the "incredibly crazy experiments in Science". All rounder Jonathan from Alfred focused on the musical and specifically the master class given by guitarist Craig Ogden. He says "it has inspired my study of guitar." Not all the best bits were necessarily comfortable times. Terrence enjoyed the beginning of the year the most and particularly remembers how he "almost got lost every day." AIB remember those first tentative and often confusing steps made all the way back in September and look now at what these students have become.

These were very memorable moments and achievements but when AIB read Brabourne boarder Angel's answers, we felt we had to include a lot of it, as it summed up a lot of what boarding here at Ashford is about. Take it away Angel:

"Well, the one things that I enjoyed most this year was getting along well with people from different countries with respectively a large variety of cultures and backgrounds...I found it really enjoyable, meaningful and educational. For me education is not just solely about academic but life and experience. School life for me this year has just been really remarkable and fruitful. I gained loads of knowledge and understanding...and most importantly, getting a much closer relationship with my peers."

To the second question, many of the Year 10s focused on their upcoming GCSE exams and though many were nervous, most said that they were looking forward to the challenge. For Jonathan though it is simply "more of the same please": "I am looking forward to more experiences...to stimulate me and widen my knowledge."

For AIB all the points above just show how special a boarding community we have here in Ashford School. From the prefects, to the school shows (like JC Superstar), to all the amazing concerts, trips (who can forget Chessington in the rain?), activities (like last weeks cookery competition) and sporting fixtures, not to mention the academic performances (Zekai's outstanding UKMT result). All the amazing achievements that we will be celebrating this week, especially at Founders' Day, the boarding community has been at the heart of them, staff and children alike, working together. Not every day has been a wholly positive one, but at least there have been positive elements within each of them.

Over the last few weeks we have said "goodbye" to many of those students, particularly in Years 11 and 13, who have played such pivotal roles in this positive experience. We will miss them all and wish them every success in the future and hope that they remember their time here in Ashford fondly. We will also be saying farewell to two boarding staff members in Mr Forse and Miss Cawardine, both moving to schools in London, who have put so much into making our boarders' lives more comfortable and enjoyable. We will be very sad to see you go (Fun Tuesday's will never be the same without you Miss C.) Take care and good luck!

I will leave the last word from AIB this year to Boarding Captain Bruce, who has already departed for Hong Kong and who has written a little piece for the school magazine. I hope you don't mind us using it for this piece Bruce, but we think that this is what 'Adventures in Boarding' means:

"“Where is Ashford?“ This is the first question I asked when I received the offer from this school. Joy and worry struck me at the same time, as I was worrying about life out of my comfort zone and the happiness to explore new things.

When the time I arrived, I found my worry was not necessary as this school provided me with a warm and well-supported environment. On top of that, as school students, we are given lots of different chances to show what we are capable of doing, such as participating in the Google science fair with help of biology department; working on feasibility of producing anti-malaria rice as an alternative medicine to the third world

Even though this school has high expectations of students in terms of the academic, it doesn’t push students too hard. Our time slots were filled by different extra-curricular activities (such as sports fixtures, fitness training, cooking competitions and more) as well.

After a year staying in boarding, I was given a leadership role as boarding captain and started participating in cooperation with members of staff to manage the boarding community (although I was a troublemaker in school). The challenges that we came across stretched me to my limit and helped me to understand myself more deeply.

Overall, it has been a joy to stay in this school, both as boarder and student."

Thank you Bruce and on behalf of all at AIB and the Ashford School boarding community we wish you all a happy holiday, good luck to 11s-13s withe their exam results and see you all, with some new faces of course, in September.

Move over Masterchef!

There was the scent of something delicious wafting around the school last Saturday afternoon and it wasn’t coming from the refectory.

Generally speaking, of a summer weekend, boys’ games and boarding activity co-ordinator Mr Butt can normally be found gracing the cricket fields of Kent. This weekend though he was masterminding the first Boarders’ Cookery Competition.

After a meeting in the dining hall on the Thursday night, those interested in taking part met outside Brooke House at 11:20 to be ferried up to Sainsbury’s with a grand total of £15 each to spend on ingredients. They were given help choosing these and given a time limit of 25 minutes to do so.

Upon their return it was to the Food Studies kitchen to get cooking. Each of the contestants, ranging from Year 9 to Year 13, had an hour and a half to concoct a dish or dishes that would be judged on taste, presentation and difficulty. You can imagine the concentration, the heat, the steam, the panic as the clock ticked down and finally the elation and relief at producing the finished pieces.

All agreed that it had been an evenly matched contest, but there had to be a winner and in the end, it was Brabourne boarder Kitty who emerged triumphant with her take on egg-fried rice. Boarding captain Bruce came in second and Brooke and Refuge man Nabeel third.  I think that judging by the photos below that even Masterchef Michel Roux Jr would have been impressed.

Thank you Mr Butt for organising a great afternoon and we all look forward to seeing more chefs duking it out next year.

Making the Grade

          "Hide your computer!" That's the advice that boarding captain Bruce would give to future exam students when AIB caught up with him and fellow Yr 13 Oscar, earlier this week. "Oh, and your phone as well." he adds "Cut off your connections to the outside, that's the only way." Making sure you have no distractions is certainly good counsel, coming from an A2 student who has been there and experienced the stress that exams can bring.

          You might think then, given all this stress and the pressure of making it into your university of choice, that the atmosphere would be tense. Far from it, as it happens. Bruce and Oscar were laughing and joking over a plate of chicken drumsticks, in Alfred Sky Room, after a hard day of revision and exams. Both have just retaken their Chemistry AS exam, in order to improve on last year's marks (Bruce is going for Chemistry at university and Oscar, Medicine). In fact Oscar jokes that he'd rather sit exams than sit in the house.

          Oscar's first piece of advice also concerns diet: "Don't drink Red Bull, it doesn't help the concentration. It's been biologically proved." Though it's often difficult to tell if Oscar is joking or not, what he follows this with could not be more serious: "Do all the past papers." Bruce nods sagely.

         Going for what was thought to be an obvious answer, we asked the boys what they would be doing as soon as they finished their exams in a few weeks' time. Both responses showed just what sort of people the Ashford School boarding community produces. Oscar said that he would like to try to improve his cooking skills (we joked that his medical specialism could be food poisoning!). Bruce, on the other hand, thought he might take the time to learn something new, "maybe a language." The  education continues then boys!

           During their leavers' assembly the Year 13s had joked about what they would miss about Ashford School. However, when pushed on the same question about boarding, Bruce and Oscar were unanimous in their praise for their housemaster, Mr Vaughan. "There's no double standards." Oscar stated plainly. Bruce compared dealing with the staff in Alfred to "dealing with friends. There's a mutual respect" he added.

          Respect is earned boys and you've done that....well done and good luck for the future!

Moving forward - in good health

Welcome back to Ashford School Trinity term, followers of AIB! I hope you’ve all had an enjoyable Spring break.

This week’s blog will herald in the new Ashford School prefects, look forward to the looming exams and cast a well-deserved spotlight on the ladies that look after our health.

New Prefects

10:40 Thursday morning. Anxious Year 12 faces huddled around the noticeboard by the sixth form common room, or hunched over computers and smartphones waiting for the email on the VLE that could shape their future. They were awaiting the confirmation of whether or not they were to be the latest in the line of school prefects, Ashford School’s vanguard and ambassadors for the year to come.

The process had begun with 66 student applications and over 90 student and staff recommendations last term. As Mr Thompson then informed Yr 12 on Thursday morning, it had moved onto a rigorous selection process, conducted over 2 hours by Mr Thompson, other senior teachers and the current prefects. Names had been mulled over, considered, discarded then reconsidered. Now it was time. The email sent and pinged up across 100s of phone and computer screens across the school; the notice went up.

As the eye scans over the sheet of names, it is clear to see how much of an influence our boarders will have on the school in the coming year: Ed, Yana and Daichi, Judy, Shanahan and Vicky, Janice, Toby and Claudia, Gleb and Summer. These eleven would be part of a team of 35 that would become the faces of Ashford School. Congratulations to you all!

AIB was up in the EAL department with Judy and Toby when the email came in. The relief was palpable, the smiles a mile wide. Even after six short months at the school, they knew what this meant, they understood the significance but more to the point, they understood the work that was yet to come. We here have no doubt that they and all the rest will be up to the job!

 

A testing time

The new prefects will take over from their Year 13 colleagues on the 9^th June when their study leave ends. In a week’s time Yr 11-13’s lesson timetable will be suspended while they undertake their GCSEs, ASs and A2s. For each year group this is the most important exam that they will have ever taken and will have a significant impact on their near future. The Yr 13s, after having received their university offers, now need to make it happen, while, for the Year 11s this will be their first taste of formal exam pressure. Over the coming weeks AIB will be interviewing boarding students from the three exam year groups to see how they are doing and what the future will look like for them. For now, good luck with the remainder of your revision everyone!

Medical Attention

Just before the beginning of the term a glaring oversight was brought to AIB’s attention. Though we have previously spoken of peer mentors, house staff, activity co-ordinators and other students we had failed to highlight the fantastic job that our three school nurses do for the boarding community here at Ashford School. Apologies Sister Field, Sister Hall and Sister McCormack, the stage is now yours:

It is perhaps the most fundamental thing in life, our health. If we’re not fit and healthy, it’s difficult to be happy and work/study as well as we could. If we are unfortunate to have an accident, suffer a sport’s injury or are taken seriously ill, it is vital that we get the rest and recuperation we need. Usually this will be at home but for our boarders the Medical Centre, staffed by the three school nurses and aided by the school doctor, Dr Riches and the school councillor Ms London, provide this all important care. These staff are in constant contact with both boarding staff and parents to inform and update on any issues concerning boarders’ health.

Nothing is too big or too small for the ladies in blue. Weather is not an issue; AIB first came across Sister Field on a miserably cold and rainy Saturday afternoon, up at Ashford Rugby Club, providing much needed first aid support for our 1^st and Development XVs (I know Bruce was very grateful!). Neither is time; if anyone is ever ill in the boarding house, whether day or night, they’re on the other end of the line. Most importantly, you will be treated with the same confidentiality, care and compassion if you have a broken ankle or a nasty head-cold or you simply need someone to talk to about something that’s bothering you.

Thank you to all the Med Centre team for everything that you do for us! Hopefully we won’t need to see you too often!

Take care everyone and see you next time.