Boarders' Bulletin November / December 2023

This half term has gone by in a blink of an eye, and we are on the eve of the end of term. The girls enjoyed the Bonfire and Fireworks night and with it came what is now the annual dress for the occasion (Lily May). The girls wholeheartedly supported the school Christmas Jumper Day but more importantly this half term saw Faryal put on a cake sale to support those affected by Gaza conflict raising in excess of £300.

Faryal and Ikshula kept us on our toes by cooking a meal for the whole house one Sunday evening, I never realised a shopping trip to Tesco would be so exciting!! Mrs Whiffin and the year 10s had a successful trip to the Escape Rooms and all managed to break out in good time.

The annual house theatre trip to London did not disappoint and saw us all come together for a mass sing song to Mamma Mia, it was a great way to see the house come together and relax after mock exams.

This term has seen a number of significant musical events taking place and it has been great to see so many of presenting their musical skills to large audiences (Ikshula, Eni, Josephine, Susanna and Ellie) in both the winter concert and the schools carol service. The Carol Service were also dominated by Scott in singing but also the amazing readers (Daisy, Grace, Dasia, Florence and Kaya).

The school interhouse bake off saw Scott proudly achieving a third place in the gingerbread house challenge, well done to Tara and Adachi. Mr Kenny and the year 9s took up the challenge of making their own gingerbread houses on the last night of term.

The annual Christmas sketches always raise some eyebrows but all were done in a sense of fun, not sure the staff song would be classed as quality signing though, but special thanks to Mr Penny who drove back specially to perform!! The Secret Santa proved to be a great success, its amazing how far a small budget can go!!

A festive farewell to 2023 from all in Rammell

With the Christmas tree decorated, mince pies warming in the oven and secret santa presents appearing under the Christmas tree, it’s definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas (sadly minus all the fun and madness caused by the dumping of snow last year)! What a half term it has been, starting off with fireworks on bonfire night, many Halloween-themed games, table tennis competitions, pudding club evenings with the sixth form before now focusing on slightly more Christmassy activities such as visiting Christmas markets, ice skating, Christmas meals and hunting for the hidden grinches around the house. Just by walking through the house on a relaxed evening with no activity, you can feel the buzz of energy, whether it is the boys gathering by the fire, meeting to watch a football game, playing on the PlayStation, improvising Christmas tunes on the piano, the Yr13s helping the Yr10s with their homework or having a heated debate about whether tinsel belongs on the Christmas tree or not. There’s a real family feel to the house at the moment.

As the final term of this year draws to a close, it is time to reflect on the events we have enjoyed at Blubery

We achieved victory in the school pumpkin carving competition and had fun with an in-house Halloween party. Mr Ansette enjoyed his first tutor trip to Bluewater with the year 10 girls, for a spot of Christmas shopping and dinner. As a house we went to support the girls as they showed off their amazing talents at the annual DanSing show. Some of the girls enjoyed a boarding trip out Ice skating to Tunbridge wells. And we finished the term off with our Christmas dinner and festivities in house.

It's been a long half term filled with laughter and joy in Crowden, despite the weather trying its best to dampen the mood.

The boys have enjoyed plenty of trips out: the driving range, bowling, and Bluewater being a small selection. Teenage boys do love their food and there has been plenty of that about, with some creative dishes being made in the kitchen and a considerable amount of fast food treats too.

Congratulations go to the Juniors in Inter-House Rugby recently, with strong performances on a shockingly cold and wet Monday afternoon. A shame then that the Seniors couldn't follow suit as the games were called off due to waterlogged pitches - hopefully these will be reorganised soon.

What a busy term it's been. Coming back right at the end of October, two things were imminent; the first being Halloween, which the boys were very keen to embrace. A night of fun and games ensued, followed by a scary movie before bed and lots more chocolate. I'm not sure what it is with young teenagers which makes them want to watch a really scary movie and then not get any sleep? Don't worry, it was age appropriate; but some still needed to sleep with the light on 🙂 We then moved into November and the school, as always, celebrated remembrance day beautifully, with a great School Lodge representation in the CCF parade up to the war memorial at the top of the village. There was also bonfire night, which many of you joined us for, with great food, fireworks and fun all round. Although a couple of boys, including my son, did fall over in the mud; but we got them cleaned up. We then had a quiz night in the Coach House on the 22nd November, where prizes included amazon vouchers for the winning team (these have been given out with their Christmas cards this week) and as ever, Mr. Bishop put together a great quiz for the lads. Jack Frost then started to grace us with his presence with lots of cold mornings as we moved to the end of the month. The boys had to start wrapping up warm (hats and gloves for next term please). And this was particularly true for our trip up to the Valley to watch the mighty Charlton Athletic, take on Cheltenham Town. The Addicks came through going behind at the beginning to win 2-1; the boys and staff had a great night. We then had our Christmas tree delivered at the start of December, which the boys enjoyed setting up, and we moved into the final week.

Following a scuba diving break in the sunny Canary Islands with some of the Cornwallis boys this term started with a bump as the cold dark weather rolled in and memories of summer grew fainter. Resilience and adaptability being the watchwords of the Cornwallis boys, we seamlessly transitioned to the winter stage of the house which mostly revolves around eating everything and anything. Fortunately, Anita has kept everyone well supplied with a phenomenal number of snacks, particularly appreciated by the seniors after a muddy games session on Thursday mornings.

Exercise was kept alive by the creation of the “Henry Lowe Social Group Cup”. Keenly contested competitions formed the basis of our house mini Olympics, with the boys competing over a range of activities. Hours of hard fought competitions involving football, basketball, dancing, human pyramids, singing, instrumental solos, and magic tricks were presided over by the social group leaders. In the end, Jeremy’s well-drilled group surged into the lead and won the competition, with their name being carried down to future generations on the cup – a fitting reward for meticulous preparation and maximum effort.

In and around these events the boys still found plenty of time to set up a downstairs restaurant, (a conceptual experience designed by Keanu and Henry allowing them to deliver huge quantities of jerked chicken and rice on the weekend) plan and attend plenty of tutor trips, featuring a number of poor movie choices, but accompanied by plenty of food. We also managed to get out to the opening of Tenterden’s Christmas fair, some low-key walks, plenty of Man Hunt, kitted ourselves out creatively for Christmas jumper day and learned how to make a cheap Sunday roast!

As we headed into December Damien stepped up in the absence of our House Captain Hamish and selected a fantastic Christmas tree which the boys all got involved in setting up in the Allan room, ready for the piles of Secret Santa gifts. Hearing of the absence of our house Captain and conscious of the long running Christmas tree tradition, last year’s house captain Blaise shot down from Cardiff to approve the tree and keep the tradition alive!

All was set for the last weekend – House rugby to compete in, followed by our Advent Lunch to celebrate our success. Unfortunately, severe weather conditions and localised flooding meant the cancellation of the eagerly awaited competition. We still continued with our planned celebrations, and the Sunday Advent lunch was a joyous occasion, with Chris Yau stepping up to encourage the other boys to deliver an impromptu musical interlude which was much appreciated by all.