After a busy first three weeks of term and a well-deserved rest, it was back to the grindstone, but also plenty of fun in the evenings.
Last Wednesday a team comprising mostly boarders from the Archery Club went over to St George’s Weybridge for a competition. Between the 8 boys they scored over 1,000 points and edged victory by a mere 25 points. This was mainly due to William and Juan who scored 64 and 60 with their last six arrows and they only took the sport up 3 months ago! A fantastic effort.
Last weekend was exceptionally busy on all fronts. It started with a ‘trip’ to the dogs, or rather a DVD race night in the gym! All the boys were split into dormitories and given 500 ‘notes of fun’, from which to make their bets. Needless to say their experiences mirrored those of the real thing – some hefty losses, some breaking even and others walking away with some big wins. Blue dormitory collected the spoils after turning their 500 into a colossal 3,610 – thanks to a massive win on the last race.
Saturday was a busy day generally with a number of Old Boys coming back for much of the day. It was a huge success and they were all envious of the changes that have happened to the dorms, the trips out and activities that the boys have now, compared to when they were here.
Sunday was a tremendous day all round for the boys, when Woodcote lived up to its tag line of “Where Boys Can be Boys!” After the obligatory letter writing home first thing a group of boys joined me in the traditional “Fires” area, where we built three small bonfires, before slicing up some potatoes and cooking them in frying pans on the open fires. Sadly the pictures don’t convey the wonderful smell of burning wood and exquisite taste of the chips cooked by the boys! DP managed to squirrel some eggs from the chef, so we had fried eggs as well and some of the Spanish boys tried to cook a tortilla.
In the afternoon the Colts played a game of rugby against a touring side from Geneva, who have been here before. Indeed we will be welcoming two boys from them to Woodcote in September. It was a great game in bitter conditions, ably supported by the senior boarders. The final chapter of the day saw films being watched and games being played in the gym or games room.
All in all a highly successful day!!