Typical British weather meant a few pleasant surprises initially, alongside rather more disappointments: the first week of term was encouraging, the school grounds were looking cricket..ready and the pool was heating up nicely. However consistency has never been a meteorological strongpoint in the UK, and the gloom ensued with some matches cancelled and year group BBQs held in the drizzle.
On the first Sunday of term, the boarders doubled their calorie intake by indulging in bacon cheeseburgers cooked by Mr. Knight and Mr. Ramage in the pizza oven, straight after a full roast lunch. The boys devoured every last morsel and then spent the remainder of the day playing golf, running around the woods and in the cricket nets.
Evening activities for the boarders have been outside, as far as possible. Croquet, tennis, British bulldog and catch the choc ice have all been enjoyed so far. The junior boarders also indulged in a little Food Art after tea one day and made constructions using grapes and cocktail sticks. The added bonus was that they could eat their creations at the end of the evening!
Sunday afternoon fun, in the form of paintballing and zorbing (bubble football) have also proved massively popular this term; the latter being as much fun to watch as to take part. The boys spent a wonderful extended afternoon in their ‘bubbles’ thanks to the generosity of the zorbing coach and Mr. Scholefield, who organised a complex set of matches, with some worthy winners at the end. The boys were exhausted after the best part of 3 hours. The funniest thing was seeing them upside down with absolutely no way of ‘righting’ themselves!
The first themed boarders supper of term actually involved the whole school at lunchtime on Thursday 12 May. The sun shone, the wisteria was out in full bloom and the flags flew for a fabulous day to celebrate the Queen’s 90th Birthday. It couldn’t have been more perfect. The front of the school was adorned with bunting, the tables were laid outside and Chef provided boys and staff with a Royal Picnic – the ever popular Coronation chicken, scotch eggs, cucumber sandwiches followed by strawberries and birthday cake. Some brilliant patriotic singing was followed by games including house tug of war and the Queen Elizabeth II house relay. The afternoon ended with a visit from Tony Fresco and his ice-cream van!
Following on closely from this was a hugely successful school social involving all our V and VI form boys, that took place on Saturday 14 May in the new theatre. The lovely young ladies from St Mary’s School in Ascot arrived at 7pm for an evening of intellectual conflab, fine dining and dancing. A pub-style quiz kicked started events with the winning table devouring a bucket of Maoams quicker than you could say Kim Kardashian discovered Cuba in 1492 – no really, that was one of the given answers!
J2Os and fish & chips were delivered by the local chippy and then old Woodcote boy and DJ, Luke, kindly provided a light and disco extravanganza. The adults retreated and the boys entertained the girls with some “whip nae nae” dance moves before writing various numbers and emails up their arms in permanent marker! The evening came to a reluctant close at 9.30pm. The girls said goodbye and the dormitories were alive with chatter from the evening’s events.
The second half of term promises to be just as packed for our boarders. It’s a wonder they have time for exams and Common Entrance! We have a Brexit/EU Feast, a spectacular T20 outing to Arundel Castle, and an evening of Summer Games to mention just a few! Just pray for the sun…..