A Thursday Night Tournament

On Thursday night, St. Bedes was filled with a competitive atmosphere as the boarders were split into 5 teams to compete in the Thursday Night Boarder's Tournament. There were four different activities, each requiring various members from The Budgies, The Sparrows, The Eagles, The Buzzards, and The Kestrels to represent their team. Our speedy little Spanish player, Tomas, won the ping pong for his team whilst John Wider 'crazily' took the lead in the Super Mario Kart competition. Meanwhile, the battle for points was being carried out on the pool table with a doubles pool game and a ball was being thrown left, right and centre in the gym as the remaining team members played basketball. We finished up the evening and rounded the children in the dining room, where they had their hot chocolates whilst eagerly awaiting Mr Callow's winning team announcement. And the winners are.....THE SPARROWS!!!! Congratulations and well done to all our competitors!

 

Smiles for the camera :D

Mr Freely talks team tactics

Olly warms-up for table tennis

Luke lines up his shot!

And the Super Mario Grand Pix is off!

Jaime handles and pressure nicely on the pool table

Archie decided to add a bit of gymnastics to the tournament

Abigail and Claudia have a break from basketball for the press

Basketball in the gym

Action-shot of Jaime

All eyes were on Gregor at the doubles pool table

Narciso takes a tricky shot...

Look at the concentration on those faces!

The girls were biting their nails in anticipation for the winners

Brotherly love between the Botsford boys

Mexican night!

Hola! On Thursday night, the boarders came together for, drum roll please, MEXICAN NIGHT! The night began with Miss Caddy destroying her eye-liner pencil, drawing moustaches on the never-ending line of children waiting outside of St. Bede's. All 'mexicaned-up', the children made their way into St Bede's where Mexican music filled the air. Mr Zorrilla, our local Mexican, wished us all a good meal in Spanish before the children dug into their traditional Mexican suppers. The arrival of some crazy Mexican dancers (i.e. the GAPs) provided the evening entertainment whilst the children started on their pudding. Overall, a fantastic night that gave us all a real 'taste' of Mexico. Thank you to our wonderful kitchen staff, Mr Callow, Mr Zorrilla, and everyone else who helped make the night a success!

A 'deliciosa' meal for all!

John and Narciso enjoy some Mexican food

Hola amigos!

I hope you aren't playing with your food Miss Gash

Mr Mexican!

Sophie looks pleased with her 'messy' meal

Fabiola and Lucy enjoy supper together

Barriga llena, corazon contento! - A full belly and a happy heart!

The All Hallow's Beauty Salon!

Sick bug = no Saturday school = girls with some extra free time = opening of the All Hallow's Beauty Salon! Sorry boys, this weekend the girls got all the attention as the All Hallow's Beauty Salon was set up on the girls' landing. There was even calming music and a sweet bowl - we meant business.The beauty treatments began on Saturday afternoon and went well into the evening. But one afternoon was not enough; we had more requests and continued the pampering from wake-up on Sunday until lunch time. Mrs Toomey and Mrs Mitchell were in control of the manicures, whilst Miss Caddy played hair-dresser. We even had a special appearance from Mr Garcia, Mr Zorrilla, Mr Opie and Mr Northcott, all of who joined in with the fun (not very willingly (except Mr Garcia, who loved it)). Our pampering began with a relaxing hand massage in warm water, followed by filing and painting of the nails and curling of the hair.  By Sunday lunchtime, we had giggling girls running around with colourful nails and bouncy curls, looking ever so elegant. A relaxing yet entertaining weekend for both students and staff alike!

The AH Salon officially opens for business!

Mimi gets a relaxing hand massage

Mrs Toomey files Teresa's nails

Ladies pamper evening!

Mr Northcott and Mr Zorrilla got in touch with their feminine side!

Relaxing music + hand massage = calm Isabel

Georgia 'beautifies' Miss Caddy

Ohhh, spot the odd one out (or can you)?

The 'curling couch!'

Manicures continued well into the next morning

Blanca gets some beauty therapy

Sophia spends Sunday morning getting her hair curled

Lucia 'Lovely Locks'

Mrs Toomey looks like she's getting a bit tired....I think it is time for the AH Salon closing hour!

Bonfire Night under an exploding sky!!!

Bonfire night; the night where the All Hallow's staff are allowed to light up the sky and burn a fire so bright, it can be seen from Australia! The children headed outdoors at 7pm to watch the lighting of the bonfire, toffee apples in hand. Buzzing with sugar, we all moved onto the front field to watch Mr Hannah and his trustee helpers transform the night sky into a magical display of colour and sparkles. The finale proved to be oh so grand as fireworks shot off left, right and centre before the 'pops' and 'bangs' came to a halt. Shouts of 'WE WANT MORE' filled the air, and we couldn't help but set off a few more "bad boys" to end the evening show. We headed inside to warm ourselves up with hot chocolates before it was time to snuggle up under our duvets and get a good night's rest!

Eating toffee apples beside the bonfire!

Heading over to the front field for fireworks!

Our two beautiful Spanish girls enjoying toffee apples

Cheeky grins for two cheeky girls

Pepe looks like he is enjoying his toffee-coated apple!

Hmm, how are we going to manage getting these boys into bed after all this sugar?!

Waiting eagerly for the fireworks!

The year 7's look to the sky as it is lit up by those crazy AH staff and their fireworks!

Jaime and Narciso enjoying the fireworks

All a bit loud for our young Rosie!

Everybody loves fireworks!

A Super Snowy Sunday!

We were all a bit surprised to open our eyes to a world of white on Sunday morning. What an unexpected yet wonderful wake-up call for everyone at All Hallow's! All rugged up, we headed outside to run around in the cold and experience the first snow of the season! A snow ball fight let loose as both students and residents opened fire on each other. I think it is safe to say the students might have outdone the staff (in our defence, we were slightly outnumbered). Frozen to the core, we headed back inside to warm up by the fire in St. Bede's before spending the afternoon painting, playing football, and causing mischief around the boarding house. A lovely weekend for our lovely boarders here at All Hallow's!

Teresa, Fabiola, and Miss Mitchell freezing in good spirits!

Mr Garcia joined us for a snow ball fight!

Look at those beautiful snow angels

Ahh, not at the camera!

Look ma, no gloves!

Sophie and Maria try out the snow board