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

All Hallows Day!

Welcome back from what I'm sure was a greatly appreciated half-term for all! Today, the whole school celebrated All Hallows Day, a day dedicated to fun in celebration of the school's birthday. The party continued well into the evening, as the boarders made the most of the, not one, not two, but three bouncy castle obstacle courses in the gymnasium. There was some friendly competition (as well as a little bit of cheating) as the boarders raced against each other through the obstacles, which proved harder than it looked. After everyone was worn out (or rather, the residents who were asked to race against the children time and time again), we all headed into the dining room for night prayers and hot chocolates before heading upstairs to get ready for a good night's sleep.

Catching their breath at the top of the climb

Jumping over the large tube!

Our beautiful year 8's

Pre-race preparation!

Timothy enjoying his hot chocolate

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAIME! Jaime Q shared his birthday with the school today.

Jaime with his share of chocolate cake

Drink up boys!

Xanthe going Lady Gaga style

Sugar rush!

Partying hard in the dining room!

Kayaking, canoeing and bush craft in the woods!

We were lucky to have the sun out this weekend as the year 7/8's headed to the River Yeo for some canoeing and kayaking whilst the younger children headed up to the Forest School woods for some bush crafting. Heading onto the water, we lasted about half an hour before the first boat went over with, guess who, the party animal Spanish boys! They good-heartedly got back into their boat (with a bit of encouragement from the other boats) and we continued up the river. Meanwhile back at school, the younger boarders put on their wellies and headed up to Forest School for some muddy fun! They collected what dry wood they could find to light a fire to heat up their 'billy' (Aussie terminology put into good use here) and put up pieces of tarp to make themselves a cover. Jaime even got the wonderful, if not messy, opportunity to gut a fish!

Quick note: some of you may (or may not) be wondering why there wasn't a blog posted about our Thursday night activity this week. Explanation: the boarders are putting together a little surprise that will be (fingers crossed) ready for you to see by the end of the term. So hold tight and all will be revealed. :)

Cold and a little wet!

Bus trip back to school

Freddie and Jaime collecting firewood

Birthday girl, Francesca

Surprise!

Lucia, Teresa, Cassia, and Hero up in the woods

Songs around the campfire?

Jaime getting his hands dirty gutting a fish...yum!

Tank Museum

This Sunday gone, the boarders discovered the wonders of tanks and the army on their trip to the tank museum. Embracing the opportunity of the trip, the children dressed up as soldiers and made their way around the museum, jumping in and out of tanks and crawling through the trenches. Many interesting facts were learnt about jobs involving the tanks and life in the army. An eye-opening day of fun for all! What a great end to the week! :)

Theresa and Sophia discussing tactics

Phillip ready for action!

Narcisso and Oskar

Seb bracing for loud noises!

Spot the odd one out?!

Fabiola next to a tank

Sophie and Lucy being soldiers

Soldiers, Fabiola and Georgia

Oskar heading into a tank

Our year 7 soldiers!

Red or Black

A television-inspired "Red or Black?" was the side-splitting entertainment for our boarders on Thursday night. The house-parents were put under pressure with many...interesting to say the least...challenges, while the children voted on who would win. There were laughs all 'round as we watched Mr Garcia battle Mr Northcott in press-ups, Mr Opie and Mr Northcott try to eat a dry weet-a-bix, Miss Kerr and Mr Callow attempting to juggle and many more hilarious battles. The challenges continued on Friday as Mr Callow and Mr Zorrilla hobbled around the school, a result of the night's 90 degree wall sit challenge. Overall a night full of laughter and fun and even some sweets for the winning bets.

Bets, bets, place your bets!

Our cool boys, Freddie, Gregor, and Oskar.

Thumbs up! :)

Those cheeky year 7 girls

Run-down of the rules...Rule 1: laughing compulsory!

Mr Zorrilla showing off his Mexican football skills

Mr Opie takes on the Mexican with his English football skills

All eyes glued to the competitors

Testing Mr Callow's juggling skills

Dry weet-a-bix eating...yummy!