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!

Quiz Night!

You may notice that the title of this post and the pictures below do not exactly coincide. It's a long story....well actually, it's not really! We got so absorbed in our 'all-boarders' quiz night last night, that we forgot to bring the camera out for some fantastic team work photos. But what was missed by the camera can be summarised in a few short words; clever, funny, loud and fun fun FUN! Although I was concerned by some of the more creative answers we had, the teams worked well together and came up with some great answers, some earning bonus points for the extra information that I, myself didn't even know! After 10 rounds of questions, plus the picture round, the score was tallied and our winners were rewarded with a big box of chocolates to wrap up the evening.

We know photos are loved by one and all, so to make up for the lack of photos from last night, we decided to bring out the camera at breakfast this morning. As you can see below, the catering staff have many hungry children to keep well fed. Dig in, everyone!

Breakfast with the year 7 girls

Young Jaime enjoying his morning start

Smiling Sofia

Narciso is off to eat his weet-a-bix

Year 7 boys enjoying their breakfast

Is that a moose I see in our dining room?!?

Water Bubbles and Bush Crafting!

Our sunny Saturday gave us good hope for a sunny Sunday. However, as usual the English weather was having a giggle and a pleasant day turned into a shivering shocker (alliteration courtesy of Mr Northcott)! Ironically, the younger children were drier in the swimming pool than the year 7 and 8's were up in the forest. "How is this possible?" you may ask. Well, it is very possible due to the 'amazingness' (yes, I had to make up a word to explain how excellent these are) of zorb balls. I now know how hamsters feel and why they love rolling around in their little plastic balls all day long! The children slipped into the ball, where upon it was then blown up with air. They were let loose in the school pool to run, jump, flip, and go crazy! Meanwhile, the year 7 and 8's battled the cold and rain up in Forest School making shelters, preparing fish, and trying to keep warm near the fire. After a few not-so-stable shelter attempts, the children got the hang of building shelters that held and kept them dry. Mr Luke Freely demonstrated how to scale a fish in order to prepare it for a meal (although it was agreed by all that the fish was better off in the bin than in our stomachs after the treatment it had been given). So despite the weather, I can confidently say that it was an "ab-zorbing" weekend full of both dry and wet fun!

Rockstar Freddie!

Big bubbles!

Hampster Gregor

Balancing...

Run, run, run...

Relaxing in a bubble!

Bouncing off each other!

Brrr!

Camouflaging in the forest

Hiding from the rain under our little shelter

Time to cook the fish, Luke!

Keeping warm by the fire!

The girls+Rupert's shelter!

Fun undercover! 

Tatianna and her bedroom friends