Sandroyd School - Boarding News

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They say that winning a title is difficult, but retaining it is even harder, so it’s hats off to the boys of Colville who survived a strong challenge from Whightwick and Whetham to secure their second ‘Dorm Stars’ title of the year at the end of the Spring Term. However, all the boys deserved a big pat on the back for an excellent term where they made the boarding house a very pleasant place to live.

We now welcome Thomas, Edward, Teddy and Edmund into the fold and the glorious Sandroyd Summer Term kicks off this weekend with trips to Thorpe and Paultons Parks.

On top of all that we have managed to get into Dorset County Swimming and continue with Dorset County Hockey. Annie, Saffy and India all did very well to get into County Swimming and Annie came 7th in the County for her age at backstroke. We managed to get two girls and two boys to the National Swimming Championships this year. My aim was to get some boys going as the previous two years it had been just girls. Rufus and Freddie won a place along with Saffy and Annie so they are worthy of a mention in the girls wing news. Annie won 16th place for butterfly, Freddie won 13th place for front crawl, Rufus won 15th place for butterfly and Saffy won 8th place for backstroke. Because we are swimming mad we have chosen to rename one of our dorms after Rebecca Addlington.

Brrrr, it is very chilly at the moment and also very quiet. We have been at school now for one week and it has been busy, busy busy.

The girls have started netball and we are hoping for a really good season. Tomorrow we have a tournament at Bryanston. Swim training is going well and i have fingers and toes crossed that we will do well at the IAPS again this year. We have a little bit of a head start with Annie, Saffy and India winning a place in the Dorset County swim team. Many congratulations go to them. Saffy, India and Elfie have also started their sessions at Dorset County Hockey. They are very busy girls.

The Year 8 girls are doing last minute preparations towards scholarships. India is in the middle of her scholarships and Saffy and Elfie will start in two weeks. The Year 7 girls are busy preparing for their visits to potential next schools and there is a lot of interview practice going on.

Dance and ballet resumed yesterday and there is still a little bit of work needed towards exams next term.

We have found a new card game to play and it is called spoons, only we don't have any spoons so we are playing with forks!!. Mr Harris has yet to play this with us so doesn't know what is in store for him this term.

There is a lot to fit in this term but, as always, the girls are very happy and full of beans and there is a rumour of snow this weekend which will be very exciting.

As the term draws to an end it has to be said this has been a great term for all Year 8s. As a reward we all went bowling for the evening in Salisbury. The Senior Wing has had a busy run up to the end of term with lots going on. Several rugby matches have been played with varying degrees of success and big congratulations to Rufus and Jack for getting into Wessex rugby!

The year 8 hosted a rock and roll evening which was thoroughly enjoyed by Sandroyd pupils and St Mary's, Shaftesbury, girls, with some impressive moves being made by all in the end.

The last weekend activity included Zorbing on and off the water and for some Year 8s a very wet and muddy bike ride... see the photo below....They had to be hosed down before they entered school!

There have also been card evenings, quizzes on a Sunday night and the end of term will round off with Secret Santa and a Christmas Party.

All that is left to say is have a well deserved rest and a fantastic Christmas. Happy New Year to all and we look forward to seeing you all in 2012.

Its been competition finale time in the middle boarding house. Not for the X-factor or Strictly

though, but for the more hotly contested titles of 'Dorm Star' and the 'Year 7 Top Team'.

Our last weekend saw the final instalment of the Year 7 Top Team competition as we were joined with the Year 7 girls to complete a number of tasks. See the photos of our A-Z challenge and Egg Drop below (to follow later)!

Although the boys fought hard, the girls Xmas decorations scored so highly that they became the rightful winners. Better luck next time for our boys who now understand that they must take interior design more seriously.

The winners of the Dorm Stars competition claimed their prize too this week with a pizza and DVD night hosted by Mr and Mrs Hughes' in their flat. Colville were the lucky winners and they worked hard to earn their pepperoni and margherita prizes.

We wish the boys a wonderful holiday and look forward to seeing them in the New Year.

The junior boarding house has had a very successful term with lots of new boarders settling well. There have been lots of fun Saturday evenings and we all enjoyed the S Factor last week. Well done Algie on your well deserved win!

We all wish Miss Brown the very best of luck as she leaves us and thank her for her hard work. We will also miss the GAP students who have been fantastic.

Mr C-C and I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

It has been a marvellous, fun-packed term. The weather until recently has been warm and balmy keeping spirits high, although we have been waiting expectantly for the snow to fall and are quite disappointed it hasn’t.

We have all settled in really well and there are a lot of us this year. The Year 7 girls are really enjoying being seniors and love being in the senior wing.

We have improved our UNO skills although a lot of cheating is done by certain girls who will remain unnamed and poor Mr Harris has been severely beaten on a few occasions - I think he is scared to come up and see us now.

The swimmers are working hard with Annie, Saffy and India trying out for county swimming this year. I think they did really well but am still waiting for the results.

India and Elfie got into the Dorset under 13 hockey squad and Saffy managed to get into the Dorset under 14 hockey squad. Well done girls. Talking of hockey, we have had a really good season this year with all girls participating and doing very well indeed. It has been said that this has been our best season ever.

The Dance and Ballet lessons are going well. All the girls will be doing some sort of exams next May and they are working very hard. Some of these exams are very difficult and, because 95% of the girls are taking part this term, we have had to enrole the expertise of two other dance teachers. It is all lilac and sautees at the moment.

We are extremely sparkly and tinselly this year and in fact some of the top shops be aware our dorms look very beautiful and are expertly done. Last Sunday the Year 7 boys dropped by for a tour of the girls wing and were overwhelmed by the beauty of the place!!! And apparently we smell fresh and clean. Things are looking up!!!

On that note I want to wish you all a very happy Christmas and I look forward to seeing you all next year.

After a long summer the boarding house is alive with the sound of 54 boys making themselves at home and we’re very happy to welcome Anthony, Enrique, Juan, Charlie, Pablo, Jago, Guy, Lachlan and Tom to Sandroyd. Mrs Hughes has given the General’s Room a lick of paint, which also has a new HD TV connection, and the boys are busy plastering their dorms with posters, flags and photos.

The term began with the opening rounds of the hotly contested Year 7 best dorm competition, with all the Year 7 boys and girls competing to produce the best coat of arms for their dorms. They then sashayed down the catwalk in the ‘Fish and Chip Fashion Show.’ Scrutinised by the uber critical Year 6 judging panel, the girls created breathtakingly elegant outfits from strips of newspaper; the boys took a slightly wilder approach! According to Mrs Hughes, the girls took inspiration from Chanel, whereas the boys were more John Galliano (!?) Photographs available on request...

The first two weeks have flown by and it has been the busiest that I have ever had.

We welcome four new girls tothe Senior Wing. Two are from Spain, Lola and Irene, and there are two English girls, Mahalia and Zara.

We are very cosy in the Senior Wing this year with 17 full boarders but I must say that everyone has settled very quickly and seems really happy. We also welcome Lettuce and Twitcher who are beautiful black and white rabbits and belong to Mimi. This is their first time as full boarders too!

On the first weekend the Year 8 girls went surfing and made some serious moves on the surf boards which was very enjoyable. The Year 7 girls made some serious moves on the dance floor when a hip-hop instructor came – great fun.

Last weekend between the showers we picked blackberries and made loads of crumble which disappeared quickly as you can imagine.

We have started our chess tournament – Annie is the queen – and also our Uno tournament where there is some serious cheating going on. Culprits shall remain nameless!

The hockey tour to Devon was good fun with one match drawn and the other lost – but everyone enjoyed the experience. The younger girls woon their match last week and the seniors played well at the Canford Tournament. This weekend there was a Hunter Trial at Sandroyd in which Clara won her class. Jemima also won her class while Arabella and Poppy did extremely well to win rosettes.

All in all a good start to the term. We are all looking forward to the coming weeks which will be busy but are packed full of good things!

Saturday night in the senior wing saw the first Pancake evening. All year 8 boys and girls decamped to Mr and Mrs Brewer's house and prepared and cooked and added fillings to over 40 pancakes.

Everyone got a go at tossing and there were some impressive techniques as well as a few flops! Once all the pancakes had been devoured the boys and girls settled down to watch Inception.

A great time was had by all and full stomachs all round. Bring on the Giant Spot Light event in two weeks time.

This term is especially busy as we have welcomed many fresh-faced boarders to the house. Many are also new to the school and have had a wide variety of things to learn in the first two weeks. There is a lovely collection of junior boarders, both girls and boys who have started the term well. Those who are old hands at boarding have been very helpful to the newcomers, just guiding them around the maze of corridors up here. It is lovely to see familiar faces back and the atmosphere continues to be cheerful and friendly. Our furthest flung boarder this year is Freddie from Nigeria and he tells me that it is much colder here! Just wait for the snow, Freddie!! The girls in year three have taken the girls corner by storm and are busy decorating their room.

We have already been on a trip to Bristol Zoo organised by Mr Coulson. It was a great day out as you can see from the photos (see below). We look forward to many more this term.

Saturday nights continue to be a time for relaxing, eating popcorn (still great toffee sauce made by Mr C-C!) and watching a film. This comes as a welcome breather after a busy week. This week we are also making a bit of space for ice-cream and toppings.

Hopefully now the new boarders will be feeling a little more familiar with their surroundings and I look forward to a busy and productive term.

We have welcomed a new academic year and a new set of faces into the Senior Wing!

Although only a week in the boys have settled in well and are enjoying life in their new dorms and the senior wing environment.

There is a buzz of activity with the start of a new term; the excitement of socials, the physical and mental readiness for the new rugby season and of course the day to day routine of school.

The boys are preparing for the rugby tour for the 1st XV and we wish them every success. On Sunday Mr Brewer, Miss Peat and Miss Loraine took the senior pupils surfing at Boscombe Pier (see below) and enjoyed fantastic conditions with on-shore winds and three to four foot waves which were EXTREME and RADI-COOL (surf speak!).

The boys are all looking forward to a fun packed term especially at weekends with pancake parties, giant spotlight games and numerous discos and movie nights planned!

Mrs Brewer has her Sunday night activities underway, with the first being ‘bingo’ which the pupils enjoyed, especially the prizes!