Bongiorno Italia!
Mr Coates, Mrs Conway and the boarders have extended a very big welcome to our newest intake Italian visitors. Marcelo and Pietro arrived on Saturday afternoon, and were swiftly whisked off the bowling alley to get to know everyone. On Sunday they enjoyed a visit to York and a trip to The Chocolate Story followed by a chilled afternoon playing tennis and finding their way around school with Michael and Tim. They are very much looking forward to everything that Cundall has to offer and the new friends that they are sure to make!
Arrivederci Amici!
Despite their excellent grasp of the English, our Italian visitors were perhaps far too polite to tell us what three cosmopolitan teenagers from Milan really made spending a night under canvas in the Yorkshire Dales, but we are fairly sure the rest of their two week stay at Cundall surpassed all their expectations. In particular they would like to extend a very hearty ‘grazie’ to Mrs Keren Watkins for giving them a tour of RAF Linton-on-Ouse, Mr Richard Ingilby for showing them around Ripley Castle, to Mrs Calvert for teaching them to make authentic Yorkshire Fat Rascals, Mrs Hartley for helping them rustle up Yorkshire Rhubarb crumble and Yorkshire Puddings, to the staff who gave them a glimpse of our glorious countryside (and a spot of retail therapy) and to the Telfer, Briggs, Burnett and Edgar families who welcomed them into their homes over the exeat weekend. The exercise has proved a huge success, with many pupils benefiting greatly from the cultural experience.
Boarding House celebrates glowing inspection report
Following our recent intermediate inspection of the Boarding House by the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate, we are delighted to announce the publication of their report. The ISI is the body approved by the Secretary of State for the purpose of inspecting schools belonging to the Independent Schools Council (ISC) Associations; part of their remit is to conduct inspections of boarding welfare from an educational perspective. The inspectors conducted formal interviews with boarders, observed extra-curricular activities within the Boarding House, and studied questionnaires completed by boarding pupils and their parents. The full report is available here: ISI Boarding Inspection Report
Getting to know you…
The weekend boarders offered a very warm Cundall welcome to Andrea, Francesco, Stephano and Chiara from Italia! The three boys and one girl are on a two week language immersion trip to Cundall and have a wonderful programme of activities ahead of them, starting with an action packed weekend in the boarding house. They had fun bowling on Saturday night before cheering Mrs Conway across the line on her Cancer charity run on Sunday. This was followed by a visit to the Chocolate story in York before returning to the boarding house to recount their adventures to their families back in Italy via Skype.
The Boarders’ Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
The boarders’ Mad Hatter’s tea party started off calmly with a game of croquet on the front lawn and a fill the tea pot race. Afterwards they sat down to a spread worthy of the Mad Hatters table, put on by April and Linda. Then the madness began with a carousel of activities, which included- pin the grin on the Cheshire cat, playing card house building and crawl through the rabbit hole to find the tiny keys (which I think there still some left in the library, finders keepers!). The best team in the team activities were the Upper School, very suprising they could fit through the rabbit’s hole the quickest (well a polytunnel from Pre-Prep!) and the best playing card builder was Poppy Allister. The evening was finished off with decorate your own cupcake- some very psychedelic designs were being produced. A great night was had with some day pupils looking in and overheard comments from other day pupils that they wanted to start boarding.
Work, work – play!
It’s work, work, work in the Boarding house! Never have the older pupils been so keen to knuckle down to their studies than with their new desk lamps on their personal desks in their dorms. Meaning there’s plenty of room for the younger boarders to spread themselves out along the tables in the Library during evening prep sessions. With preps out of the way for the evening, there’s always time for fun and games, be it parlour games in the Boarders’ Common Room or something more energetic in the gym.
Christmas treat for the Boarders
The boarders’ winter wonderland Sunday afternoon trip was a great success. The afternoon started with a bit of retail therapy followed by fun on the ice skating rink. This was backed up with a very welcome hot chocolate and cookie and ended with a few thrilling rides on the funfair. Tired but happy the Boarders arrived back at the house for a great supper and an evening chilling in front of the TV. On Monday night the Boarding House was abuzz with preparations for the Festive High Tea. All the boarders donned their smartest outfits to sit down for a very special supper prepared by April and Sylvia. With beautifully decorated tables, crackers, music and even a special Christmas punch, the dining room looked quite magical as the children took their places for their own special Christmas celebration to mark the end of term and the start of the Christmas countdown.