Boarding

Autumn Term

We have enjoyed a fun-filled and action-packed term with the boarding community in fine fettle! The boarding house has had a great buzz about it, and it has been so good to see the children enjoying each other’s company and having lots of fun in the evenings after supper.

We have trialled a new system for clubs, which has been a great success. Instead of staff offering the same club each week, they have been given the flexibility to choose something they would like to offer on a more ‘ad-hoc’ basis. This has enabled them to offer a variety of activities to suit the mood and to respond to what the children would like to do. The aim is always to have some ‘sporty’ offering each night (for both juniors and seniors) as well as some quieter options to cater for those that may be feeling a little worn out after a long day. The children have enjoyed everything from wink murder to dodgeball and all sorts in between!

Girls’ boarding continues to grow in popularity and we are at a tipping point of being over-subscribed, with not enough beds for the number of girls who would like to board. It is therefore likely that we will accelerate our plans to move the girls’ accommodation to more spacious surroundings sooner than the original plan of September 2022. Watch this space for more details!

The autumn term is always a busy one in the boarding house and this term has been no exception. Since September, the Year 6, 7s and 8s have all enjoyed ‘Big Weekends’ and it was particularly fun to be able to welcome the girls from Downe House back to Elstree for a social. The excitement shown by the Year 8 children as they danced the night away really brought home how important these social events are and how much they were missed during lockdown.

We also had a splendid ‘Murder Mystery’ night with approximately 140 boarders and their families all working together to unmask the murder of one of our poor Gap students! There were dodgy accents and some seriously dubious acting skills on show, but bags of enthusiasm from both children and adults made for a really fun evening! Escape from Colditz was bigger and better than ever and it was so good to have nearly all the boarders in for the evening. Once again, Mr Prichard did a super job putting everything together despite a very chilly night, everyone had a great time and quite a few managed to sneak past the guards!

With Covid hard on our heels, it was great to be able to squeeze in our Boarders’ Christmas party just before the end of term and some early departures of the full-boarders. Lara and her team pulled out all the stops for a delicious meal with music and some (impromptu) dancing all adding to the festive feel!

IDH

The Lent Term is always a busy one in the Boarding House and this term was certainly no exception! The children all returned after the Christmas holiday full of energy and there was a real buzz about the place as everyone caught up after the break. It was wonderful to be able to operate normally again after some of the more draconian covid measures were lifted. Unfortunately, Downe House were not able to join us for the Year 7 Big Weekend, so we introduced a brandnew event for the children – an Elstree take on the popular ‘80’s gameshow, Crystal Maze. The children were all put into teams and then rushed round the campus completing various challenges against the clock, while trying not to get locked in (or out!) of the different rooms. There were physical, mental and skills-based challenges, with collaboration and teamwork a prerequisite for the most successful teams. It was lots of fun and a great new addition to the Big Weekend roster! We enjoyed a superb Boarders’ Family Race Night, with the children and parents proving remarkably adept at picking the winning horses and for once, the poor bookies certainly did not come out on top! Fuelled by lashings of orange squash, crisps and nibbles, the betting was fast and furious, and we all had a splendid time. The Year 8 Big Weekend was a black-tie affair and a James Bond Theme – a night at Casino Royale! We were delighted to welcome the Year 8 girls from Downe House who all looked very elegant in their party frocks, and caused quite a stir amongst the young bucks of the Elstree top year. Old friendships were renewed, and nascent ones developed over the roulette tables and delicious finger food provided by Lara and her team. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with much fun had by all. The term finished with our Boarders’ Easter party, with almost every boarder in attendance. Once again, Lara and the kitchen staff outdid themselves with a feast of delicious food for the boarders to enjoy. Some great music and lots of our traditional party games ensured the night was both memorable and fun, and a great way to celebrate a wonderful Lent Term. IDH

The Elstree Boarding House was in great spirits and full to the brim for the Summer Term! We have been blessed with some fine weather and the pool, cricket nets and outside pizza oven have seen plenty of use. Over the Easter holidays the bathrooms in Sanderson’s benefitted from a major overhaul with a brandnew shower room complete with 5 new shower cubicles, new loos and new sinks. Falmouth dorm was repurposed into a bright and cheery Common Room. The builders did a terrific job and feedback from the children has been very positive! Over the Summer holidays, the rest of Sanderson’s will be re-decorated and ‘freshened up’ so that the whole landing should be really smart for the start of the Autumn Term 2022. Big Weekends, Socials and Boarders’ Family events have been as popular and well attended as ever. Our Year 8s enjoyed a wonderful social with Downe House on a glorious summer’s evening. The ability and ease of adolescents aged 12 or 13 to mix with new people in new surroundings can be daunting, but any feelings of anxiety were soon forgotten as the children mingled and enjoyed the exciting activities laid on by Downe House. Bungee trampolining and crazy golf were huge hits, and hungry tummies were fuelled with a takeaway van of various chippy delights! It was lovely to see our children introducing themselves to others, and conversations soon blossomed in the glorious evening sunlight. Laughter could be heard throughout the evening, and we all returned to Elstree in high spirits. Year 6 had a Wildly (wet), Wacky weekend, with some last-minute improvisation required as heavy rain and a cold wind ruined plans for the pool party. However, the sun shone on Sunday morning for some bushcraft and survival skills delivered by a new company, Mud and Guts, who did a terrific job and ensured everyone had lots of fun. Miss Gluck and her team masterminded a wonderful Elstree Award Weekend for the Year 7s. If there was a category for ‘least sleep achieved in a tent’, the leader board would have been long and distinguished! However, everyone survived, bleary-eyed, to complete the walk on Sunday morning. Well done, all! Girls’ boarding continues to go from strength to strength, and we were heavily oversubscribed this term with only one dorm at our disposal. The girls’ boarding will move into Sanderson’s at the start of the Autumn Term 2022, with Years 4 to 6 moving to Uppers and Years 7 and 8 accommodated on the Lowers landing. This should create more space and we can look forward to giving the growing numbers of girls all the space they require! It was also lovely to welcome parents to the Girls’ Boarding Information evening where plans for the future of Girls’ boarding at Elstree were outlined, and everyone was given a tour of the boarding house and Sanderson’s wing. Iain Hepburn, Head of Boarding