The boarding bugle volume 5 issue 2 spring term 2015

V O L U M E 5 I S S U E 2 S p r i n g Te r m 2 0 1 5

Dates for the Diary 

Monday 20th April Boarders return from 12 noon



Tuesday 21st April School begins



8/9/10th May Exeat Weekend



Friday 22nd May Half Term begins at 15.30

Inside this Issue 

Middle House take on the challenge at Rock Reef Activity Centre



The Leweston Film Review



Chocolate Fun at the Chococo Factory



An update from Chaplaincy



Hello to our new Gappies!



Welcoming in the Year of the Sheep

Spring is in the Air!

Where does time fly? This term has gone by with such speed it is hard to imagine us packing in so many trips, activities and socials – but we have!

The Middle House boarding taster back in January was again excellently attended and the girls got a ‘taste’ of what life in Middle House would be like. On the Saturday the girls visited Rock Reef Activity Centre in Bournemouth throwing themselves (some literally) into all that was on offer.

The chocolate workshop at Chococo in Swanage proved to be the trip of the term, with girls making their own chocolates by the bucket load. Even the boarding staff got in on the action and came home with beautifully packaged hand-made choccies. A perfect gift for Mother’s Day I hear you cry – erm, I don’t think they lasted that long!

At this time of year the environment begins to awaken from its winter slumber and daffodils and crocuses begin to bring a little added colour to our lives. I know the girls are ready for the Easter holidays and all deserve a well-earned break. Exams loom ahead for many of our boarders in Years 11, 12 and 13 and this holiday will provide them with the time to revise and prepare thoroughly.

I wish you all a happy and relaxing Easter and look forward to welcoming the girls back for, what will hopefully be, a productive, sunny and fun summer term.

Lyndsay Fielding Director of Boarding and Senior House Housemistress

This term sees many changes not least the daylight hours extending minute by minute, and day by day, and as the term progresses the girls wake to sunrises and light skies and after school they can be seen racing around the gardens enjoying the beautiful grounds that Leweston has to offer. Our new gap student, Nicole Blakeway from South Africa, has acclimatised well to Dorset winter but she is also looking forward to a long summer to enjoy all things outdoors both here and on her European travels in the summer holidays. We have enjoyed many trips and visits; shopping, bowling and the cinema are all-time favourites but we have packed in chocolate making (sorry - chocolate eating!) at the Chococo Factory, ice-skating, zorbing and the amazing views from the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. Junior House always enters into the spirit of the school’s charitable events and the girls have enthusiastically dressed up for World Book Day and painted their nails red for Comic Relief. They relished letting their hair down (literally) and dancing the night away at the disco. With spring ‘springing’ and summer just around the corner we look forward to welcoming new boarders for the summer term and showing them the delights of Dorset and Leweston. Wishing you all a happy Easter!

Lorraine Roberts Junior House Housemistress

Middle House Are Climbing the Walls!

At the end of January, some of us in Year 8 went on a boarding taster with Middle House. I had never boarded before so was very excited!

We did lots of fun activities. On Friday night, we relaxed with some homemade face packs with different kinds for our skin types. Then we painted our nails in various colours. We even had caviar balls we could stick on, to give them a funny texture.

Then on Saturday we went to Bournemouth to go indoor climbing. It was much harder than it looked! There was a climbing frame that looked really easy— just like a beanstalk for really young children. But no one could climb it! Only Maisie and Sophia managed to do it so Miss Phipps promised them a McDonalds as a prize!

I really liked my boarding taster and being with my friends for the weekend. I had a great time!!

India Cole, Year 8

An Update from Miss Phipps Spring term has been action packed for those of us in Middle House; we started by scaling the height of Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower and bagging some bargains in the January sales. We then hosted our Middle House taster for Year 8 girls to explore life in yellow corridor and they ventured to the Rock Reef in Bournemouth where multitudes of climbing walls were at the girls’ disposal. We welcomed our new gap student, Miss McGuigan, to the boarding team who has kept the girls busy making Valentines cards, Mother’s Day cards and hosting many a movie night.

As a house we have made a special effort to celebrate all the boarders’ nationalities; the girls have decorated their dormitories with their national flags and we have celebrated Chinese New Year, Australia Day, Burns Night and St Patrick’s Day. We also entered into the spirit of World Book Day, which saw an eclectic range of characters eating breakfast that morning!

As the days are getting brighter and the girls are a little less grumpy in the morning, we end a busy term looking forward to what the summer has to bring; I certainly have my flip flops poised and ready!

Miss Gina Phipps, Middle House Housemistress

The Leweston Film Review

“Rubbish.

Johnny Depp was the best part and he was only in it for 5 seconds!”

Helena Banks, Year 8

“Quite good.

The ending was sad though.”

Aisha Kashim Bukar, Year 7

“BEST FILM EVER!!”

Tamara Mansur, Year 9 PAGE 2

Sweet Like Chocolate

Visiting Chococo was one of the best trips ever! Making chocolate how cool is that?! We did so many things at Chococo. First we had the opportunity to make our own chocolates and secondly we got to spend some time with the girls from Junior House, who turned out to be very nice. I think my favorite part from the trip was when we ate the chocolate—it was delicious!!! We should definitely go there more often!!

Belen Bert , Year 10

A Word From Chaplaincy “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

(Deuteronomy 6: 4-8) It is a joy to see the faith life of Leweston expressed within the ‘home from home’ of the boarding houses.

This is the Church present in the chats on the sofa, the questions over hot chocolate and the special moments when we set aside time at the end of the day to pray to God. The activities of chaplaincy in boarding have varied to suit the wishes of the different year groups. In Junior House we have enjoyed faith activities such as weaving crosses and visits to the chapel to pray the Stations of the Cross together. Whilst with the older year groups, it has been a pleasure to delve back into theology in discussions led by

their questions. We have made use of the YouCat (Youth Catechism) in exploring some of the key mysteries of life. In everything we try to grasp the spirit of prayer and to see our faith life as something that stays with us. Christ accompanies us when we leave the chapel, when lessons end, and when we relax in boarding at the end of the day.

Dr Cox Chaplaincy Co-ordinator

And Welcome to Miss Mireille Hello, I’m Miss Mireille. I have just arrived from Switzerland, where I was a hospital chaplain. Although I have only been here a few short weeks, you have already made me feel very welcome. I am looking forward to spending time with the boarders, especially helping the short stay girls in the summer term, as well as assisting Dr Cox with the chaplaincy. I am very happy to be here at Leweston.

Look out—there are new gaps about!

eway k a l B Miss

Hello, I am Miss Blakeway. I am a gap student from South Africa, from a city called Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal province. Durban is a coastal city and it is always warm, even during winter, so I am finding it a bit cold here! I can speak Afrikaans fluently and can say a few Zulu words and phrases. I do not keep wild animals as pets, but I do have three dogs and one house cat. My favourite hobbies are reading, drawing, cycling and horse riding. This is my first time in Europe and so far it has been an amazing experience. I have really enjoyed going on the outings with the girls and getting to see England.

G’day! My name is Miss McGuigan. I am from Australia, and live in the state of Queensland, 6 hours west of Brisbane. When I left, we were in the height of summer, so emerging into sub-zero temperatures when I arrived at Leweston was a bit of a shock! Nonetheless, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here so far and have well and truly settled into the busy boarding and school routines.

All of the staff, as well as the girls in Middle House, have welcomed me with open arms, and they are a pleasure to be with each day. 3 months have flown by already, so I know that the remainder of the year will go quickly, but I am definitely looking forward to the rest of my time here at Leweston.

Miss McG uigan

Chinese New Year Celebrations

On the first day of February, we had our Chinese New Year party held in the Theatre. There were 108 guests in attendance and we all very much enjoyed the evening.

We had planned this celebration a month before it was held. We designed invitation cards, drew up menus, organised games between meals, and most importantly, practised how to cook the dishes that we were going to serve on the day. With the help of Mrs Larkin, we managed to do all the preparations and were ready for the party.

On the day, we started the celebration with a New Year greetings video. After that, we served food to our guests. One of the dishes is called ‘Fortune Wraps’, which signifies being healthy and rich in the coming year.

Guests all had their meals accompanied by some joyful Chinese festival music, and this led us to our most exciting games sections. We had prepared three games, including the ‘chopstick challenge with marbles’, ‘Chinese Whisper’ and ‘The Collector’. All our guests participated and table 2 was the overall champion, so they were given a ‘lucky box’ which was prepared by us as a gift to the winning team.

Organising this event involves a lot of hard work for us but we think it is all worth it! And we are looking forward to the next New Year party!

Jeannie Lau, Year 12

Gaudere et bene facere

Gaudere et bene facere

Gaudere et bene facere