Work, Rest and Play for the Boarding House

Boarding at Stoke College is wonderful way to study, stay and have fun with friends in our home-from-home boarding houses.

Spring Term in the Stoke Boarding Houses has seen an activity-packed programme of fun for the boarders’ break times. We have welcomed new students to the boarding house, both international and flexi- boarders - all exciting additions to our happy home-from-home. Here we look at some of the activities enjoyed by our boarders, this term.

Laser tag: Hunger Games - may the odds be ever in your favour.

For a trip in January, the boarders engaged in a Laser Tag combat. The game was dominated by our top two scorers, Oscar and Saffron, leaving the other boarders little choice but to respond. In the subsequent round, Amir launched himself into action without hesitation and began sniping everyone. By the end of the round, Saffron followed Katniss and Rue’s Hunger Games strategy and had joined forces with someone from another party.

Chinese New Year - xīnnián kuàilè

An informative assembly taken by our Chinese boarders revealed that in Chinese culture, the Rabbit is a symbol of longevity, peace and prosperity. People born in the Year of the

Rabbits are believed to be vigilant, witty, quick-minded and ingenious. We were informed how Chinese New Year is celebrated across China with the different traditions across the country. Later that evening, we all enjoyed a delicious Chinese banquet prepared by our wonderful catering team to welcome in the year of the Rabbit. With very full plates and some students having seconds and thirds we celebrated in style and toasted in the new year with traditional greetings. An impromptu game of Chinese whispers had hilarious results and despite 3 attempts we were unsuccessful in being able to repeat the initial phrase. A lovely evening of good food, good company and good conversation.

Crotchet - A stitch in time.

On Saturday afternoon in February Delia, Annie & Oscar all had a go at learning how to crochet. With a ball of yarn each and a crochet hook we used a tutorial from BellaCoco on YouTube to have a go at making granny squares. This proved a lot trickier than expected as it required a couple of different stitches but everyone did really well at giving it a go! Everyone got the hang of the chain stitch really quickly and so we altered our plans and all crocheted some little bracelets to take away as a keepsake of having a go at a new skill.

Assembly - How do you eat yours?

The boarders revealed their guilty pleasures in the creme egg challenge - all to be eggspertly character analysed by Professor Tarzi! Patrick wants to savour and enjoy his egg with a quick bite of the top off the egg and then sophisticated spooning to remove the luscious centre. Keziah could not decide on one method, so juggling eggs to make a decision before opting for an omelette after an unfortunate mishap of an eggxplosive nature! Mikhail attempted a challenge for the fastest consumption of a whole creme egg. Despite his eggceptional time of 35.6 seconds -it was an unsuccessful result and Mikhail is all set for a future attempt.

shots right down the centre of lane. Mikhail was far from deterred! Despite his awkward but dare I say revolutionary form, he certainly managed to get his fair share of high scoring shots in. Special mention goes to Amir, who took on the role of moral support after missing the pins on most of his attempts. At the end of the day, Mikhail pulled through winning the first game. Followed by Patrick and Oscar being able to walk home with a joint first in the second game.

Tuesday Teatimes

Every Tuesday the boarding family gathers round the communal table to break bread… and board games. It’s a case of choose your fighter, who would you like to solve a murder with? Who do you genuinely believe is the snake in your midst, because it can’t be the mongoose of truth. It’s almost Shakespearean in its betrayal, and equally as dramatic. Can you look the person next to you in the eye once you’ve made them pick up 15 cards with no blocks? These are the philosophical questions that plague us, at what point is it acceptable to leave your humanity behind to win a game of uno?

Bowling Battle

On Saturday the 11th, the weekend boarders headed to Cambridge with the attempt to battle it out in a competitive game of ten pin bowling. Despite more than half of the participants being completely new to the sport, everyone was eager to determine who the champion will be. The day out was composed of two separate games, with Patrick setting the pace with consistency in the first few shots. It was not too long after however, when Oscar found his swing, and started blitzing

What’s that? Is it an Owl? Is in a penguin? No, it’s a Stoke Stone!

Some of our boarders and staff having been demonstrating their creative side by painting stones and hiding them around the Stoke College grounds. Everyone worked really hard on their designs, and we were really impressed with the finished results, there is a wide range of designs from abstract patterns to animals and even items of food! So, keep your eyes peeled around campus for these beautifully decorated stones. If you find one, please take a photo and then hide it again somewhere else for someone else to find. If you really can’t resist taking it home and keeping it then have a go at creating a stone of your own to replace it, Mrs Beatham-McDonald has stones and paints in her room if you want to go and create one during lunchtime.