Woodhouse Grove Boarding News Summer Term 1 2024

BOARDING NEWS

Half Termly Boarding Newsletter of Woodhouse

Grove School

Culture Week at the Grove

An amazing start to this term with our first ever culture week organised by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. It was a huge success with a lot of engagement from both pupils and staff wanting to celebrate their place of origin.

In particular, this was a chance for our boarders to celebrate their place of origin. They got involved with baking cakes for the bake sale, and did an excellent job helping other pupils and staff write their names in Mandarin. There was a lot of excitement around our Bollywood dancing on Wednesday and a cultural fashion show on Thursday which celebrated the many nations represented at The Grove and their cultural dress. Pupils and staff also took the opportunity to mark their place of origin on a

This was a really well supported event which created a real buzz around school and started interesting conversations about heritage and culture.

Year 13 Leavers

Year 11 Boarders

Friday 10th May was officially our Year 13 Leavers’ last day of school (although obviously they will board with us until their exams finish or the leavers weekend). They gathered for their last assembly in Chapel, had photos in front of school and then had a specially chosen meal in the Hastings-Long Gallery!

Two of our Boarders, Seb and Alfie, took part in the Year 13 Leavers’ netball girls against rugby boys traditional netball match! Experience paid off and the Netballers took the win!

Leavers Soiree

And not forgetting our Year 11 GCSE pupils. Our Millers girls decorated their shirts beautifully as they will not need uniform in Sixth Form where they wear business wear. We're so proud of how hard they are working in the run

A lovely evening of performances at the 2024 Leavers' Soirée covering Faure, Delibes, Einaudi, The Cranberries, White Stripes and other favourites. Our musical boarders are part of a talented bunch of students.

Golf News

On Monday, 3 of our pupils represented the school in the Yorkshire School's Golf Team Final. This was after qualifying as

Immersion Programme

This term we said goodbye to our six Thai immersion students after 3 fantastic weeks at Woodhouse Grove School. During that time they had an immeasurable effect on the boarding community, and hopefully, the feeling is mutual. We hope to see them again soon.

They visited Alton Towers Theme Park with our full-time boarders, enjoying all the big rides whilst dodging the rain. They also had a lovely day in Scarborough, wandering along the beach and enjoying fish and chips.

Asian Promotional Trip

Our Head of Boarding, Mr King is currently on a two-week journey visiting Hong Kong, China and Thailand promoting Woodhouse Grove School to prospective families, agents, and school partners.

He was delighted to make new contacts and to meet families individually, and through a boarding fair as well as managing a bit of sightseeing, and being introduced to local culture and food.

He enjoyed learning about the current student recruitment climate in Hong Kong, before moving on to Zhengzhou where he met with current parents who hosted an amazing banquet for him and showed him the city highlights.

Mr King was able to showcase all that Woodhouse Grove has to offer at a seminar for prospective families and then spoke with current parents who gave excellent feedback about their children's experiences at school so far.

Mr King then visited schools in Zhengzhou and Kaifeng where he witnessed truly amazing student performances, met students, played table-tennis, and discussed potential educational partnerships with staff.

Chess Competition

Our U13 team and Senior chess teams recently competed in the second stage of a local tournament. The U13s played bravely against mainly experienced older students— with many standout results. The senior team also had an incredible tournament placing 2nd after the first part of the tournament with zero losses although a couple of defeats in the second stage pushed them further down the rankings.

Cricket News

Congratulations to Brodwell House boarder, Adam, who recently scored another 50 during his innings against Harrogate Grammar School.

This term our 1st XI enjoyed a brilliant win against Bradford Grammar School and both our boys' and girls' 1st XI teams progressed in their national cup fixtures with huge wins over Huddersfield New College and St Peters, York.

Prefects Bowling Trip

Our U15 girls also progressed in the cup with a victory over Queen Ethelburga's.

New Covered Bolt Courts

Last weekend, Mr Dobson took his Brodwell House Prefects out for a bowling trip, to say

We are delighted that our Bolt Courts (named after a former teacher) for both tennis and netball are now fully operational and look fantastic. This is another example that highlights our continued commitment to investing in our school.