Boarding at Hill House

Transcription

1 Boarding at Hill House

2 Welcome To The Hill House Family For the vast majority of students at Hill House this is the first time that they have boarded at school, and sometimes the first time they have been away from home. It is therefore a big step they are taking. Hill House, however, is an ideal introduction to boarding. As a small, coeducational boarding house it has an intimate, family feel about it. Students have the freedom to develop their independence and initiative, but they also have a lot of support and nurturing in the process The transition to boarding is a much easier one at Hill House because it is a step into another family albeit a much larger, extended family! In the evenings at Hill the students are involved in games and activities with the house team. Being located within the heart of the school the boys and girls are integrated into school life. What we want, and what we strive to achieve, is that all of the children in Hill House look on it not as just somewhere to stay, but somewhere where they feel confident, relaxed, and at ease in other words a home from home. We look forward to welcoming your son or daughter into the family. What Are The Benefits of Boarding? Children will be boarding at Hill House for a variety of reasons. In some cases their families may be based overseas for all or part of the year, as happens in the Forces or with those involved in missionary work. For these students it is preferable for them to have the stability that boarding provides as opposed to the disruption of short periods in other countries. Other students may have come to England from overseas because they want the opportunity to study in our education system. In most such cases the students board as the family remain overseas. Others may have opted to board because the family home is just too far away to make the daily journey to and from school. Or they may have decided that the benefits of the boarding experience is what they want for their son or daughter irrespective of the distance. So what are the benefits of boarding? I think that the first place to start is from the students perspective: it is fun! There is so much going on, both in terms of organised school activities, but also in terms of more casual opportunities for socialising the students have the opportunity to spend a far greater amount of time with their peers. Another benefit is that the students build up their own inner resources. They grow in independence, self reliance and self confidence as they learn to look after themselves and take the initiative. These are qualities that stand them in good stead as they go on to university or out into the world. David and Amanda Bowden hill@monkton.org.uk A further benefit of boarding is the flexibility that is possible. It is no longer a choice between boarding or day. Some students are full time boarders, others board 3, 4 or 5 nights a week. Then there is the occasional boarding a good number of Hill House students will board at least one evening, while many are more frequent visitors. Day pupils can also have 10 nights boarding during the year free of charge.

3 The School Day In the morning boarders leave Hill House by 7.30 am in order to go down to school for breakfast. Day pupils arrive by 8.20 am for registration. In the evening, day pupils will be collected from the quad between 5.30 pm and 6.15 pm (unless they are visiting Hill House that evening). The majority of the day is therefore spent down in the school, and tends to revolve around the Wills Block, which is the Hill House common room centre. There are changing rooms downstairs for girls and boys, and a large common room with TV, DVD, PS2 and table tennis next to the Houseparents office. The work and prep room is on the top floor. The day is divided into 6 lessons followed by a prep session and activity slots. The morning is entirely academic work, with 4 lessons separated by a 30 minute break. During morning break snacks are available in the dining room. After prep there is an activity session each week day, and students are asked to take part in at least three activities, although many will do more. During this time, students may leave if they are not involved in an activity, or go back to the boarding house to relax. For the day pupils the day ends here.sometimes. Day pupils are welcome to come up to Hill House to socialise with the boarders in the evening if they want to. In fact this is something we positively encourage.

4 At Home At Hill Hill House (or Reynella, as it is also known) has been beautifully refurbished and is superbly located within the heart of the school. It has 2 common rooms (on the ground floor) a games room which offers pool, table tennis and numerous board games (which are frequently used!) and a quiet room. There is also a large fully equipped kitchen. The boys are accommodated on the first floor and the girls on the second floor. On each floor there are several rooms which are all different, but each is a good size, with tall ceilings and there are some incredible views over the valley. The Houseparents are assisted nightly by a regular duty team. Their role is to have fun with the students then settle them into bed at the end of a busy day! Outside the house there is plenty of space for activity with lawns to the front, and a large field up behind the house and tennis courts close by. As for the rest, well, it is all about getting along with other people and learning to compromise and negotiate. So how do I spend my evenings in Hill House? Your evening begins at 5.15 pm after prep when you take part in the variety of activities provided. These range from 5 a side football, sugar crafting, eco green car design and many, many others. You then head for supper in the dining hall. After supper the organised evening activities begin. You drop your things in your room then head downstairs for a game of table tennis. Having beaten the house staff (quite heavily) at a game of pool you sprawl out on the sofa to chat with your friends or begin a game of Twister. In the lighter evenings, you ll head over to Four Acres for a game of tennis or rounders with the house staff. After all of that activity you ll be feeling peckish so you make yourself a few rounds of toast or a bowl of noodles and sit round the table in the kitchen for a chat. A DVD is now playing in the TV room, but you have seen it before so you opt to (if you are a boy) to go and play on your play station for a while or (if you are a girl) go and wash your hair, try on your new clothes and chat to the other girls upstairs. After that, it s soon time to shower, get into bed and unwind with a bit of quiet reading, before zzz.

5 Weekly Time Table Games and Activities Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Maths Art English Science Study PE 9.35 Study Art PHSE Maths Dance PE For all sports Hill House students combine with the year 7 & year 8 students from our Prep School. This has the advantage that those talented sportsmen and women can be part of a strong team picked from a large pool of boys or girls, while those less gifted can still find a suitable level at which to play competitive matches. BREAK English Science Maths Humanities Maths English French Humanities English ICT Maths Music Science Maths ICT ICT French BREAK 1.15 Science French Games DT French 1.55 French Humanities Games DT Science 2.40 Games English Games French Games The main games are as follows: Boys Girls Michaelmas Term Rugby Hockey Lent Term Hockey Netball Summer Term Cricket Tennis During the year the students also get the opportunity to row and to try sports such as football, basketball and athletics. The activity programme is very varied and we hope has something for everyone, and if what a student likes is not on the list we encourage them to suggest it and we ll see whether we can run it. Choices range from fencing to flying a kite, from mud technology to table tennis, and many things in between. BREAK 3.45 Games Science English Games 4.30 Prep Prep Prep Prep 5.15 Activity Activity Activity Activity SUPPER

6 Activities continued At the end of the year there is a Bluebird activity. This is a full week of outwardbound activities, for example caving, abseiling, assault course, archery, or canoeing. These activity days are great fun, but are also excellent team building exercises. Throughout the year we organise Sunday afternoon outings on a regular basis for the boarders, sometimes in conjunction with the boarders from our Prep School. Day pupils are welcome to join in these outings too, which again helps to integrate the two sets of students. Sometimes these outings can be as simple as an afternoon in Victoria Park, on other occasions we will go paintballing or ice skating. On Saturday evenings there are often activities in school, which the boarders are encouraged to attend. These could be junior discos, karaoke evenings or a quiz night. On other occasions we will play games up at Hill House: cards, board games, pool competitions, charades, wink murder and so on. Events A few words from our pupils: All of the teachers and all the people are very friendly, they will try and help you if you re ever stuck on something. The food here is really nice. Living at Hill House is really fun, playing pool and tennis, watching movies and never being left out of anything. There is always something to do! The girl s dormitory is always full of fun with clothes and photos all over. The girls are so lovely and caring, we all support each other and stick up for each other. Being a boarder at Hill House is one of my best decisions ever. Seeing your friends every day, having fun and getting to know everyone really well!! When I look back The best thing on our time at about being a Bude I remember boarder is that having a great time you live with your - we had so many friends and you first experiences make friends for and all of them life. are still so vivid. The trip to Bude was fun from start to finish, singing on the coach to sharing funny stories late at night. Year 8 and Year 7 became closer and we had lots of laughs together. There are a number of events that take place on an annual or biennial basis, such as House Drama and House Music competitions. These are terrific events that bring the whole house together. For those who are musically gifted, there are many opportunities in the school to perform in informal concerts and to join choirs, bands and orchestras. For those who enjoy performing in drama, there is a Junior Production each year in addition to the main school production, which gives the chance to play leading parts to younger children. One of the best things that we have done is when we did sports relief up at the Prep School when they dyed the swimming pool purple and we got to swim in it. It was so amazing swimming in a whole pool of purple water. We had the greatest time ever!! Once you get to Monkton you won t settle in at first but soon Monkton will be your second home.

7 What to Bring Do bring: A duvet and covers Books to read at night A teddy bear Casual clothes Toiletries School uniform MP3 player An Alarm Clock Some pocket money Don t Bring: Expensive equipment Too much money