Boarding snippets from the Christmas term
Our boarders had a great term with brilliant evening boarding activities, thanks to our Head of Enrichment Mr Cousens, a range of weekend activities for our full-time boarders and , of course, the term culminated with a lot of festive fun. We said a sad farewell to two of our Spanish full time boarders, who joined us for a term from Madrid.
Learn more about boarding at Westbourne House School.
Goodbye Smiths and Christmas disco
Our Boarders’ Christmas Disco was very special as the boarders said a fond farewell to our much-loved Houseparents, Kevin and Clare Smith, who are not leaving the school but moving to a new home locally after a 10 years of living in Pear Tree Lodge and looking after Westbourne's boarders.
Mr and Mrs Smith are known for being a wonderful houseparents. Loving, kind and supportive, they make Pear Tree feel like a home from home. The Smiths are also known for their brilliant Pear Tree competitions and hilarious games. The Year 8 boarders will miss them and their lovely dog, Lozi.
A special mention for Mr Smith, who has been a teacher at Westbourne for 45 years and has lived at the school for a total of 35 years. It's hard to imagine boarding life without him! As one Old Westbournian commented: "He's the G.O.A.T [Greatest Of All Time]"!
Mr Barker said: “A big thank you from all the boarders who have been with you, particularly over the last 10 years. The children have loved being with you in that time, because you are the most caring and dedicated of people, who have always had their best interests at heart.”
Thanks to Mr Fisher, Mr Gray, Mr Stewart and all the team for a brilliant disco night of laughter, fun and exceptional dancing from our boarders. Our fun-loving Gappers lead the Macarena, Mr Smith was “our man after midnight” and DJ Stewart on the decks – all in all, a wonderful Westbourne night!
Year 8 boarders end of term treat - bowling
Fun at the Zoo
Boarding weekends are always a highlight and recently houseparents Mr and Mrs Smith took our boarders to Drusilla’s Park.
Mrs Smith said: “What I love about taking our boarders to this particular zoo is that the children get so close to the animals, plus there’s rides and all sorts of fun to be had. The boarders held lorikeets, which went down well with everyone, went into an enclosure with lemurs at feeding time, braved a bat cave and got very close to sweet sloths.”
There was something for everyone, and throughout the trip, the children filled in their Olympic booklet, which contains a series of challenges – can you hang longer than a monkey? Who can shout the loudest, how high can you climb on a pole?
A special mention to Claudia who won the monkey challenge having hung like a monkey for over two minutes!
“It was a good thing we had a relaxing Saturday evening after activities because it was a brilliant and busy day on Sunday!” Mrs Smith added.
Boarders’ Bonfire Night!
Carrying the traditional flaming torches, our senior boarders led their patrol out, before setting the bonfire alight.
As it blazed brightly, fireworks lit the sky and sparklers wrote secret messages in the dark! There was no doubt that our boarders absolutely loved it. We were delighted to share the evening with parents of our boarders and our Year 8 families.
Thank you to the fireworks team of Mr Knight, Mr Mepham, Mr Gray and Mr Kenton. Huge thanks to the catering team and Cathy for the delicious soup and hot chocolate. A big cheer too for Mr Knight who built the fire and bravely climbed to the top to tie up the fish effigy!
A huge thank you too to our parents, who donated towards the fireworks display.
