Westwood House Blog

A warm welcome to all the new boarders and their families to the Westwood House Blog. It will hopefully give all readers a flavour of life in the House and it will mainly present Westwood boarders' weekends, which are characterised by lots of fun! Typically a good number of boarders are involved in matches against rival schools, spend some time in the company of prefects in town, enjoy some great meals, watch a film and eat pizza on a Saturday. On Sundays we usually play some games in the sports hall, devour a delish brunch (a typical British Fried Breakfast with all the trimmings) and then head off somewhere on a trip for the afternoon. I was delighted that Ivan James, Rajul and Unnav were involved in rugby matches against KES, Bath. The Year 7 girls attended hockey practice as shown here by Charlotte, Kimberley, Sarah and Supriya.

The boarders returned safely from time in town having been shown the approved route by Mr Duke and accompanied by prefects, James and Davida. Noelina in her role as Captain of Boarding chose last night's film - Ready Player One, which seemed to be a popular choice.

Sunday's trip was outdoor laser tag with unlimited lives and authentic looking weapons. Team Bravo narrowly beat Team Alpha. The two hours in the fresh air required all boarders to demonstrate 'stealth' and there was also a lot of laughter with it.

After a very thorough briefing by the owner, Brian. The various games with different terrains, obstacles and scenarios took place. It was great to see them gadget free for a few hours!

All very attentive!

About to be armed!

Check us out!

Ready for action!

Armed and dangerous!

Let the games commence!

Snippers in position!

You do not have time to pose, Jacqueline!

Praeasha exhibiting real technique!

Trees provide cover!

Katya takes aim!

James looking for the enemy!

Kezzy and Ayomikun in the trenches!

Sarafina looking deadly!

Supriya reloading!

A cessation in the fighting!

The final poses post fighting!

The final part of any weekend is school shoe cleaning on the terrace! Tidyiong the dormitories and getting prep done is the aim of every Sunday evening. Fortunately prefects Jamie and Emily were on hand. The boarders had a great time this weekend and fell asleep quickly. Mrs Duke and I have really enjoyed our first weekend on duty with Westwood, 2018-19 and Mrs Curtis and Mr Thatcher take over the story next week! Best wishes from Bath.

h

Everybody has a once upon a time; everybody deserves for their life to be a fairy-tale; everybody should have their happily ever after. This final blog entry is being written after a long weekend that, in many ways, brings this stage of the fairy-tale journey to a close, particularly for our Year 7 and 8 leavers.

Given the significance of this occasion - which included some final farewells - it was right that the house came together to celebrate with a weekend spent camping on the Upper. We enjoyed: tent assemblage, a BBQ supper, sporting events, games, marshmallows around the campfire, spending time together, a final farewell speech and gift presentations and pizzas on the day after. This story, from start to finish, is best spoken through pictures:

Prior to departure.

A simply glorious Saturday.

Preparing for the festivities!

Welcome guests enjoy the occasion.

Our boarders enjoyed Fancy Dress Racing,...

...the Skittle Challenge,


...and Welly Wanging!

Whether relaxing or playing, everyone was embracing the spirit of the occasion...

Last Call: "All aboard the Mystery Tour Bus attraction!"

"Yikes, I just can't miss a mystery attraction; ruuuuunnnnn!"

Evening falls...

Then came the final farewell speech, which included a poem of in-jokes and reflections for our leavers (below):

Connie’s very house-proud with a love for swimming and styling,

Dasha is The Goat; her charisma is beguiling,

Dawn is strong and forthright, and enjoys her art and craft,

Isabella’s obsessed with Corgis, but also enjoys her Maths.

Ishika is competitive with a simply lovely spirit,

Olivia’s a warrior; her love of popcorn has no limit,

Rachel loves her books and would read from dusk till dawn,

Sasha is style embodied but the Wi-Fi makes her forlorn.

Sophie loves her reading and her Ed Sheeran highs,

And Yuma is a Unicorn, who at Hogwarts would simply thrive.

So to the leaving girls of Westwood, a happy future is foresworn;

We wish you all the best as next year’s journey is born.

And to the boys we must now turn: the embodiment of youth,

Cared for by each and every one of us, who recognize this truth.

Dominic is happiness and enjoys his football too,

Kenneth delights in sporty extremes whilst mastering the art of Kung-Fu.

Marcus likes to walk around armed with guns and handcuffs,

Perry is a quiet sort, loves gaming and to jump stuff.

Rob loves his Rugby and is simply too cool for school,

Tom loves his Football and doesn’t suffer fools,

Vic is the King – Victorious is his name,

Vlad is the moral sort; Tennis is his game!

Will has a mystery girlfriend, who it is no-one HoHos,

And Will is our passionate cricketer, who late to breakfast goes.

So now that it is written, our poem must come to an end,

And now we welcome some final words, to which our ears must bend:

At the close of the presentation, our leavers were presented with a farewell card and cupcake, before everyone enjoyed Unicorn biscuits, both courtesy of Mrs.Thatcher's time and efforts, with some unbeknownst help from our Year 7 ladies!

A final farewell, to the day and to the occasion.

Our boarders were grateful that Papa Johns delivered the following afternoon!

We conclude Episode VI: A Final Farewell, and the year, with the closing sentiments delivered in our speech yesterday evening. This, although written for our leavers, also extends to all of our readers who have followed the blog with devotion this year:

"Thank you everyone – but especially our leavers - for bringing so much to Westwood. It has been our joy, even through challenging times...to be your houseparents. Tonight is about celebrating everybody in Westwood, but in particular our leavers, as we wish them well for next year. We finish our speech with some words for all us to think about. In the 13^th century, there lived a famous theologian and philosopher called Meister Eckhart who said this:

“And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of new beginnings.”

What does he invite us to think about? This: Your new beginnings start next year; it is a real chance to embrace something new and exciting, unleashing some magic along the way. Whether you are leaving or staying, please do this! And as you find yourself doing so, we wish you every happiness and will always be there for you – it’s been great. Thank you."