Boarding Newsletter Autumn 2019

Cobham Hall Boarding News: Autumn half term 2019 Welcome! The Autumn Half Term Newsletter.

By Amelie Strohmeyer and Lisa Frey, Gap Assistants

As we begin a new academic year we would like to declare a warm welcome to both our new and returning Boarders, as well as our new Housemistress Miss Tomlin, our returning Housemistress Miss Shipton and also our new Gap Housemistresses Miss Strohmeyer and Miss Frey. We wish everyone the best of luck for the upcoming year. We hope you all enjoy your time with us at Cobham Hall!

Our Boarders have been extra busy juggling school, boarding life, new friends and lots of fun trips and activities. So far this term we have been tobogganing, dined out at local restaurants, visited the beautiful city Canterbury and even nominated our new Heads of House. Our girls have well and truly earned their Half Term holiday!

Keep on scrolling to see all the great photos we captured so far this term. Make sure to keep-up-to-date with life in Boarding by following us on Twitter @CobhamBoarding

Main Hall, Brooke House & Bligh House

Bligh Head of House My name is Isis and this is my second year being Head of Bligh House. We’ve already had one Head of House meeting with Mrs. Barrett and I can already feel progress being made. Last year my main focus was just buying small but necessary appliances for the House such as: dish towels, a paper towel rack, and dish and bottle scrubbers.

This year my aim is to frequently go around the House and ask each individual girl what they would like to improve about the House and ask their opinions on some of the other suggestions that people have made. I personally think this method might work more instead of raising your hand in front of everyone in a House Meeting because not everyone has to know what you agree and disagree about in the House. Also, oneon-one communication with the girls is another way to get to know each one of them so that the Housemistresses and I can try and plan an event that ALL of the girls would like (which believe it or not is very hard to do). We’ve already planned to have a Thanksgiving Dinner in Bligh for all the girls. Together the House would help prepare dinner (not just the Housemistresses) and enjoy it afterwards, this is a great way for the girls to bond and try something new. I know for sure that this will be a great year for Bligh House.

Isis, Year 10.

Main Hall Head of House This year I was elected to be Head of House for Year 11 Main Hall Boarding. I was incredibly happy to be elected as I found it a huge honour for my Boarding mates to have enough faith in me to put me in this position. This year I hope to bring about a real change to Boarding and listen to the voice of my peers in order to better Boarding for all of us. The fact we have regular meetings with Mrs Barrett where we can feedback our ideas and concerns is really beneficial and I hope to take full advantage of this opportunity in this coming year.

Dami, Year 11.

Brooke Head of House Being Head of Brooke House is a really exciting role for me. As I joined Cobham Hall in Year 12 I never thought I could be bold enough to step up for the role as Head of House but when I did I was proud of myself and knew that I would do a great job with the support from our Housemistresses and my fellow Boarders.

This role is teaching me many things and it is a great ongoing experience.

Gilian, Year 13.

Ikea & Lakeside

During our first weekend Boarding at Cobham Hall we took a Sunday trip to Lakeside and Ikea. This was very nice because we were able to pick out decorations and items we needed for our rooms. My friends and I all got fairy lights and L.E.D lights to hang in our room. At Lakeside, the mall, we had many hours to walk around by ourselves, we went into multiple different stores including Pound Land to get sweets! I really enjoyed the trip and I think my friends did too.

Cora, Year 10.

Tobogganing

The other day we went tobogganing. It was really fun because you controlled the speed of the vehicle and it was in the middle of the woods so you could see the landscape and we went in the evening so in one of the last rides you could see the sunset. We rode five or seven times so we had lots of fun. I recommend it a lot, it was a beautiful time that I spent with my friends and we had a lot of great moments. I loved that experience and I will love to repeat it again.

Mercedes, Year 9.

Creams

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Christine in Brooke; Cristina, Moyo, Dilara, Sophia and Anjola in Bligh; and Blanca in Main Hall.

We hope you enjoyed your special day and ate lots of yummy cake!

Paintballing Paintballing was a fun but painful experience.The group was divided into two teams, red and blue. We had many good compeitions against each other, like capture the flag, death mode, etc.

All together it was a fun experience, I would recommend everyone to have a go.

Nabeelah, Year 8.

Simply Italian Today we went to an Italian restaurant in Rochester. We played games on the way there and had a great time in the restaurant. I had Pasta Bolognese and an ice cream. I hope we can go again sometime, because it was so fun!

Vanesa, Year 10.

Bowling Last week we went to a bowling trip and it was quite fun. Me and Anjola went to the arcade which was my favourite part. We played Mario Cart (I won) and went on a 4D experience. My favourite one by far was the 4D experience. Bowling on the other hand was very fun but I didn't win.

Jasmine, Year 9.

Spitalfields Market The trip to Spitalfields was a very enjoyable one. It was different than most trips because we were given the chance to go to an outdoor market and other various stores. Some of us also encountered a few street performers which was very entertaining to see because its not something we see a lot.

The weather wasn't too bad and the various food cuisine choices were endless. But my favourite parts were the vintage thrift markets and the street art which brightened up the streets. We took a lot of pictures with, and of the art, and I know it‘s a trip I would love to go on again.

Langa, Year 13.

Nigerian National Day

German Unity Day

Canterbury

Going to Canterbury was my first trip out of the School grounds so I was looking forward to it very much . And in the end I wasn’t disappointed.

I really enjoyed the bus ride there because I just listened to music and looked out of the window at all the different landscapes, so I didn’t even notice that it was 40 minutes long. As we arrived we were given the telephone number of a trip phone and then we were allowed to go wherever we wanted to. I really enjoyed being able to explore all the little alleys in the city. You for sure can’t compare Canterbury to, for example, Oxford Street in London but I still think it was a great experience. I thought it was very fascinating how you were able to go to some popular stores to buy make up and food but you could also just sit in a cute little cafe and watch all the different people that walk around in the city or go to a very green and still tidy park where nearly nobody seems to be. That’s a big point that I enjoyed very much: the diversity. If you are more of a quiet person that would like to relax on a school trip and just get away from your thoughts of homework and essays you could just go to one of the many green areas in Canterbury. There is also a very pretty one next to the River called Store that flows through the city and I can just recommend you to go there even for only five minutes just to calm down a little bit from the everyday stress.

On the other hand it’s not only green in Canterbury there are also a lot of shops for example Lush, Primark , The Body Shop, Boots ...,but I don’t think that is the most interesting part about the trip. To give you a little advice I wouldn’t only spent all my time in Primark, Starbucks or Lush but as well in some of the many cute shops everywhere at the streets. It may seems weird but if you give it a try and go into one of the tiny shops you will for sure find very special gifts for your friends and family or maybe even for yourself.

All in all I think Canterbury is worth seeing and you should definitely go there and even when it turns out that you don’t like it there at least you can tell people about your experience .

Laura, Year 11.

Brownie Making On 7th September, we, the Boarders of Bligh House, went into the kitchen and made a delicious set of brownies. The experience was very fun and tasty. We were assisted by Miss Tomlin, who showed us the right steps and the helped us to acquire the ingredients. So we used; 200g Dark Chocolate, 100g Milk Chocolate, 300g Butter, 500g Sugar, 6 eggs, 300g Self Raising Flour, 1 Deep Baking Tray, 1 Saucepan

The first thing we did was preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius, then we melted the chocolate and butter in the saucepan over low heat, which took some time. Then after it was completely melted we removed the pan off the heat and turned off the heat. We added light brown sugar and stirred until it was well mixed together. We added in the eggs one at a time and stirred. Lastly we added the flour and stirred well. We left it to bake for about 30-40 minutes. The result was a firm outer layer and a soft gooey center. Then we left it to cool for about 10 minutes.

Then we promptly cut it into squares and enjoyed. Try the recipe as they are delicious!

Ines, Year 7 & Toni, Year 10

Pizza Baking On 21st September Bligh House Boarders made some very good and creative pizzas with the help and instructions of Miss Tomlin. It was very fun and they were delicious, we could create our pizzas and we used: 400g of plain flour, 1x 7g sachet fast action dried yeast, 1 tsp fine sea salt, 1 tsp caster sugar, 2 tbsp olive oil and our hands 1. Preheat the oven before starting to make the dough

2. Mix the flour, yeast, salt and sugar together in a mixing bowl.

Make a well in the centre and add the oil, then add about 225ml water to bring together as a dough. Tip out onto a floured surface and knead for 1 minute, just until smooth. Leave to rest under the upturned bowl while you prepare your pizza toppings.

3. Shape the pizzas (see top ), add your toppings and leave to rest 10-15 minutes before baking, so that the dough starts to rise.

4. ENJOY!!!!!

Ines, Year 7

Exchange Students at Cobham Hall Scared and excited were the feelings I had before coming to the school. This is a brand new experience of my life having to leave my friends and teachers and come here for a Round Square Exchange programme. New school, new friends and new teachers are all part of this new school year. My first week of school was quite exciting. Most freshmen like me that enter the school were excited. I think the first week of the school was the easiest one since there was no homework and what you need to do was to listen to what you need for the class and get to know other people well in the class.

Moreover, we even didn't have any clubs in the first week.

I am sure that I am going to have a big suitcase full of good memories when I will be going back to my school.

Sukhamnveer, Year 10.

The beauty of the beginning is that it takes us apart from the past, makes us fearless about what is coming next and helps us to enjoy the moment in which we have the courage to start. On 2nd September 2019, I got a golden opportunity to begin my twenty-eight days' journey in beautiful campus of Cobham Hall. Excited with the thought of being here and with nervousness of being in a foreign land I entered in Bligh House where the amazing house staff welcomed us. "Happiness can exist only in acceptance" this beautiful quotation was proved right with the acceptance of people around us, the way they accepted the people with completely different culture and ethnicity was incredible, their helpful and caring nature actually made my time wonderful. I explored different cultures, ethnicities and even explored a better version of my self because of all the wonderful teachers around. Playing all the marvellous and funny games in tutorial lectures to having energetic netball sessions in physical education class made the days even better. All the weekend activities to having fun with housemates at night along with incredible toasts they made it was all so fun. Time is one such thing with which everything passes away but yes memories are once which can neither be stolen nor they can be expressed in words.

Arshiya, Year 10.

For more activities and photos follow us on Twitter‌

@CobhamBoarding Reminder We kindly ask that before your daughters return to Cobham Hall, all clothing, especially new items, be named and labelled clearly.

Travel Arrangements Please could you let your Housemistress know your travel arrangements for the December end of term as soon as possible.

Please note that it is a busy time and we need to book a lot of taxis to get girls to airports. We will try and share these with other girls, if at all possible, but we will need to have the information in plenty of time. Girls may not leave school before the specified time.

If you need to request permission to leave early you must email the Headmistress via her PA, Mrs Theobald at TheobaldK@cobhamhall.com.

Members of Boarding staff are not able to give permission for leaving school early.