The weekend kicked off with some fabulous games against the Gayhurst touring side who were a credit to their school. As we cheered them off in the car park the glorious sun that had blessed the matches that afternoon dipped over the horizon and it was time to get back to the Houses and have some rest and time to recuperate.
However, whilst the Year 7 pupils and the junior boarders crashed out in front a DVD for the evening and munched their cookies and sipped their hot chocolate, the Year 8 pupils got ready to party! We could not let Burns Night go unnoticed so everyone got dressed up in something tartan (Charlie H, Joe W and John W looked like the most convincing marauding Scotsmen)!
We all gathered in the library to drink some Irn Bru and have some nibbles before we went into the dining room. The room looked spectacular and Mrs Northcott and the ladies in the kitchens had done an incredible job with the decorations and tartan paraphernalia. So we eagerly settled into our places and tucked into some pate.
However, the best (or should I say "the beast") was yet to come! Accompanied by much ceremony, the Haggis (plural Haggi??) were brought in and placed, steaming in front of the appauled children who looked agog at the offending articles! After a long and rather tedious speech about "wee Rab" delivered by Mr Mace, he then addressed the Haggis (plural Haggi??) whilst Mr Northcott plunged his dirk murderously (and perhaps rather too enthusiastically?) into the heaving pudding in front of him.
The Scottish poetry and the enthusiasm with which Mr Northcott attacked the "wee beasty" ensured that all the pupils had a little of the afore mentioned "chieftain o'er the puddin race". Isaak C ate several plates of it and I was impressed and surprised with Lily S's enthusiasm for the dish too! Of course the dish was accompanied by neeps and tatties too - all good healthy stuff!
Before the pudding had even begun to settle in our heavy stomachs the tables were pulled back and Mr Northcott led some extraordinarily vivacious and carefully choreographed Highland dancing. The kids really got into the swing of things and Mrs Northcott ensured that no-one was left out. We flung and cappered and scampered across the floor whilst Mr Northcott boomed out the instructions. Precious moments!
The next morning, after a well deserved lie-in, the boys and girls received a very heart-felt and meaningful assembly by Mrs Parish who talked about the need to persevere and try hard whether it is on the sports field, in the classroom or with one's own faith. It was being in the race that was so important and making sure you both started and finished whether at a sprint or a walk. The choir sang wonderfully too.
That afternoon the Oundelian scholars studied furiously and Mr Watt came in to give some extra tuition. However, the rest of us went out for a real treat...... the Chinese State Circus were in Buxton and they had us on the edge of our seats for two hours. The colour, music and dance were out-of-this-world but the tricks were absolutely mind-blowing! Plates were spun, tables were balanced on heads, men balanced on swords and jumped through hoops twenty feet in the air. Mono-cyclists caught pots on their heads, warriors danced with swords and there were even twenty foot long dragons! The kids had a wonderful time too and it was great to see the whole boarding community together having a cracking time.
The Northcotts even snuck their group onto the mini steam train in Buxton park before the show!
All in all, this was another smashing weekend. Next Sunday parents, guardians and grandparents are taking the boarders out for lunch to be back by 5pm. They will be much missed for those few hours as they have been nothing but a pleasure to look after this weekend. Good luck to the Oundle scholars next week too.
So as the sun set on the Peak District National Park a group of happy boys and girls drifted off to sleep dreaming of dragons and stilt walkers!
Posted on
Sun, January 30, 2011
by RDM