Junior and Senior Girls’ Boarding Blog

Wow…what a week! Boarding inductions, check. School induction, check. First day of school, check. First weekend, check! It has certainly been a week of firsts for the new boarders and even for the returning boarders there has been much that has been new and first as we adapt and incorporate the Covid-safe practices that the school have implemented.

Welcome to the first boarding blog of the academic year. The induction programme begun in earnest on Tuesday with our new boarders arriving from 2pm. This year Pentreve House and Malvern House will be home to a number of new faces and of course some old ones too. With girls from France, Germany, Lithuania, Russia, Thailand, the USA, Hong Kong, China, and of course the UK, there will certainly be a cosmopolitan feel to the houses.

In Pentreve we welcome Elodie as our only resident 1st year, Percy and Angie as 3rd years and Lissi, Jana, Alice, Rosie and Yulanda join us as fourth year boarders. These eight join our existing fourth year boarders Olivia, Freya, Diana, Leora, Jess and Aom. In the senior girl’s house, Malvern, 5th years Carlotta, Emily, Niamh and Katia join Evie and Uliana. Into the L6th Lisa, Hattie, Issy, Amy, Austeja and Kristina will join Katie and Aim and finally, returning U6th boarders, Stephanie, Jess, Phoebe and Charlotte complete the Malvern House family. For those unable to accompany their daughters to the houses on Thursday the pictures below should give you a feel for what the houses look like.

Over the course of the last couple of days the girls, and indeed the entire boarding community, have followed an extensive induction programme that has seen them familiarising with the school and wider Truro area. On Tuesday the girls arrived, unpacked and started the ‘getting to know you’ process. Whilst in Pentreve this meant ‘getting to know you’ games organised by Mrs Fiol, the senior girls opted for a movie night with Malvern House favourites, nachos, popcorn and jelly sweets…although I am not sure how much of Men in Black was watched as the girls spent most of the time chatting and getting to know watch other. On Wednesday the induction programme saw the girls take part in a treasure hunt and selfie challenge in Truro, a school tour, health checks with the nurse and a chat with the school Chaplin, Rev de Gruchy. Malvern played a more formal ‘guess who’ familiarisation game with Miss Woods on Wednesday night whilst the Pentreve girls played board games and Mario Kart.

On Thursday the school opened its doors for all new pupil inductions which saw the boarders meet their form tutors, Heads of Year and other new day pupils that would be in their year groups. IT logins were sorted, timetables explained and the school Covid bubble zonings experienced for the first time. There was much discussion regarding outfits in the Senior girl’s house on Thursday evening with the very important question, “is this ‘sixth form smart’ business wear?’ being asked before everyone headed to bed excited yet a little nervous about the first proper school day ahead.

The girls arrived back buzzing at 3.50pm and excitedly recounted their first days to myself and Mrs Howe. Although, and understandably, exhausted they were elated to finally be back at school, seeing old friends in some cases, and getting back to lessons and learning.

The weekend provided the girls with the opportunity to catch their breath and digest the plethora of information that has been given to them and so we didn’t anything too adventurous.

The Malvern girls and I, having looked at the weather forecast, opted for a Saturday afternoon beach excursion. This meant donning our masks, loading the minibus and heading off to Falmouth. We parked up at Swanpool, a idyllic beach known for it’s amazing, quirky ice creams. The server winced when she saw the eleven of us pitch up but the girls were soon tucking into vanilla ice cream, smothered in Cornish clotted cream and a choice of topping, on the beach.
Once consumed we walked the coastal path, just a short stretch, over the brow of the hill to Gllyngvase beach where paddling was of course mandatory. Lisa, Charlotte, Phoebe and Emily ventured further in and had a little swim whilst Stephanie and Carlotta attempted stone skimming and the rest of took in the scenery and fresh air. Just as the girls were exiting the water, with handstands in eth shallows the natural thing to try, Emily fell foul of the weaver fish and sustained a small sting on the palm of the hand…que first aid treatment (hot water) at the lifeguard hut! I sense trouble ahead, or maybe we have the drama out of our system on the first outing; I hope so!

Meanwhile, the Pentreve girls got out and about on site, making the most of the garden and table tennis table, acquainting themselves with the new Pentreve puppy Dora, getting some fresh air and ice cream at local Boscawen Park and stretching their legs.

Evening socials were planned and enjoyed after supper, with a Mario Kart tournament and snacks in the senior house and an outside cinema experience with The Lion King, the movie of choice in the Pentreve courtyard. It was great to see the girls getting to know each other and enjoying each other’s company; everyone was in really good spirits and went to bed feeling content and settled.

Sunday morning saw the girls enjoy a lie in with later roll calls and brunch. The day was to be a free day for all and the girls busied themselves popping into town for any essential items, completing their first bits of prep and putting the finishing touches to their bedrooms.

The proposed house photos before school in the morning meant outfit planning for the senior girls and those that hadn’t managed to get their uniforms sorted until Friday were looking forward to wearing them for the first time! There was a definite air of excitement when lights were switched off as the girls looked forward to a full week of lessons and schooling; with extra curricular clubs to join and many firsts to encounter.

On Monday morning, the girls turned out early and looking incredibly smart to humour me for the beginning of term house photo. I am sure you will agree that they look great and ready to take on the world! I feel sure we are in for a terrific year of celebrating success and making memories! There are a couple of girls missing though so I will have to repeat the photo shoot…they cannot wait!

Mrs Sarah Mulready (Housemistress, Girl’s Boarding)