Girls’ Boarding Blog

Wow…what a week we have had! A week of firsts for our new boarders and for the returning boarders, due to the easing of some of the COVID restrictions, there has been much that has been new to get their heads around too!

Boarding inductions began in earnest when the girls arrived on Wednesday; house tours, meet and greets a welcome supper in the dining hall, and a chance to get to know respective housemates and staff in the evening. Along with the boarding induction schedule, all new pupils were also in school for a school induction on Thursday. This was a chance to meet fellow pupils and staff, get to grips with timetables and IT and familiarise with the school site without it being too busy! In the afternoon, the girls meet the two school nurses and visit the uniform shop in preparation for the first day of proper school!

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, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and of course the UK, there will certainly be a cosmopolitan feel to the houses.

In Pentreve, we welcome Sarah, Chloe and Lily as 3rd-year boarders; Natalie, Pippa, Marl, and Mili join our existing 4th-year boarders and Carla, Macarena, Lina, and Luzia join us as 5th-year boarders. These eleven join our existing fourth-year boarders Elodie, Percy, Angie and Graci. In the senior girl’s house, Malvern, 5th years Alice, Rosie, Freya, Olivia, Leroa, Aom and Diana have moved across from Pentreve. Into the L6th, Sophie, Libby, Carlotta, Jessie, Holly and Caroline join Evie and Uliana and finally, returning U6th boarders, Amy, AJ, Isabella, Kristina, Issy, Aim, Katie, and Anna complete the Malvern House family.

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 themselves with the school and wider Truro area. On Wednesday, the girls arrived, unpacked and started the getting to know you process. Whilst in Pentreve, this meant getting to know you activities and hot chocolate with Mrs Duffy, the senior girls, opted for a movie night with Malvern House favourites, popcorn and ice cream…although I am not sure how much of The Devil wears Prada was watched as the girls spent most of the time chatting and getting to know each other. It was great to see some of the lockdown games coming back out, too, with Racing Demons, Sports Stacking and Bop-it being enjoyed in the Malvern common room and some arts and crafts and trampolining fun across the car park in the Pentreve garden.

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, and timetables explained. 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.

School started properly on Friday morning, and all the girls looked incredibly smart!

The girls arrived back buzzing at 3.50 pm and excitedly recounted their first days to Miss Fiol and me. Although, and understandably, exhausted, they were elated to 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 had been given to them. That said, the induction process has continued with EAL testing for the new international boarders, gym inductions, a familiarisation selfing challenge in the city and an introduction to some watersports at Kernow quarry. On Saturday evening, we headed up onto the school field for some softball before the usual evening socials.

On Sunday morning, everyone took advantage of the chance to lie in with both Malvern and Pentreve very quiet until 10.35 am roll call and brunch. The morning 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.

At 2 pm, we headed off on mass to Kernow Quarry for a couple of hours of water-based, team-building fun. Wetsuit clad the girls took no time at all to get stuck in, and it was great to see them mixing, integrating, laughing and stepping out of their comfort zones.

This evening a roast dinner super with all the trimmings has been enjoyed, and the laundry sorting and preparations for the week ahead have begun. There is a definite air of excitement as the girls look forward to a full week of lessons and schooling, with extracurricular clubs to join and many firsts to encounter.

I hope you have enjoyed our first blog of the year. Please check your emails each Sunday evening/Monday morning to find out what the girls have been up to. I hope you all have a great week and look forward to sending you next weeks blog in due course!

Mrs Sarah Mulready (Head of Girl’s Boarding)