Page 118 - Southwell School Year Book 2019

BOARDING HOUSE
The opening sentences of the Boarding House reports in the school magazines in the past two years refer to many changes in 2017 and consolidation in 2018. The past year has seen logical progression of this theme inasmuch as this has been a year of steady consistency in the Boarding House. The staff and student roll has changed very little and the main systems and routines have been a continuation of what has either happened for decades or what has been introduced during the course of the past two years.
We are confident that the systems and routines of the boarding house have provided our boarders with the right environment to develop the personal attributes and values that will provide a strong foundation for a successful and happy life. We certainly believe that those boarders who are leaving Southwell at the end of the year will be well positioned to deal with the challenges of high school and of their teenage years in general. These attributes and values include the Southwell values of respect, excellence, care, resilience, integrity and creativity. In view of the very nature of boarding - being away from parents and family, having to share facilities, having fewer choices than would be the case at home and having to fit into routines - resilience, in particular, quickly becomes a definingpersonalitytraitofourboarders.And this year’s boarders are no different from their predecessors.
Confident of their future success, although sad to say be saying goodbye, we bid farewell to our Year 8 boarders lead by Head Boarders Fraser Clegg and Sophia Smyth. Our leavers are Bianca Alcock, George Blennerhassett, Joshua Boswell, Edward Buckley, Will Darke, Laura Eggleton, Andrey Harker, Issy Hussey, Max Kennedy, Ben Mitchell, Pera Nelson, Isla Ormsby, Rosie Phillips, Abby Pooley, Fletcher Russell, Henry Seavill, Harrison Silich, Patrick Tang, Richard Tang, Sebastian Vainui and Jay Wilson. We congratulate Rosie Phillips for being awarded the Brabazon Cup for the Best All-Round Boarder and Henry Seavill for being awarded the Stembridge Cup for the Year 8 Boarder who consistently follows Boarding House routines.
The hard-working Boarding House staff need to be acknowledged for the dedicated manner in which they care for, and nurture our boarders. Our thanks go to our Assistant House Masters, Mrs Janine Speedy, Mr Johannes Botha, Mr Matty Cole and Matua Arama Pou, who joined the staff midway through the year. We also acknowledge our House Mother, Ms Jenn Douglas.
Behind the scenes, the boarders needs are attended to by Mrs Susanne Parsons, our Laundry Manager, and by Ms Kymba Ryder and Mrs Julie Guzman-Ron who ensure that the boarding house is clean and hygienic. Our School Nurse, Miss Sheryl Thomas keeps her finger on the pulse of the boarders’ health, and Reverend Canon Neale Troon takes care of our spiritual well-being. Of course we cannot go without saying thank you to our wonderful kitchen staff of Mr Ron Govinden, Mr Deepak Kumar, Ms Faye Daly, Mrs Liz Fecser and Mr Darran Smith.
Our much-loved Gap tutors are invaluable for the added dimension that they bring to our efforts to make the boarding experience as much like family life as possible. This year we have enjoyed the company of Miss Braedene Bevan, Mr Matthew Harris, Miss Nondumiso Ngcobo, Mr Jonathan Streicher, Miss Shané Smit and Mr Jason Boyes. We thank these wonderful young people for showing their own respect, excellence, care, resilience, integrity and creativity as they stepped up to provide all sorts of support both in the Boarding House and in the Day School, despite being far away from their homes.
We now look ahead to 2020. With the year being a distinctive number, we have every reason to hope for a distinctive year of boarding.
Keith Rees-Gibbs & Bev McMaster Heads of Boarding
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Southwell School Yearbook 2019