Preptime for boarders

It isn't all exciting trips out to interesting places of course. Sometimes, (well, every night actually) we gather together in the JB library to do prep. This happens every weekday from 18.40 to 19.45, with study support from selections of the house staff.

 

Here we see members of upper schoolroom taking a quiet moment to reflect on the tasks ahead of them at the start of prep, ably advised by Robert Hudson.

Trip to Aerial Extreme

Accompanied by Resident Graduates Luke and Maren, a group of students braved the harsh weather conditions last Sunday to test their mettle at Aerial Extreme in Bedale, North Yorkshire. The adventure course, set high among the trees, involved tackling various obstacles up to 13m above the ground including the Skywalk and MegaWall - climbing, swinging, jumping and screaming their way to the end! Exhilarating stuff.

Eye witness account of last night's meteor!

Large Meteorite Seen Over Bootham School


Late on the evening of Saturday 3rd March, a meteorite could be seen making its way across the skies of Northern England. We were surprised and fortunate to catch sight of this phenomenon as we returned to the Fox boarding house after an evening activity in the Sports Hall.

It was like seeing a shooting star, but in slow-motion, in full-colour, and so up-close it felt almost within reach. You could say the head of the meteorite was the size of a football, with a blazing tail of orange and white fire. But perhaps it looked more like a Year-7 student, wearing some kind of jet-boots, like the hero in a sci-fi animation, coolly cruising across the night sky.

In any case, standing on the Fox quad, we saw the meteorite rise over one of the Maths classrooms and travel across Fox House, only to dive behind the Language department and disappear from sight. We almost expected a huge explosion upon impact somewhere on the other side of the river Ouse, but the meteorite continued on its way and is said to have been seen as far south as Devon.

A sighting like this is very rare, perhaps once-in-lifetime. It was certainly strange and startling enough to leave us (two almost-adults) feeling boyishly exhilarated afterwards.



Daniel Gustafsson & Luke Highstead, Resident Graduates

Shopping Trip to Leeds & The German Christkindelmarkt

Resident Graduates, Maren & Nick took the Boarder’s to Leeds for some Christmas shopping on our last trip of the autumn term. Whilst they were there, the students were also taken to visit the German Christkindelmarkt, where there was plenty of hot food to enjoy such as; goulash, soups, gingerbread & bratwurst.

Meeting for worship in York Minster Crypt

It is a Bootham School tradition that the last Sunday meeting for the boarders is held in the crypt of York Minster.

Whilst the Anglican service was taking place and a few yards away the center of York was busy with the hustle and bustle of daily life, boarders and staff, were in the crypt in silent contemplation.

Tai Chi

Tom Preece has shown huge commitment to tai chi this term and his helped in coaching younger pupils in the Activity. For his efforts he has been awarded a shirt from Nigel Sutton a Master of the Zhong Ding International School of Martial Arts who gave a master class to the pupils in the tai chi Activity.

Well done Tom!

Autumn Term Boarders' Trips 2011

Bootham boarders get up to all sorts at the weekends with our team of Resident graduates. Bowling, Ceramic painting, Water world, Falconry, Mountain biking and a visit to Castle Howard are all of the trips we have done with them already this term and it’s not even Christmas yet! With Go Karting, Ice skating and a Shopping still to come it has not been a bad term to take them out and have fun in and around Yorkshire.

These pictures are our opportunity to give you a glimpse of what the Boarders & the Resident Graduates do with our weekends...

Rainbow Ceramics – 13th NovemberOn our most recent outing Daniel Gustafson and Maren Blume ran a trip to Rainbow Ceramics, for the arty type a little closer to home. Where the boarders got to paint plates, bowls, cups and even baubles! With Christmas not too far away, it is not difficult to imagine what the theme was! Fun was had by all and everyone had their decorated souvenir to take home.

Mountain biking – 6th NovemberMark Chambers and Victoria Forster enjoyed an exciting day at Dalby forest where the boarders were taken mountain biking by one of Dalby Forest’s Purple Mountain biking leaders. They wanted a challenge and this is exactly what they got, returning back to the centre tired, muddy and with a great big smile on their face after a three hour trail through Dalby Forest’s National park.

Castle Howard – 16th OctoberVerena Kümmel & Mark Chambers inspired a large group of boarders with a trip to Castle Howard, one of England’s grandest Baroque mansions, a magnificent 18th century residence set within 1,000 acres of incredible landscape and home to the Howard family for over 300 years. The boarders visit the house first and then took a stroll around the grounds which included the lake, the fountains, the adventure park and of course a ride on the grounds railway.

Falconry - 25th SeptemberDaniel Gustafsson and Luke Highstead took a group to the Minster Falconry where the pupils got to watch a bird show, which was both educational and fun. The Falconer who ran the show was sharing interesting facts about the birds, while he let everyone look at them; he brought out several different ones, some Hawks and some Owls, both a small white barn-owl and a much bigger Canadian one with tufted ears. He made all the kids lie down on the grass for the big owl to sweep over them (from a rooftop, across the grass, to a bit of food the man was holding). They included five or so different birds in the show, some of which the pupils were allowed to hold (with the gauntlet) and touch; and then afterwards everyone took a walk around to look at all the other birds - there were over 30 birds in total.