The first week

Dear Parents,

What a busy week the first week has been.  The girls have certainly made a great start to the term and the new girls, their time at Ardingly.   All the girls have seemed to have settled in really quickly, I have been very impressed with their ability to understand their new timetable and to themselves around the campus.  The evenings have been busy and full of laughter as the girls get to know one another.  There really is a wonderful energy and buzz about the House as the friendships start to develop.

I am delighted to say that the new girls have embraced the ethos of the House and are throwing themselves into drama auditions, hockey teams and the choir to name but a few, following in the footsteps of current girls.   They have also had a group tutor meeting with Miss Crowe and will be organising an individual time to meet her soon.

From experience ‘no news is good news’ when it comes to boarding so if you haven’t heard from your daughter this week then she is probably working hard and enjoying herself far too much! I certainly have had emails eluding to this already this week.    From a personal point of view, as mother to a new Shell pupil, I really haven’t seen much of George at all!  He seems to be been very busy and enjoying the new experience of the Senior School.

 You may have found that the mobile phone network coverage surrounding Ardingly College is quite weak so if you have sent messages/texts to your daughter then there can be some delay in receiving them. There are many alternatives such as WhatsApp, FaceTime, Skype (to name a few) which you can download onto smartphone and function using Wi-Fi. There is also the house telephone (01444 892903) which you can use to contact your daughter but you may have to arrange a specific time to call via other means of communication. 

A note to new parents:  Please do not be surprised if the girls are very tired over the weekend and are not as communicative as normal.   They have expended a lot of energy making new friends and adjusting to the longer days.

We had the most successful coffee morning today, it was lovely to see so many of you there.   I would publicly wish to thank both Suzanne O’Shea and Lisa Childs for their support over the past two years as they step down as Aberdeen House Representatives.   They have been instrumental in developing stronger links between the parents and the House and I know that they will continue to support us in the future.  I would like to welcome Claire Foden, Sophie Crook’s mother as the new Aberdeen representative and look forward to working with her in the future with events and activities.  More to follow on that in the future.

Tomorrow looks to be a busy one with the Shell Water Sports Activity planned.  The Aberdeen Shell are leaving from the House at 8.45am to walk to the Reservoir together with staff and some of the prefects.  They will be escorted to from the Reservoir to lunch after which they will have their hockey matches with Eastbourne.  The information on teams and whether the match is home or away can be found on the parental portal and the Digital Archway.

Please do check out the house blog which will give you access to informal photos, videos and articles from and of the girls and their activities as well as additional information.   I try to update the site weekly, so do check it out.     (http://aberdeenhouseblog.blogspot.co.uk)

Best wishes

Kate