The Winter Term has been a busy one for all of Oakham’s boarders – who have enjoyed an array of activities both in House, and when it could be organised safely, out and about enjoying all that Rutland and the surrounding area has to offer!
The programme of activities has been adeptly adapted to ensure all of our boarding bubbles have been carefully constructed to allow pupils to enjoy the weekends with their friends. Our boarding Houses are always the centre of fun, but this has been amplified with even more in-house events and activities.
Games nights and pamper nights, along with cooking, watching films and doing arts and crafts have all been hugely popular. At Oakham School, we enjoy and benefit from excellent facilities, and there has been an abundance of opportunities for all boarders to enjoy taking part in sports on site. This includes Zorbing, which sees pupils having fun bouncing off each other in their own protective safety bubbles – which seems even more apt at this time!
Key dates in the calendar have been marked as usual, with pumpkins carved for Halloween and Bonfire Night enjoyed with sparklers, bonfires, and hot chocolate. More recently all of our boarders have been getting into the Christmas spirit decorating their trees in House, making gingerbread houses, and enjoying Christmas dinners.
As well as the usual weekend boarding fun, a good number of our boarders have also stayed in School during Exeats and the October half-term due to COVID travel restrictions. In a change to Oakham’s boarding provision, the School stayed open over all the holiday periods this term. Always keen to put our children’s pastoral needs at the centre of everything we do and offer at Oakham, a brilliant programme was put together to enable the boarders who couldn’t go home as wonderful an experience as possible.
“We made sure there was a perfect blend of downtime and activities on offer,” says Senior Housemistress Carly Latham. “The pupils all seemed in good spirits, and there was a lot of laughter and enjoyment. The staff were amazing, making their stay as enjoyable as possible.”
The boarders’ feedback about their half-term boarding ‘holiday’ at Oakham was brilliant – with one pupil saying, “The trips and activities were great – especially visiting Oxford and Cambridge. We also loved having a Pilates class every day.”
To find out more about boarding at Oakham School, please click here. There is also an online open morning boarding event on 4 March at 6.30pm for all age point entries.
