A spotlight on our LVI Head of House

14 February 2025 - Junior

The Spring Term at Junior House might start off with dark mornings and chilly evenings, making outdoor play a rare treat. But that hasn’t stopped our Junior House girls from enjoying their time indoors! From crafting beautiful bracelets, to weaving intricate dream catchers, their evenings have been filled with creativity and fun.

Weekends have been just as action-packed, starting with dancing at the Silent Disco and enjoying Society-based activities during the Closed Weekend.  One highlight of our Open Weekends was our trip to London to see The Lightning Thief – The Percy Jackson Musical. The girls were over the moon to receive a special video message from the cast before the trip, and their excitement soared when the cast came out after the show to sign autographs. We’ve also had fantastic Socials with friends from both Sunningdale and Cothill.

This term we have also had visits from a new group of LIV mentors. These pupils are assigned to dorms and, as well as acting as another person to chat to and get to know, they are also tasked with completing regular challenges -I hope to talk about this more in my next blog post.

For this blog, I am shining the spotlight on our amazing LVI Head of House. Appointed in September, Genevieve has been a whirlwind of energy and support, regularly visiting the House and becoming a vital link between Junior House and the wider School Community. Genevieve’s role is as diverse as it is important. She’s there to help Junior House students transition smoothly to Senior School, guiding them through the ins and outs of Wycombe Abbey. Whether it’s offering tips to tackle homesickness, competing is a strawberry laces races, joining is some party games, or chatting about the latest trends, Genevieve makes the time to be there.

But that’s not all! Genevieve also plays a key role in organising and running the Lower Sixth Little Lights sessions, where LVI members have a chance to chat with the girls before bedtime. Plus, she’s been hosting regular Day Boarder teas, creating a time and space for Day Boarders to connect and ask questions. She is also the voice of Junior House in prefect meetings, ensuring their needs and ideas are included and heard.

Genevieve truly embodies the spirit of Wycombe Abbey, and I asked her to let me know her thoughts on Junior House and her role.

‘I decided to apply to be Head of Junior House as I had six years’ experience both as a day girl and a boarder in the Wycombe Abbey community and was keen to pass that on to the UIIIs. Some of the concerns that come up in JH are around coping with boarding for the first time and how to navigate friendship groups – I’ve definitely got loads of tips and tricks to pass on!

As part of my role as Head of House, I come up in the evenings on Wednesdays and most Fridays until bedtime at 9:00pm. I love the warmth and exuberance that I’m greeted with, having my hair brushed to within an inch of its life and sometimes another skincare routine done for me styled as an online make up tutorial, as well as getting all the gossip from what happened at the last Social; the decibel level seems to increase significantly whenever we’re talking about boys!

As I have been both a boarder and day boarder, it has been important to me to ensure that the day boarding girls feel included and involved and finding time to meet them down at School as well as in House ensures that they know I am here to support them too.  Another initiative that I have worked on with Miss Crampton to help the Junior House Girls integrate with the whole school, is to organise ‘Little Lights with the Lower Sixth’. We as older girls all love doing this as we get to know the younger girls really well, and it is definitely a very popular event as we can all spend time in the evening together chatting.

Even though it was six years ago, I can honestly say that Junior House dose not change (apart from a bathroom and dining room update!) The kindness and support from all the House Staff are what make it such a special first year at Wycombe and the structure of the daily routines, keeps everyone on the right track. Organisation is definitely a key skill that you learn in your first year, as well as what it means to live in a community. Having said that, it can be tricky at first so having a solid approachable support network in place is key. I think the biggest challenge for me in my role is time management; you’ve just got to be organised, but I like to think that six years on I’ve got the right tools to get it right most of the time!

Genevieve

Thank you to everyone who is part of the Junior House Team and works together to help and support the Junior House girls. We have had a fantastic start to the Spring Term, and we look forward to all that is to come in the second half of Term.