A farewell to Wendover

15 July 2024 - Wendover

As I sit in a very empty and a very quiet Long Corridor a couple of weeks after the Wendover girls have left for their Summer holidays, it has finally hit that I am leaving Wendover and our wonderful Daws Hill community. The Summer Term is such a busy one that I don’t think I had time to allow myself to realise that my final days as your Housemistress were actually going to be my last. 

I don’t know quite how to sum up my time as Housemistress of Wendover. So much has happened that it is becomes hard to distil the experience into just a few lines. I do know that it has been nothing short of magic. To lead such a diverse, kind and funny group of young people is an experience that I know I will never get to be a part of again in quite the same way. It has changed me for the better and I know that each of you will be forever positively changed for having lived, played and worked so closely together. Not every day has been an easy day and we have faced the toughest of times together, side by side, as a family would.  

Being a Housemistress goes beyond being a job. It is a lifestyle and one that I will miss hugely. From endless activities in Long Corridor, the tears mopped up in my office, trips to A&E to lance infected ear piercings, impromptu water fights, games of reflex potato (now orange), the sounds of singing practise flooding the House ahead of a Chapel service, shouts of ‘let’s go Bendy Wendy’ on the sidelines from keen supporters in House competitions, endless games of Bingo to someone flopping on the sofa next to me to catch up about each other’s days. You have brought joy to each day and given me a sense of purpose that many are never lucky enough to achieve in their careers.  

I would also like to thank the Wendover parents for their support and for the kindness that they have shown to both me and the Wendover team. I will miss you just as much as I will miss your daughters. Catching up with you has been a hugely enjoyable part of my time in Wendover and I already look forward to seeing you in School at events, matches and services in the future. Your daughters are spectacular, and I will continue to cheer each one of them on from afar. It has been the privilege of a lifetime in helping to guide and shape them into the people they are today and will go on to be in their futures. Thank you for the trust that you have shown me and allowing me into your family teams!  

It goes without saying that Luna is going to miss her life in Wendover hugely too. She moved into Wendover at just 8 weeks old and leaves as a quite sensible 6 year old doggy. She is already looking forward to coming up and visiting Long Corridor when she has the chance and to keep supporting her Wendover sisters at sporting events. She would like to thank you all for the endless strokes, cuddles and sneaky treats.  

My time in Wendover would have been far less fun and far less organised if it wasn’t for the fantastic Wendover team that I have had the pleasure of working alongside. Miss Franks knows everything that there is and needs to be known about your daughters and how the House runs! She shows endless love to the Wendover girls and they are so lucky to have her. I know that the House looks forward to welcoming Miss Amor back after her time away recovering from surgery. Mrs Went will still be here on a Monday and I know how much the girls love her time too.  

I have spent a lot of time handing Wendover over to Mrs Woodward in the past term and I know she will be utterly fantastic as she moves into the role of Wendover Housemistress. She is a great friend and I know that you are all in very safe hands with her at the helm of good ship Wendover. I wish her and her husband, their two beautiful daughters, and Gus the dog, all the luck for their move. I can’t wait to see how she changes and shapes Wendover in her time as your new Housemistress.  

All that is left for me to do is sign off my final blog post.  

Girls, you have the brightest of days ahead of you. Step into each day with a determination to be kind, a curiosity to learn new things and an eagerness for fun. In my 35 years of living so far, I have learnt that with these three things at the heart of all you do, you won’t go far wrong! 

Miss Blunt x