Airlie Spring Term Newsletter – Part 1
9 February 2024 - Airlie
A Week in the Life of Airlie House
One thing can be said with confidence about life at Wycombe Abbey – it’s never boring! Our amazing pupils go from lessons to netball, from choir to swimming, from early morning lacrosse practice to late evening theatre trips. But what makes an Airlie pupil’s experience unique? Of course, our exciting House calendar! Here is what a typical week looks like behind that brown door…
On Mondays to Fridays, all our pupils must be out of the House and on their way to breakfast by 8.00 am. If you happen to be walking outside Airlie at 7.59 am you may hear the stampede of pupils rushing down the stairs!
Monday
Afternoon – Monday afternoon is a special time of the week, as all Senior Houses come together for House Games, which include Drama, Music and Sports options. The highlight of House Games is House ‘Funals’ (they are finals, but also fun!), where pupils and House staff put on their House colours and come to support their finalists. Last week, we also had the much-anticipated House Cross Country event.
Evening – on Mondays, Airlie pupils come together for House Order. Miss Flynn passes on notices for the week and pupils can pick treats for each commendation they’ve received. As you can imagine, we go through a lot of treats!
Tuesday
On Tuesday evenings we gather in the kitchen for tea, hot chocolate, biscuits, and a chat. A debrief of the day, and discussions about upcoming events fill our House kitchen. Mr Fitzgerald, our House Tutor, visits on this day and last Tuesday he ran an exciting House Quiz. As the quiz commenced, tension mounted with each question. Rounds flew by in a whirlwind of knowledge and camaraderie. With the final question complete, the room held its breath, awaiting the announcement of the winner who was Alison UV, Sofia UV & Emily LV!
Wednesday
Unlike most other Houses, who have opted to hold their toastie night on Thursday, we have opted to avoid the alliteration and go for Toastie Wednesdays instead. As one of our pupils put it, ‘we all need a toastie half-way through the week’. Girls rush to the kitchen at 7.30pm, after a busy evening of sports, for pepperoni & mozzarella toasties, ham & cheese and even chocolate spread & oreo! We are also thankful to our Matron, Ms Kerridge, who provides us with delicious condiments.
Thursday
A new tradition is starting to form on Thursday evenings in Airlie House. Dr Tsaknaki’s ‘Greek Salad Day’ is becoming increasingly more popular, as some of our pupils’ comments show: ‘I feel so healthy after eating this’, commented Jasmine in the UV. ‘I can’t believe I missed Greek Salad!’, commented an extremely disappointed LV whose other commitments meant she couldn’t make it back on time for it last week. ‘I could eat the whole thing’, commended various pupils.
Friday
By Friday, we are all looking forward to the weekend! After school, the whole school gets together for ‘Whole School Singing’ in chapel, where we practise the hymns for next week (Miss Flynn’s favourite event!). Then we are back in House for our beloved ‘Fruity Friday’, run by our lovely Resident Tutor, Miss Denson. Thanks to Natalie in UIV, who made the most delicious smoothie for House Staff this term!
Last Friday, Miss Flynn treated the House with an extra special ‘Fruity Friday’, which involved a chocolate fountain, marshmallows and fresh fruit. This was definitely a much-needed treat to get us through the last week of this half term! Thank you, Miss Flynn!
Saturday
Saturday lessons start slightly later than the rest of the week and our girls get to lie in bed a bit longer. Everyone is down to lessons by 9am and during open weekends many girls go home after lessons end at 11.50am. For those who stay here for the weekend, our amazing team of Mrs Gee and Resident Tutors always provide countless of activities for us to enjoy. One of our favourites is the ‘Hamper’ which is delivered up to Houses for Saturday evening. The theme is different each week, ranging from pamper hampers to movie night treats. Sometimes we are provided with ingredients for inter-House competitions, such as the ‘charcuterie board’ competition last term, in which Airlie was victorious!
Sunday
Sundays are a time to recharge for the week ahead. We are treated to a delicious full English breakfast and then our girls head off to different activities, from Go Karting to shopping trips. For those who stay in House we offer relaxing afternoon activities, such as jewellery making and board games. In the evening, we all gather in Chapel for Evensong. One of the most popular Evensongs is always the ‘Gospel Evensong’, where our very own Phire Choir works together with a Gospel group to lead us to a school-wide sing along. After this, we all finish our big laundry and go to bed, ready to start the week all over again!
Airlie House Dinner – Sunday 28 January 2024
House dinner is always one of the most anticipated events in our busy House calendar. It is an opportunity for us to come together as a community, not only for House staff and pupils, but also for House tutors and parents. We all got together to celebrate another year in Airlie and for the first time after the renovations we were able to host dinner in Big School. The beautiful setting matched the wonderful company, and we all enjoyed catching up over a delicious three-course meal. Our girls provided the entertainment, as always, with their rendition of ‘Mamma Mia’. Miss Flynn and the rest of the House staff are incredibly grateful to the amazing catering team, who put together this fantastic dinner. The ‘Cheesecake factory’ in particular was a smashing success!
It’s been a busy first half of Spring term, but we’ve enjoyed every minute of it. We hope our pupils get some well-earned rest over Long Leave, recharging their batteries for what promises to be an exciting second half of this term. Some things to look forward to: House Shouts, ‘Legally Blonde’ the Musical, which stars one of our own, and our House Outing!
Miss Flynn, Dr Tsaknaki and the Airlie House Team.