Autumn Term in Airlie
15 December 2022 - Airlie
This term was particularly busy and eventful. One of our most memorable events was the long-awaited Airlie House dinner. It was a wonderful night, filled with much conversation and laughter. This year, the House had the opportunity to perform their House anthem Count on Me by Bruno Mars. Although it was nerve-wracking performing in front of parents and teachers, the girls had a lot of fun and the evening ended on a high note.
Our thanks must go to all that attended the House Dinner, the House Staff as well as our School caterers, Holroyd Howe. The event would not have been possible without the dedicated team preparing the meals and drinks for the evening. It was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our community and I am already looking forward to the next House Dinner.
Megan (Head of House)
Bonfire Night
The second half of Autumn Term always begins with a bang at Wycombe Abbey! Bonfire night was a huge success. Our LIV pupils were in charge of creating our ‘Guy’,and although we did not win the competition, all the girls involved enjoyed working together to produce an impressive bottle of HP sauce. Here is what Sasha (LIV) had to say about the experience:
“Ultimately, building the Guy was a unique and enjoyable experience, but it was not without its difficulties. We decided that we wanted to create an HP sauce bottle, due to its signature brown colour and the Houses of Parliament displayed on the label. We also created a plan, utilising math skills such as the area of a circle (the formula of which we used to create the cap) and measuring the bottle itself. We gathered in the art block prior to construction and discussed it as a tutor group so that everyone could pitch in their individual ideas.
And so, the building process began. Regardless of artistic talent and the time we had available, we all tried our best. We encouraged each other in times of doubt and gave constructive criticism when necessary. We managed to work together to find clever solutions to our problems (such as exploring new art techniques and going outside of our comfort zone) and ended up with a result which we were all proud of: our Airlie Guy.”
At the same time, the whole House worked hard towards our much-anticipated, always popular Charity Bottle Stall, where people were encouraged to purchase raffle tickets. These were used to win one of our prizes ranging from fruit juices and soda to whisky and champagne. At the start of the evening, our table was filled to the brim with drinks. However, after a few hours of hard work from both our Airlie volunteers and House staff, we managed to sell every last bottle! Overall, the night was a huge success as we raised a total of £277.63 for the School charities.
Gabrielle (House Charity Rep)
Reading Week
From 28 of November to 4 of December, Wycombe Abbey celebrated Reading Week! Airlie had a book club hosted by our matron, word searches and guess-the-book-from-the-emoji games, which were well received. We also held a Harry Potter book quiz and started a new designated time in House called DEAR, which stands for “Drop Everything And Read”. This will be weekly quiet reading time in the drawing room where girls can come away from stressful studies to enjoy a hot chocolate and a book! Lastly, reading week’s icing on the cake was an exciting delivery of new books, requested by the girls themselves! We hope they enjoy them and that their enthusiasm for books continues throughout the year.
Anjali (House Librarian)
Christmas Tree Decoration
The start of the Christmas season was marked by the delivery of our beautiful Christmas tree on Monday 28 November. Our LIV pupils, as always, had the honour of decorating the Airlie tree, and Sophie – our youngest pupil – got to place the star at the top!
New Year’s Resolutions
At the end of this term, we took the chance to reflect on what we’ve learned, to appreciate the times we’ve had together and to look ahead to a new and exciting year. We asked some of our pupils to tell us what their goals for the year ahead are:
Zenia (UV): improve myself as a person by getting more involved in School and House life.
Serena (LVI): Start naming my clothes so that I don’t lose them anymore!
Tomi (UV): To do my big laundry before 9pm, for a change …
Amalia (UIV): be more consistent with practising guitar.
Anjali (LVI): to read a new book every month.
Airlie LVs: to win House play!
Sasha (LV): I don’t do New Year’s resolutions because I think they are unrealistic. I prefer short term achievable goals.
Yvonne (LIV): to take part in a lot of extracurricular activities!
Allegra (UV): to not to leave my revision for RS until the last minute.
Sasha (LIV): to stay productive and focus on my studies.
Aubrey (LV): to catch up with Gratin.
Joann (LIV): to learn Korean or Japanese.
A pupil who wishes to remain anonymous: . . . to convince my mum to get me a pony.
We wish all our Airlie pupils and parents an enjoyable holiday and we look forward to welcoming all our pupils back in 2023!