House Blog Autumn Term Second Half 2023
12 December 2023 - Rubens
Belonging to a boarding house during the second half of the Autumn term, is a very special thing indeed. What could be better than spending the run up to the Christmas holiday with your sisters in your boarding house? In Rubens, our pink family enjoy all the fun, warmth and joy of Christmastide together through dorm feasts, house activities and of course, Christmas carols. But before the glitz and glamour of Christmas, there is Autumn and the fun of Halloween and Fireworks night. This year, the Lower 6th girls organised a whole House Halloween party which saw each year group dress up for the evening and take part in apple bobbing contests, spooky quizzes and cookie decorating. The girls had a lot of fun and special mention must for to Head of House, Avalon and Deputy Head of House, Maddie for all their organisational skills.
Bonfire night is a spectacular occasion at Wycombe Abbey, and the Lower 4 were excited to take part in the traditional year group Guy Making competition. This year the girls made a pink Barbie car, which featured all of their faces as passengers in the construction. The detail and playfulness of the guy model, won 1st place in the competition and gave Rubens a special buzz at their House stall. Keen to follow in the success of our talented Lower 4, House charity prefects Aoife and Bella worked hard to create an inventive and fun house stall. Each House stall is designed to raise money for school charity, and this year’s Rubens Roulette was a huge success raising over £500 in one night. Very well done to Aoife and Bella in the Lower 6, for their vision and organisation here.
Another tradition in the second half of the Autumn term if the Upper 4 House Dance. The girls put on a superb show; proudly dressed head to toe in pink, and creating a brilliant routine to Abba’s Gimme, Gimme, Gimme the Upper 4 showed that enthusiasm and teamwork could set the dance floor alight! The whole house were very proud of their efforts!
Rubens put on an excellent sporting show for the first round of House Funals in November. We had excellent teams on the netball court and narrowly missed out on winning position to Shelburne House. Well done to our A Team players; Eliza; Annamaria; Gracie; Ashley; Maria and House Sport Captain, Ria.
The Sixth Form took the lead with Anti Bullying week this year and designed a beautiful flag which the whole House signed with their names and printed their hands onto. It was wonderful to see the girls working together on this and we intend to display the flag in house in the New Year. Very well done to our Lower Sixth girls Venetia; Ariana; Rachel; and Bella for their leadership here.
The girls took part in a charcuterie board competition – designing a beautiful set of boards filled with tasty treats. A special note of commendation must go to the design skills of Charlotte W (Lower 4) and Sky (Upper 5) for their passion and perfection in these boards which were almost too good to eat!
Each Christmas, the Lower 6th girls secretly decorate the boarding house and this year the girls really impressed with beautiful installations of art and also lots of very funny memes. The Fourth Form in particular were totally surprised by the decorations and the scale of the effort the Sixth Form put in to creating a special Christmas treat. Well done to the Sixth Form!
So as we get ready to say goodbye to the Rubens team for another Christmas holiday, we reflect on what Christmas means to us: Christmas is the tenderness for the past; courage for the present and hope for the future. And in Rubens, we always have so much hope for our futures and the potential for 2024. I can’t wait to all see the joy the girls will bring into our new academic year.
