Pitt Spring Term!
9 February 2024 - Pitt
The term started so quickly after the New Year, with the girls immediately ensconced in their normal routines whether in House or School. Over the course of the last term, the girls focused on growing their family trees, getting to know each other through kindness, loyalty, mutual respect and, of course, the activities in House.
As the new year started, we wanted to look back at the positive aspects of joining a Senior House and Wycombe Abbey. Two girls, Lara and Alexa, have made the transition with a real zest for School and House activities and embracing getting to know new people, making new friends and being part of their new family tree.
Lara, LIV Pitt
Joining Pitt as a new LIV last term was originally really nerve-racking, but soon became my favourite part of being at school. Not only are the people, staff and the facilities just fantastic, but being in a dorm with lovely and fun girls from older years, sharing a bathroom with only one other person, and using the spacious studies to complete prep in the evening are luxuries I hadn’t expected when first joining the house.
One thing I absolutely love about Senior Houses are the house families. My house mothers and grandmother were my first dorm-mates in Pitt and I cannot express how grateful I am for their kindness and thoughtfulness at all times, whether it was settling me in to the new house and helping me create a set routine for each day or simply playing cards together just before bed.
Still on the topic of the inter-year environment, if some of the sixth form had not highly encouraged me to sign up for an in-school music competition, I would not have had improved my flute skills by preparing the piece and winning in my category.
The extra freedom both in house and school compared to last year presented a difficulty at first, without being told precisely what to do at each moment, but now things like being in charge of the prep I do during unsupervised study periods and deciding when to practice music in time for my lessons have shaped me to become entirely more independent.
Concluding the above, the overall experience of transferring to Pitt from Junior House has been brilliant despite my initial fears. I hope that I can provide the same feeling to those joining next year as well as the ones after that, and I aim to help them enjoy this part of being at Wycombe as much as I have.
Weekend Activities: Cake Baking
Alexa, UIV Pitt
I joined Pitt in September 2023 as well as with lots of other new girls in my year. I am sure lots of us were nervous about starting a new school, but it did not take us long to become part the welcoming and loving community of Pitt. All of the new girls were given ‘buddies’ that would help you get around school and answer any questions one would have about the school or lessons, making sure that we were confident about your timetable and giving us any extra support as we were fitting into a new school.
Pitt often holds many events, both in and out of house. My personal favourite event was dorm feast, when everyone in your dorm would go to town, buy food and we would all eat and watch a movie together, as well as do other activities like play cards or a boardgame. Other events Pitt host are House games, where different houses play against each other in different sports, and allows all year groups in your house to work together and have fun whilst doing different activities. Wycombe Abbey host an event called WACMF, where different houses can volunteer themselves to play an instrument of their choice to represent their house. I played in the ‘audition’ for WACMF, and managed to listen to all of the pupil’s amazing performances as well as talk to some of my friends who were taking part. House events are an easy way to get to talk to new people and create new friendships between different students.
Last term, Pitt had our House Dinner, where parents and students were given the opportunity to attend a black-tie dinner and get to meet different staff, parents and pupils, as well as enjoy the meals served by the catering staff.
Something I especially love about being in Pitt are the amazing facilities, including the ensuite bathrooms, modern kitchens and large studying areas, making life at Pitt very free and luxurious. Almost every night in Pitt, House Staff cook us food. Some dishes they serve are: Ice cream, hot chocolate, toasties, pizza rolls, risotto and more. On Saturdays, you are also given the opportunity to bake and cook/decorate different foods that would not be served during the week. Students are also able to have access to the kitchen any time during the day, to make their own food if they are hungry. My personal favourite is creating brownies and decorating cakes with other people in house.
Dorms are also a really important part of Pitt. Dorms include up to 4 girls of different year groups and allow everyone to create friendships between older and younger girls that you would have not been likely to make if the dorms were not mixed. I remember walking into my first dorm and being amazed by how big and modern they were, and also being glad about having ensuite bathrooms. I am a full-time boarder and rarely go home, but dorms have allowed me to create new bonds with the other girls in house.
Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed joining Pitt last year and being a part of its wonderful community and look forward to experiencing all of the new events Pitt has to offer!
Weekend Activities: UIV Baking
As we go through the Spring Term, the girls continue to enjoy the breadth of activities and the bonding experience they provide.
A new joiner to our LVI in house, Gisele, has set up her own charity which she is incredibly passionate about. Read below to hear what it is all about:
Passionate heARTS is a non-profit organisation founded by myself in Singapore. Back in the country, we have raised $45,000 in an annual art auction this year that raised funds for underprivileged children from a national charity movement. We are expanding rapidly to more than 10 centres in Singapore, teaching children art. We hope to provide all children with an opportunity to further their interest in art. Through multiple national newspaper features we have been able to gain attention and support, receiving a letter from the President of Singapore as well as an award for our efforts. Gisele has also made speeches at secondary schools in Singapore and we have been able to gather 125 members from 10 different secondary schools.
On 8 December 2023, I made a speech in Big School announcing the opening a UK branch of Passionate heARTS. I hope that there maybe an art auction at the end of the year like Singapore’s, as well as to set up free art classes for children at centres around the UK eventually. We pride ourselves in our continued efficiency in meeting up online for any matters so that we can communicate at any time we need. There was a new department introduced that creates videos to teach disadvantaged children the different academic subjects. We hope to give them a better chance at success in the future by having had access to tools to enrich areas of academic interest at a young age. As such, we rally not only artists but anyone interested to serve the community, having not only art departments but operations management, publicity, and now the new one.
We sincerely hope that many youths will join our organisation, so we will be able to expand this organisation to many schools to make this a national youth led charity imparting a great change in society.
With such innovation across the girls, it is welcoming to see them embrace the opportunities and learn to give back to others.