Bromsgrove’s Marathon of Activities - 20 May 2022

Ellejah P and I were challenged with a not so easy task this week, which was to visit as many Bromsgrove Service activities happening on Thursdays and conduct interviews. We would then write a blog about each of the six activities. So from the Senior School, we headed out out into the Prep School, and in particular, the Maple classrooms.

The Maple Classrooms: This is where we found the Bromsgrove Service: Prep Readers activity with students Joseph, Savannah, Aaliyah and Joshua who are all in Year 4. They each talked about what happens in this activity, such as reading novels picked by them at the start, followed by doing their homework, and if they have difficulties pronouncing a word when reading or when doing their homework , they simply ask one of the helpers. Collectively, they agreed their favourite part of this activity was being able to get a lot of their prep done as a class, and they always have extremely fun interactions amongst themelves and with the helpers, but because we tried to get an early start on our journey, we arrived before the helpers.

  

After our adorable encounter with the Year 4 pupils, we rushed to the Biology and Chemistry building in Senior school, trying not to waste time, so we could pop in to see what the beekeepers were attending to, as well as visit the Prep Science Club activity, which was just down the corridor.

Biology 1 (Bromsgrove Service: Beekeeping): Just like every week, Oleksii L and Niklas S were looking after the bees. In this session, they applied a moderate amount of wax to a wooden frame in order for bees to build their cells on, aiding the production of honey. I asked if they ever get to see the bees and indeed, they do! The previous week, the beekeepers went to some of the hives and opened them up in order to find the queen that had been marked with a white spot by Mr Tasker. Although they could not find the queen, they found something rather tasty. Lots and lots of HONEY!

  

Chemistry 3 (Bromsgrove Service: Prep Science Club): We walked into this room filled with laughter and lots of chatter, as today, these prep students were building paper rockets, which were to be launched later that afternoon. After interviewing the Prep science club helpers, Georgia A and Rita S, they mentioned that they’ve been been doing this activity together for three weeks and they love it because the Prep School students are extremely well behaved and bring more life to the activity. Rita S then went on to say that this activity “is never boring”. I also interviewed Breer in year 3 and he said that his favourite part of this activity is the actual building of several things because it allows his creativity to shine through. Last week, the students did something really complex: they had to turn a black solution into pure water. The Prep students loved this task because it challenged them to use Bunsen burners.

  

Once Ellejah and I left the Biology and Chemistry building in the Senior school, it turned out we had to turn back round to Prep School; essentially, the route we planned was a bit disorganised…but we were still determined to encounter every activity happening that day, and so with our boundless determination, we rushed to Page Boarding House.

Page boarding helpers: Page is a mixed Prep School Boarding House of eight-four pupils. Their routine from 4:00pm until 5:15pm consists of having a snack after School, followed by their prep with the help of the Page Boarding Helpers, if needs be, and once this is done, some of the Year 5 girls go out to play football. Tuesday is an especially exciting day for the girls as it’s hair braiding day! The girls plait or braid their hair into different styles, all depending on preference - Eden H claims this is her favourite part of the week.



At this point, we were pressed for time.

Hurrying back to the Senior School, it was already 5:00pm so there was no way we could faff around whilst heading to the ADT building.

Flourishing Fiver: After speaking with Jess W in this session, members of the Flourishing Fiver activity were sorting out their final event of the year which will be a Krispy Kreme Donut Sale around the Houses, and by the time you’ve read this, details of this event would have been communicated throughout your House. Flourishing Fiver is an activity that starts at the beginning of the year, in which each member gets five pounds. This money is then invested into several events, for example, the Valentines roses sale, to try to achieve a profit and make as much money as possible. This profit is recuperated for the Primrose Hospice, a hospice supporting patients with life limiting illnesses, a charity in Bromsgrove. The Covid outbreak heavily influenced this activity as there were less members, no outside School events and Page Boarding House mostly being the target market for this activity. However, a lot more events can be organised outside of School targeting the whole school, so getting involved in this activity would be a much better experience, as members are currently trying to beat the School’s fundraising record for this activity.

  


EJ and I were feeling extremely proud of ourselves because we only had one more activity to go to, and thankfully it was in the Humanities Building, which was quite close to the ADT building.

Humanities 14 (Crafting for Charity): In this activity, members cross-stitch different designs to then send to different charities. In this past, there have been cross-stitches of Christmas trees for the festive season, and at other times, you can simply choose what you would like to create. Members like Alice W in Year 12 created a beautifully made cross-stitch of a duck. These items are then given to the teacher in charge who donates the cross-stitch patterns to charity. And don’t worry, if you do not know how to cross-stitch! Matei M, who is also in year 12, mentions he did not know how to cross-stitch when he first joined this activity, but as soon as he was taught, it became second nature to him and now he’s confident in his ability to create several cross stitches for different charities, whilst watching Netflix during the construction of these stitches.

  

WHAT A JOURNEY THIS HAS BEEN FOR EJ AND I!

We were able to reach out to six activites in a day and it was an enjoyable experience to see several productive Bromsgrovians within each one, with each activity having a great sense of community. EJ and I pulled off our challenge, and now I challenge YOU. Pick one of these activities that you feel you’d like the best and sign up for it, because you will not regret it.

Written by Naomi N
Pictures taken by Ellejah P