•
The ‘normal’ day for an Abingdon
boarder does not, like a normal
household, begin at a particular time but
rather over a period of an hour, with the
committed minority making it down for
breakfast dead on 7:30am whilst the rest
of the house, who struggle to make it out
of the comfort of their beds at such an
‘early’ time, perform an excellent dance
with time to maximise sleep. To the awe
of the younger, less experienced boarder,
such a master of time will be showered,
dressed and even manage a hearty
breakfast in under 10 minutes without
even breaking a sweat, and all just in time
for registration.
•
It takes only two morning lessons for
the full force of a boarder’s appetite to
return. Luckily, food is at hand once more,
with break time snacks available in the
kitchen. Such a popular feeding frenzy
for the grazing students, one may think
would result in congestion, however all
happens in respectable time thanks to the
three toasters at hand. The hot crumpets,
waffles and toast are guzzled down,
with the kitchen emptying in time for the
next lesson, leaving no evidence that a
hoard of hungry teenagers had just exited
(that is until someone checks the waffle
cupboard).
•
After the school day ends, the boarders
encounter another food based ritual in the
form of 5 o’clock teas, where the most
prized sandwiches hurriedly disappear,
leaving the poor tutor on duty with a
solitary egg and cress. At this point
the boarders have a couple of hours
to relax in their rooms, go to the gym,
play indoor football or wander into town
before making their way to dinner where
boarders in other houses catch up on the
latest news.
•
Dinner is followed quickly by
registration where students are updated
on house-related news and evening
arrangements as well as, of course, who
is on washing up duty. The two rostered
boys are met with rapturous applause for
their soon to be sterling work. Boarders
then have 90 minutes to do prep
before an evening activity with the duty
teacher, usually consisting of loud music
and, whilst aesthetically displeasing,
enthusiastic dancing; what Abingdon
boarders lack in quality on a dance floor,
they make up for in quantity.
•
As the hard-core partygoers tire,
younger year groups are put to bed by
the duty prefects who, to the wonder of
any observer, manage to get 20 students
out of the shower and into bed on time,
with not a minute to spare. The duty tutor
then comes round for a quick check, just
to make sure the well-oiled machine that
is the boarding house is running smoothly.
Slowly the house settles down, eventually
leaving only the sixth form awake as they
get some extra work done before going
to bed, which they try to do as quietly
as they can; unfortunately they aren’t
renowned for their subtlety. After the odd
late shower, they too head to bed and
the house goes to sleep; that is until the
duty tutor leaves, after which the odd side
lamp switches back on as an unlucky soul
remembers that he hasn’t done a piece of
homework due in the next day.
Solomon English, Lower Sixth
14
April 2015
Abingdon
Boarding
A Glimpse of Boarding Life –
which seems to revolve around food!
