Friday 27th March, 2015

MThis week, following my encounter with the optimistic, excited 7 year olds, I had a leaveout. My dad proposed a trip to the golf course which I willingly accepted on the condition that I could take Weasel, my dog. My dad just had to check the club calendar at Worlington to be sure the the course would be clear, but unfortunately and unusually the course had been booked. Even more unusual was that it had been booked by none other than the Old Rugbeian Golf Society a strange coincidence and one that made me less inclined to go the golf course for I had no wish to spend my break from Rugby with Old Rugbieans! However a quick ring confirmed that they were in for lunch and with Dad assuring me that we wouldn't meet them we nipped over for a few holes. I played my usual sporadic game, perhaps slightly better than usual! Weasel however behaved impeccably. Finally we got to the ninth hole.  The ball must travel over a river to get to the fairway and with a bold angle and some distance it is possible to drive both over the river and a small country road that separates the fairway and the green. Throughout the club house there is much competition over who can drive over the road. My dad, to his frustration cannot! This day was no different and all though he hit a beautiful drive his ball landed virtually on the verge of the road. I however, miraculously made it both over the road and over the green! We made our way into the club house for a celebratory pint of IPA with my head spinning with triumphant thoughts of golf, completely forgetting about the ORs! However shortly after sitting down there was the distinct sound of chairs being moved and the excitable chatter of many people heading out of lunch. Predictably one of the first men out recognised my  Dad and after an introduction he let slip that I was currently at rugby. Within seconds the gentleman had told his friends and we were soon surrounded by a noisy group of 70 year olds excitedly asking about the school and telling me what houses they were in. On hearing that I had driven the green on the ninth they declared that not only must I join their society but I would also be invited to play in the very prestigious Halford Hewitt competition ... If only they knew how my game actually was! But as a final comment there is a strange and clear parallel between the 7 year olds I looked after that Thursday and to the gentlemen I met on leave-out. Both groups of people were cheerful and bubbly and not nearly as scary as I thought they were going to be!

Sunday 15th March, 2015

This week, on Thursday, we had what is called, ‘first schools day’. It entails a selection of local primary schools coming to Rugby. Some 300 seven year olds come for the day with activities and a quiz type treasure hunt provided by the school. Each child is assigned a Rugby School student from one of the top three years who is then with the child for the rest of the day. Nervously the Rugby students sat, wondering what ‘their’ child was going to be like. Some students were scared, their imagination conjured terrifying images of how their young 7 year old would be. Eventually the first load of kids arrived.  The previously hushed TSR was filled with excitable hubbub of the children. Happily  they looked around at what to them was an absolute novel experience whilst, although some students shoulders visibly lifted (their terrifying images had clearly been very scary indeed!) some still shrank into their chairs.

The contrasting behaviour of the two ages is strange and interesting.  The 7 year olds were utterly fearless and tremendously optimistic whereas the 17 year olds were anxious and feared the worst. The first activity was to take the child you had been assigned around some of the school in order to help them answer questions from the quiz.  Questions included testers such as, “How many paintings are there in the OBS” or “there is a white rabbit in the chapel” or “who wrote the book ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’?”.  Everyone had a different experience with the child they were however, all of the children seemed very eager to participate in the quiz.

The boy I was looking after was called Oliver and he got the answer to every question very easily. There was even a riddle in the quiz, “What has hands but no arms and a face but no head”.  On hearing it he took barely a second to burst out the answer, “A CLOCK!” I was so surprised by this that I asked him how he knew the answers.  He replied that his older brother had come to first schools day a few years ago and told him the answers to the questions he would probably be asked!  I am not sure what I was more impressed about; his knowledge or his memory!  Or, indeed, his brothers memory!!

Sunday 1st March 2015 - the timetable

At the beginning of this year my school, Rugby decided to change the complete school timetable. The man who was in charge of academics at this point changed it into a fair more complicated one than what we had previously. As opposed to a sheet with a list of lessons on that we followed each week it was altered into a two week timetable and the lessons were lengthened from 45 minutes to 55 minutes. On first hearing about this change the majority of pupils were annoyed, resentful and very apprehensive as to their own ability to get to the right lessons and as to whether they would be able to concentrate for such an extended period of time.

       However, term came and the new timetable was put into place. A few people turned up late or in the wrong place in the first week however very quickly people adapted and got used to this novel routine. The two week time table meant there was greater variety in the weeks which made the time at school less monotonous. The longer lessons meant that there were less lessons! Which helped days pass quicker as swell as allowing more detail to be taught on specific topics. It was particularly beneficial for creative subjects where previously by the time you got all your paint and brushes out you needed to start clearing up again. Whereas as the extra 10 minutes made the preparation worthwhile.

          Despite this seemingly successful outcome to what was originally a resented decision the new academics head has decided to again change round the timetable. Far greater changes to what were previously made have been suggested for example having our chapel services mid-afternoon and starting the days earliar. As you can imagine this has yet again set the pupils in uproar however should it go ahead I am sure that we will adjust and adapt.