The Pocklingtonian 2018/19 | Page 34

BOARDING// FAIRCOTE HOUSE September 2018 started with the welcoming of an incredibly large number of full, weekly, flexi and extended day students into Faircote - 46 in total - from all walks of life and various cultures. Several adhoc girls who had never envisaged boarding have commented on loving the experience. The support they gained during the year and approaching their exams helped ease the anxiety that some experience when time is short and pressures are high. We look forward to continuing to offer more girls this kind of support as we look towards the new academic year and beyond. Along with these new students, we welcomed new staff for a term during maternity cover in Orchard. With them, they brought a great deal of fun, care and support to our girls and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Rutherford and Mr Copley for their 32 THE POCKLINGTONIAN time, professionalism, and commitment to our Faircote family. Over the course of the year, our house has undergone a facelift of sorts as our wonderful day matron Jill Dowson has recycled, repurposed and reused fixtures and fittings to redecorate our common rooms. What a result! We are honoured and blessed by her energy and the love that has gone into creating an even more homely and warm space for our girls to relax in. We have enjoyed an exciting array of in-house and off-site activities including cooking, water fights, Flamingo Land, pamper evenings, a trip to Whitby, National boarding week and the favourites amongst the senior boarders, the Faircote cheese and wine night and whole school BBQ. It is always with a tinge of sadness that we say goodbye to our leavers, and this year is no exception. We would like to wish our 12 inspiring Upper Sixth boarders and small number of 5th Years moving on to pastures new the best of luck and lots of success in their future studies. We have equipped them with as many life lessons as we could, and are proud of the well-rounded young women they have become; please come back and visit as often as you can! Our retiring Head of House, Emma Falkingham, left saying: ‘Friendships are for life here, with girls of all ages. When peers become your family, that is what it feels like to be a Faircote girl, and I am thankful to be a part of it.’ Looking towards next year, we wish Alexandra Chenery luck with the arrival of her first child as she begins a new chapter in her family life and takes a step away from boarding for a while. Stepping into her shoes is Rebecca Shepherd, a teacher in the Prep School, who has lots of pastoral experience and is looking forward to her new role in Faircote. We are very excited to have her talent and expertise amongst our team this September. Our future Head of House, Tiffany Chung, says: ‘I am looking forward to being a bigger part of the Faircote team and working with all boarding houses to maintain the comfortable and homelike community feel, like the atmosphere our housemistresses provide us with every day.’ Jessica Ashworth and Mariia Paldina will be our Deputy