Dear fellow students,

    As a boarder, you are literally living in the school. How you spend an enriched weekend makes a great difference to your boarding life. It is important not to let the boarding status limit your weekend activities.

    For a break, spend your weekends in an interesting way. Staying in the school dorm on a daily basis with school duties and activities going on repeatedly can be extremely dull. Day students are able to spend time with their families, neighbors or friends outside of school. They live a colorful life as they are not continuously working at weekends.

    Boarders can have a fabulous life too. You can make the best use of your weekends by giving yourself a “real life” with out-of-school activities. To free yourself for the weekend, I would suggest that you try to finish your homework and revision during school hours so that you are light-hearted for the weekend. The weekend is to better relax and to prepare yourself for the coming week in the enclosure of school.

    Plan your weekend activities in a structured way, ahead of schedule. For example, you can ask your parents or guardians for permission ahead of time by planning a month in advance. Notify your dorm head that you have planned schedules.

    You can arrange transport with the school’s assistance. Sometimes you may need to order a local taxi to drive you to a nearby bus or train station. Otherwise, public transport is convenient in England, where there are buses and trains that can take you almost anywhere. Normally, if you are under the age of 16, you are required by law to be accompanied by an adult or at least one school mate when you are out in public. Dorm life makes it easy to find friends who want to hang out with you over the weekend. My point is that, if you want a good weekend, do plan ahead of time.

    As to what you can do during your weekends, there are a great deal of options that offer an interesting experience. Usually, the private boarding schools organize weekend activities to take students off campus. These often come with enrolment forms sent to your parents or guardians before the start of a term.

    These activities may include going to the cinema, watching a musical, going to a skating rink, attending a fun fair, or even having fun at an amusement park. Although weekend activities usually involve a small sum of extra money, they are really worthy the experience and I would encourage you to take part in weekend activities.

    During the year, there are a number of fairs that may be held close to your school grounds or in neighboring counties, be it a farm harvest fair, arts and craft fair, technology fair and so on. There, you can find some creative things, take part in some fun activities or simply just get out of school for a few relaxing hours.

    Yours fondly,

    Susan M B Chen

    Year 13 student at Downe House School