Gapper

Hi all!

Hope you're all going well. I'm doing well, despite the cold (I need someone to remind me to take gloves with me when I go outside for long periods of time... I may not have any fingers when I come home... kidding... mostly), but I'm all settled in now and while the weather is definitely not growing on me, I'm really happy to get the day off tomorrow. The normal 7:30 am - 8 pm days are quite tiring for someone not used to working such long hours. I just need some time to adjust and then I should be right. 

Today, the sun was shining beautifully - not a cloud in sight - all day. It seems that the weather here is quite bipolar; one hour it's sunny, the next, it's pouring, so I was happy that it remained bright all day. And, by 'all day', I mean from 8 am to 4 pm (sunrise is very late and sunset is very premature here). Not quite the same as Australia. It's strange for the kids to still be at school while it's dark outside. And, while I'm on the weather... apparently the man on BBC said that it is forecasted to snow next week! Whether that's correct or not, I'm not sure, but I'm excited anyway. Someone said that when it snows a lot, the school has a 'snow day' because no one can get in or out so no one but the boarders and the staff who live no campus can get to school. I believe the teachers hope for this to happen so they don't have to go to work. 

Since we have survived the first week working at Ardingly, I'll give you a run down of what our job entails: directing traffic, escorting young pedestrians across the road, office duties (photocopying, shredding, filing, answering phones), collecting coffee, collecting lunches for the music school kids, helping the nursery kids eat their lunch, supervise break times, putting stamps on envelopes, coach and umpire netball (next term is hockey), laminating, cutting out paper for the pre-prep teachers, signing in children late, attending after school clubs to help out the teachers, like rugby, fencing, Ardingly Adventurers (cub scouts), hockey, swimming and all those fun things. I also get to help out with the large prep school production of Alice in Wonderland. 

This morning, Jess and myself went for a little exploration of the school before sport fixtures. We heard there was a secret room in the school so we decided to try and find it. We worked out that to get to it, we have to go through the theatre (which they call the 'Under'), however the doors to the theatre were all locked for the weekend so... During the week we will check it out. We also figured out how to get onto a balcony we saw through a window which had incredible views of the valley and field and gardens. The balcony has a blue arrow pointing to it in the picture. The red arrow is my bedroom. 

We also scouted out coffee machines, where the kitchen keeps the biscuits and found out who we have to befriend to get up to the tower above the chapel (where the yellow arrow is pointing). Apparently if we're nice enough, the head of maintenance will take us up there; it will have the best views because it's the highest point of the school and you can apparently see all over the school's 250 acres of land and the reservoir. We'd love to go up when it's sunny and also when it's been snowing. 


Later today, we all had senior school sport duties to do. I had to travel with the Under 15's to Lancing College (about half an hours drive from Ardingly) to umpire their game. The girls won convincingly which was nice, and to top it off, the college was absolutely stunning. It looked like something right out of Harry Potter, even more so than Ardingly. To the left is an aerial of the school, it's right near the ocean which I was happy to see 'cos it reminds me of home. 

And to the right is the incredible and huge chapel they have. 

On Thursday night, Joel, Josh and I walked to the Ardingly Inn for a drink with some teachers. Jess had to stay back unfortunately, since she was on boarding duty. But it was nice to get to know some of the teachers better. 

And tomorrow, I think we may check out Hayward's Heath. I don't think it's a real 'happening' town, but it will be nice to get out of Ardingly for a little bit. We need to go to Sainsbury's - England's Coles equivalent - for some groceries (just essentials, like chocolate and such hehe) and we'll check out some of the shops there as well. 

Our boss also told us that we've settled in well and have had the best start to the year that he's seen since he's been in charge of the Gappers. That was really nice to hear. 

I'm also very excited for the half-term break (only 5 weeks away) because Michael and I are going to PARIS! And then six weeks later, Mum and Dad are coming over for their trip which I'll join for a couple of weeks until I'm needed back at school. Very, very excited. Makes my time at work much easier when there's something to look forward to. 

Missing you all HEAPS and can't wait to hear from you! Hope your summer is going well.

Love you, 
Maddi x

And now for some photos of the school... as per mum's request. I'll post photos of my room and common room later when I've tidied up a tad ;)

Panorama of the south quad 

South quad

Statue of the Ardingly Pelican. The pelican is the school's symbol and is on all of my Ardingly uniforms. The Gappers were all very confused about the significance of the pelican, so I asked a teacher... apparently the pelican is a symbol of sacrifice. Legend has it that the pelican would feed its children with her own blood, just as Christians believe that Jesus gave his blood and body to save us. 

Not my pictures, but the dining hall is on the left and the swimming pool on the right. 

The pool is one of my favourite places in the school because it is the warmest room.