There has been another influx of students here at St Mary’s Ascot. Session 5, week 1 is now well underway, welcoming 62 new students into the group. Students and their parents were warmly welcomed by our friendly Junior Deans, Counsellors and some typical English Weather! Afternoon tea provided the perfect opportunity for the parents to meet the staff responsible for the students in the coming week, but also to explore the beautiful campus grounds for themselves before actually leaving the students to settle in and start making friends.

Programme Director, Wendy Missions, welcomed the students with a warm introductory speech assuring the slightly more nervous children that they were in very safe hands and that the time would fly by. Wendy also guided the students through the week’s itinerary, highlighting the trip to Warner Brothers: Harry Potter Studios tour to build the excitement amongst the students. Students were actively encouraged to “fully engross themselves in the week’s experience” and urged to absorb as much information as possible in their short time with us here at ORA.

Once the students had found their rooms unpacked their bags and made themselves at home, the Counsellors and Junior Dean’s immediately broke out the ice breaker exercises in order to merge the new students with the existing ones. These proved to work tremendously, with many of the old students welcoming the new ones instantly.

Many students have travelled far and wide to be here, leaving many weary faces. Students were eager to rest up and ready themselves for the first full day of lessons tomorrow followed by the quiz night.

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