Hi from the Boarding House bubble 😊 where the boarders living in have aptly named themselves the 'Cool Columba Campers'.

Living in our bubble we have 19 boarders who were not able to travel home prior to the lockdown commencing (as they have parents living overseas), 4 of the 6 RA’s ordinarily living on-site and Mrs Parks.

So far, we are all fine and have plenty to do to keep ourselves organised. Campers have been split into families – Kiwi, Kaka, Fantail and Tui. As well as completing the daily duties in our families, we mapped out an activities program at the beginning of lockdown that we are working our way through each day. So far, we have been baking (Rin’s chocolate cake was the best!!) some have been learning to sew (new skirts have appeared and Aun is doing a great job of making hair scrunchies for everyone) and we have a badminton tournament running. At the moment, Kaka is looking like the favourite to win the tournament.

We’ve got another group that have learnt to knit. The pile of peggy squares is growing and Rachel having learnt how to blanket stitch is doing a great job of stitching the squares into blankets. After lockdown is over, we look forward to being able to donate the blankets made to those in need.

On fine days we have been able to make good use of the school campus. The tennis court is getting plenty of use, we’ve been practising our orienteering skills and had a photography competition. This week we have also made pot pouri. During the evening favourites have been watching a movie on Disney+, kahoot, charades, karaoke, twister, table tennis and even the odd game of Monopoly. Chair racing was a hit that included the odd crash or two! We have a puzzle table set up and today we set into our 5th puzzle. Dorothea is proving herself to be a whiz with puzzles.

This weekend we are looking forward to an easter egg hunt.

While what we are enduring at the moment is not ideal, we do have a lot to be thankful for. In the Dining Room we have a large whiteboard setup. Every night we each write up something that we are thankful for to help remind us of this. We hope that you are all safe out there and are enjoying spending time together at home with your families. Remember that the Columba College Lockdown Challenge is on. We are looking forward to seeing your entries and to see what everyone else is up to.

Take care and stay safe. We look forward to seeing you all back at school again soon.