Bruce House will be home to up to 121 boarders this year from Year 7 to Year 13. There are 20 international students in the boarding house from eight different countries - Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, Fiji, China, Canada and France - bringing a vast diversity of cultures. The Kiwi boarders come from all around New Zealand, many from rural homes but there is also a large contingent from Greater Auckland. These ‘local’ students live a little too far away for an easy daily commute by bus or car, and so often in their senior years choose to board to take full advantage of co-curricular activities that take place before and after school, as well as the assistance of tutors during Prep time. A 7am music rehearsal or a sports training that finishes at 5pm are much easier to manage when they take place only a few minutes’ walk away!

For those new to boarding, those first few nights away can be a bit of a scary prospect and so the first weekend back to school each year has become known as ‘Stay Back Weekend.’ All the boarders, even those who would generally head home for the weekend, ‘stay back’ for a weekend of fun activities to make new friendships and form new bonds between the age groups.

Newly appointed Bruce House Head Girl, Risa Miyaura reports on their weekend of fun:

‘The Bruce House Stay Back Weekend was what we would call a ‘jam-packed weekend of sun, activities and fun.’ As it was the long weekend for  Waitangi Day, we were lucky to enjoy each others’ company an extra day which was great for the new boarders to settle in and for the ones returning to catch up with old friends, make new friends and set the ‘vibes’ for this year.

The weekend kicked off with the ‘house party’ on Friday night which included multi-coloured beamer lights, pumping music, musical chairs as well as being geared up with mega speakers which were powered by our very own DJ’s (Bruce House Head Boy, Harrison Taylor  and Bruce House Deputy Head Boy, Louis Poot). This all took place in the Bruce House dining hall and it was amazing that a place like this could be transformed into an ultimate dance floor. This night ended hours after some great ‘raves’ with many of us either having lost our voices or with ringing ears!

Saturday started bright and early with the ‘Paxton’s obstacle course’ which included a 22m water slide powered by fire hoses (kindly organised by parent, Mr Wayne Paxton), alongside cargo nets, tractor tyres, sacks and many other obstacles which the teams faced. This was set up on the Bruce House hill and was a fantastic opportunity for team building and the chance for the boarders to get to know each other.

In the afternoon, the teams set off on the Bruce House Amazing Race where two teams competed to win points involving a mini-challenge such as a chance to throw water balloons at each other, eat marshmallows and mummify people in toilet paper – which turned out to be something that everyone wanted to get involved in!

After a full on day, it was a nice opportunity for the boarders to head to the Pakuranga Night Markets to enjoy eating at different stalls  and then the day ended out on  the Bruce House courts to enjoy an experience of an ‘open air’ movie night.      

Both Sunday and Monday were used as days to sleep in, relax, swim and enjoy the sun. On Sunday afternoon we all headed down to the school pool for a ‘pool party’ which involved multiple attempts on the blow-up pool toy resulting in countless belly-flops  which provided great laughs for the onlookers around the pool! Mr Whippy paid us a visit with plenty of ice-creams during the afternoon which we all loved!  Our weekend finally ended after a trip to the small but lively Omana Beach. At this stage everyone was quite tired and just keen to soak up the sun.

Overall, it was an amazing weekend that resulted in the formation of strong friendships, lots of laughter and most importantly gave us a chance to be brought closer together as a family. It was a great opportunity for the new boarders to mix and get a sense of the family bonds that form at Bruce House.’

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