This term, we have welcomed Round Square students Anna, Year 10, Macarena, Year 10, and Ines, Year 12 into our School. They have been involved in lessons, various exciting Boarding activities, and have become truly immersed in life at Cobham Hall. Unfortunately, their visit has now come to an end, and they will be returning home at the end of the week. It has been an absolute pleasure to welcome such lovely students into our community.
We asked Anna, who lives in Canada, and Macarena, who lives in Peru, to sit down with us so we could find out a bit more about their experience here.
What were your first impressions of Cobham?
Anna: “The building is really cool. It’s really different to the School I go to; the timetable is different as we finish at a different time here and doing GCSEs is completely new to me.”
“It’s really welcoming, everyone here is so nice.”
Macarena: “I thought the building was amazing, when I first got here, I thought “Oh my God – Harry Potter!” The School grounds are really big, and different parts of the School are really different to each other; the main building is very historical and old, but T-Block is completely different.”
“There are students from a lot of different places, there is so much diversity.”
Was there anything specific that helped you settle in?
Anna: “We are roommates so being new together has really helped to figure out everything.”
Macarena: “The teachers are really welcoming.”
Anna: “The teachers are so helpful.”
What has been most memorable?
Anna: “I liked all the boarding trips and the house mistresses are so nice. We visited the Tower of London, which was really cool.”
Macarena: “Bowling was my favourite, that was fun.”
What is the main difference between Cobham and your School?
Macarena: “You have to walk a lot to get to the lessons as this School is so big. The main difference is the weather though, I come from a desert so I wasn’t prepared for it to be this cold. I didn’t even bring a coat.”
Anna: “I come from a co-educational School, so it’s different that there are only girls here. It is a lot smaller here than at my School too, which I like. It’s great how the teachers can help students individually.”
Macarena: “The small classes make it so much easier for the teachers to help you, they can answer questions really quickly. Back home I sometimes have my hand up for a whole lesson before the teacher can help me.”
What was your favourite part?
Anna: “The whole thing has been great.”
Macarena: “We’ve made really great friends, who I will miss.”
Anna: “There’s so much diversity.”
Macarena: “I love how everyone knows each other, there’s a lot of interaction between different year groups and everyone is so friendly.”
Macarena: “People remember your name here.”
We also sat down with Ines, who lives in Peru, and she shared with us how her time here at Cobham Hall has been:
What did you think when you first got here?
“I thought the School looked like a castle. I’ve seen pictures of the building, but I didn’t expect it to be as beautiful as it was in real life.”
“The people were really nice. I hadn’t heard a lot of great things about Boarding Schools, so I was pleasantly surprised when everyone was so nice and accommodating.”
What helped you to settle in?
“The first two days were really hard without my parents, but everyone was so warm and welcoming. All the other students and the Housemistress definitely helped me to feel settled as they were all so welcoming.”
What’s different about Cobham to what you’re used to?
“Boarding is different because my School isn’t a Boarding School. I really like it because you get to see all your friends all the time, and we are like a family. We don’t have our parents here; we have each other and that brings you closer.”
What have you enjoyed the most?
“Meeting new people. Everyone is from everywhere, there is so much culture. It is so great seeing where everyone is from and learning about different cultures.”
“Although the School isn’t in London, there is really easy access to London. It’s such a beautiful city, so every week my friends and I have gone to London to explore, which I really enjoyed.”
We would like to wish Anna, Macarena and Ines the very best in the rest of their studies and say thank you to them for choosing to stay at Cobham Hall. We are so pleased that you enjoyed your time here and we hope you stay in touch.