Why We’re Here: An Open Day Story

At Habs, we want our visitors to feel welcome. On Saturday 6 October, we opened our gates to boys and parents alike. Therefore, we asked three Junior School students to describe their initial impressions of Habs when they first came to Open Day and whether those impressions have lived up to expectation! Join us as we relive three Open Day stories of our Year 7s and Year 8s.

Sam

Sam is a keen athlete and a regular top seed in Habs tennis. However, before all that, he was a nervous visitor clutching a visitor bag on the school driveway, watching the older boys play tennis. Of Open Day, he says: ‘I remember looking at the Sports facilities and I was quite amazed. The Astroturf was probably as big as my school’.

After watching a few points, Mr Lee, the tennis coach, invited Sam to join in. ‘I remember playing the few best players. I had always wanted to play for the school in tennis.’

Two years later, Sam is ranked fourth seed in the Junior School and attends weekly training sessions in the summer. He has developed his forehand and serving skills, and is now working on his spin in particular.

‘It’s a great atmosphere. Everyone wants to play in the top two or three seeds so it’s a competition to get up, but nobody is ever salty over it.’

Zain

For Zain, our Joblings Form Prefect, Open Day was all about the grounds. The library in particular drew him to the School. Approaching the Bourne Hall, where the School holds its assemblies and prize-givings, Zain felt a sense of scale and awe.

As his tour guide led him through the building, he remembers:

‘I went upstairs and saw the library which was really new, with computers and lots of books. I love reading so it gave me a lot more books to choose from.’

Zain recalls browsing through the non-fiction, skimming the range of Sports biographies. As his parents talked to the librarian, he looked over to the centre of the library and saw a gathering of students.

‘I remember there were people telling us that we could do a quiz on books. I went over there and had a go. It was really fun and I learnt new ideas from it.’

Nowadays Zain is a key member of our school community, a form Captain, and finds the library useful to work.

‘It helps me focus more and I go there to catch up on reading or focus on work. I also use the computers a lot. I find them useful as if we have a project for DT or Science, then the library computers have the programmes you need. I used 2D Design for DT and LoggerPro for Physics this year.’

When we ask Zain about his current science project, he begins to describe the relative speed of falling water, something about temperature probes, and the data necessary to plot a graph. Although we’re unsure what he’s talking about, we’re sure he knows, and so we left him to get on with his data-logging!

Niyam

Niyam’s just joined our Year 7 and has also a lot to say about the science. In fact, when he thinks back to Open Day, he particularly remembers the Chemistry department, complete with an exciting range of lab experiments.

‘There was a Bunsen burner experiment and we had to put these goggles on to test pieces of wire and see what would happen if we put them in the flame.’

At the time, Niyam recalls his interest in the different colours the wire turned as it entered the flame. Open Day was all about the fun and excitement of the various experiments. However, now he’s entered the School, he’s learning all about the science behind it.

‘We’re doing that Bunsen burner experiment now in Chemistry. We have to test different wires, learn how to be safe when using fire and learn about toxic materials. It all depends where you put the wire. If you put the wire on the inner cone, it’s the hottest part of the flame, and it gets up to 1000 degrees. In the inner cone, it glows bright red. The outer cone isn’t that hot so the wire goes a bit black.’

When asked about whether the lesson lived up to his expectations, he contrasted the different roles, comparing the visitation of Open Day to the responsibilities now he’s part of the school.

‘On Open Day, you could take part in the experiment, but now you have responsibility for the experiment.’

This lovely distinction between taking part and responsibility surely reflects in his new-found role as Form Captain – many thanks, Niyam!

Open Day Past and Present

From the early days of watching older boys play on forecourts, taking quizzes on reading and watching wire turn different colours under Bunsen burners, it’s been fascinating to hear how our boys have grown and developed over their school careers.

We really want you to feel as excited and enthusiastic as Zain did, as he comments with a smile, ‘I felt an instant reaction.’

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