A Day in the Life of a Downe House Girl

There is no such thing as a typical Downe House girl as they are all individuals with their own ambitions, interests and a love of life. Hence, in many ways there is no typical day - but two common themes run throughout - challenge and activity.

Morning routine
Girls are woken by their housemistresses at roughly 7am, and they then meet together and are accompanied to breakfast by their house staff between 7.30and 8am. Breakfast is a great time to chat to each other in the small informal dining tables, and a seating plan ensures that the girls from each year group mix within the house. The house staff sit with the girls wherever possible and enjoy a good selection of cooked and continental breakfast items with a wide choice every day. The girls' views on the food that is served at all meals are sought every week through the food committee which includes representatives from each house and the Catering Manager and Senior Resident attend.

Time for reflection
The girls return to their houses to get ready for the busy day ahead and they then meet tutors to be registered, and to be given notices for the day before they proceed to either an assembly or a chapel service. The girls are encouraged to be involved in assemblies and chapel services and regularly contribute to them either by participating or by giving ideas for the themes. At some points in the week girls are involved at this time in choral or orchestral practises.

Your day begins
At 9am lessons start and each girl has an individual timetable created around their own choice of subjects, constrained only by a very limited number of factors. This is one of the key strengths of the school as it permits girls to study a wider range of subject combinations than they might otherwise do. Most girls study between 8 and 12 GCSE subjects which can contain combinations of all the usual subjects, plus separate sciences, an accelerated AS science course for the most able, Food Technology, Textiles, Latin or even Chinese.

The day is broken down into 11 teaching periods, but during the day the girls will have breaks in the morning, for lunch and tea. All girls also have various prep slots in the day when they have time to do independent work. This is supervised by a member of staff up to Lower V (year 10) , and after that girls have responsibility to work in their own rooms during this time. Regular games takes place throughout the week, and girls get a chance to take part in several different sports within the term.

The school day ends; activities begin
The academic day finishes at 6pm, after which there is supper where the girls can sit together as they choose, followed by a chance to catch up with friends, and have a go at a huge range of extra-curricular activities from ballet and modern dance to debating, and from horse riding and polo to Scottish reeling. The girls are given a very detailed programme of activities in advance and are able to sign up well beforehand. As well as the exciting physical activities there are many enrichment lectures, and departmental clubs which cater for girls with specific interests. These include the Medley Lecture programme which brings in top quality speakers on a variety of current topics, Science Clubs, Literary Society, Book Clubs and Model United Nations. Girls in the Sixth Form are able to set up and run their own companies as part of the Young Enterprise Scheme. We often have 3 or 4 different companies in operation as this is a very popular activity.

For younger girls there is an equally large range of activities including Channel H - a group that meets regularly to discuss current affairs and environmental issues, as well as a programme of staff lectures on different points of interest, including topics as varied as Genetics, History of Art and the US elections.

Being at 'home' in the evening
However, after a long day, this is also a time for girls to relax, catch up on work, prepare for the next day and enjoy each other's company. It is also time for the Housemistress to catch up with the girls' day and check all is well. Plentiful supplies of toast and hot chocolate help everyone to unwind and help to provide atmosphere for the girls to relax after their busy day. There are many in-house activities organised by the Housemistresses both in the evenings and at weekends.