We have just come to the end of yet another great Food File here in the dining room of Kingsland Hall with a fabulous display of Fruit Smoothies and Frozen Yogurt.  This time we asked our local fruit and veg supplier, Rowlands, to show off a mouth-watering array of fruit and vegetables.  A taste of the elusive summer was ushered in as we welcomed the opportunity to display and sample a wonderful range of low fat frozen yogurts from a small Brighton-based company called ‘Lick’.

Our talented chefs went about creating two flavours of fruit smoothies – Banana & Chocolate & Peach, Ginger & Honey – for the students and staff to try.  The display of frozen yogurt also went down a storm with scoops of Natural and Banana & Honey sampled and enjoyed by all.   The smoothie recipes were handed out to the students to try at home over the summer holidays.

As the end of the academic year approaches, bringing with it the inevitable exam season, we realise just how important it is to be able to inject a lot of fun as well as flavour into our food, and this is just one of the reasons why we love the Food Files so much!  We all know that our children learn much more effectively when they are well fed, and fruit smoothies are a quick, tasty and fun way of increasing their vital Five-a-Day fruit intake.

C’mon Summer!

Carrie Zeiler
KH  

With the unseasonal snowfall hastening the end of the Lent term, the Establishment and Boarding House cleaning teams leapt into action to spring clean the houses in time for the arrival of the National School Fives competitors on Sunday 24th March. Meanwhile the Laundry staff made up close to 500 bed sets in addition to dealing with a mountain of laundry from the matrons.

I  don’t expect that when Seb Cooley agreed to organise the Fives that he had anticipated that competition day would be preceded by Andy Richards and his Grounds team having to sweep the courts clear of snow and grit the whole area, but they rose to the challenge with games starting on time.

Unfortunately the football pitches didn’t fare quite as well and we had to cancel the ISFA under-13 Football Festival, not a hard decision to make with 10 cms of snow on the ground but a real shame for the footballers travelling to us from all over the country.

The Maidment Building was in full use throughout the holidays. Wigan Youth Orchestra rehearsed there prior to their performance at the Royal Northern College of Music. They were followed by the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain, staying with us for their third year running, whose stay culminated in a performance in front of 500 proud parents.

On the sporting front HD Sportsworld held their boys’ and girls’ football festivals with England goalkeeper Joe Hart visiting. He was kept extremely busy signing autographs whilst chatting to the youngsters and passing on a few coaching tips.

Not to be outdone, the Andrew Flintoff Cricket Academy held another of their regular non-residential cricket courses with Jimmy Anderson, one of England’s leading strike bowlers, in attendance. The highlight of the Q & A session was when one young boy asked Jimmy, “Are you tucked in when you’re fielding?” After repeating the question it became apparent he was referring to his England shirt and presumably he was also checking out that his Mum’s dress code instructions were correct!

Jimmy Anderson and Joe Hart surrounded by their fans

In the final week of the holidays, pre-season training camps were very much in evidence for the rowers from King’s School Worcester, Lincoln College in Oxford and our own J14s, along with cricketers from Manchester University, with the School 1st & 2nd teams playing Millfield, Worksop, Worcester Academy and Giggleswick School.

Ed Moore and his team organised a range of non-residential holiday activities featuring – for the first time – archery, fencing and canoeing, along with our established swimming, tennis, trampolining and performing art courses, all of which were well attended and great fun.

In conclusion, this was our busiest Easter to date, with 3,200 bed nights and the KH team cooking and serving 9,400 meals. The success of the programme helps to generate profits that contribute to funding school bursaries. My thanks to everyone who played their part in ensuring our guests enjoyed their stay here.  Many staff, too numerous to mention, have helped tremendously and there have been many compliments about the high standards of facilities on offer.

Finally I do sometimes get asked why do we host so many groups and organise so many activities. I guess part of the answer lies in the obvious pleasure guests experience from being at Shrewsbury, but also from when I receive a letter from a star-struck Joe Hart fan – and I quote: “Thank you for organising the greatest day of my life.”

Sue Laister
General Services Manager

Future England goalie Jay Bevan (aged 10) with friend Joe Hart
 

Every Thursday a group of Fifth Formers get to spend the afternoon in the kitchen learning to cook as part of their Thursday Activities programme.  But this Thursday we threw them a bit of a challenge.  They were split up into small groups and under the watchful eye of our chefs, they had to prep, cook and serve lunch!

The menu (chosen just for Field Day) consisted of grilled steaks served with mushrooms, chunky onion rings and skinny fries.  Creamy Hollandaise, Diane & Pepper sauces accompanied the steaks.  Chicken Kiev was the second hot choice on offer, along with a “Subway” themed Theatre Bar.  Vegetarians were catered for with a lovely Ratatouille.  The boys were even roped into the pastry section to produce a mouth-watering chocolate bread and butter pudding served with a rich hot chocolate sauce. 

After a busy Field Day it was a treat for the School to return to such a delicious lunch cooked and served by their contemporaries!

Carrie Zeiler
KH

Pancake Day here in Kingsland Hall is an annual event that is looked forward to with a great deal of anticipation, not to mention lip smacking!  However, this year Pancake Day had the audacity to appear at the beginning of Half Term, which meant that the students would have potentially missed out on their favourite sweet treat.  No problem! We just changed the date…!

So Friday the 8th February became our official Pancake Day!  In the dining room chafing dishes were set out on trestle tables to keep the piles of pancakes hot.  At the other end of the trestles our talented staff had set up a wonderful display of tasty toppings.  Students and staff watched our chefs in action with the frying pans and soon the air was filled with the welcoming aroma of pancakes.  Fillings included traditional lemon juice and sugar but for those with a sweeter tooth there were two large jugs of hot melted chocolate, as well as strawberry compote.  Some students ate their main meals first before joining the queue for pancakes, while others side-stepped the hot counters completely, choosing pancakes as their main lunch option!  

As predicted, the hot chocolate sauce proved to be the most popular filling (well, we are feeding teenagers after all!)  and some students managed to combine a mixture of all three. 

It certainly has been a busy week here in KH, which is just the way we like it.  We wish everyone a restful half term.

Carrie Zeiler
KH
 

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word “Detox”?  Do you have images of drinking gallons of water and sucking on a carrot stick?  Well, perhaps you could be forgiven for thinking that. But allow us to blow that misconception completely out of the water!

Detoxing our bodies is not only a way of getting rid of any spare, unwanted pounds that we inevitably accumulate over the Christmas festive season, but it is also an ideal opportunity for us to flush out any toxins that would make us look and feel sluggish.  Flushing our bodies of toxins and replacing them with vitamin-packed foods not only boosts brain power (ideal if you are about to tackle some challenging examinations) but also helps to keep our bodies protected against any pesky winter bugs that would try to attack our immune system.  And studies have shown that if we top up our immune system with vital vitamins, we automatically increase the body’s chances of fighting off colds.  So, detoxing is just like a spring-clean for your body!  Best of all, it can taste yummy too!

Proof of this was on display at lunchtime today in Kingsland Hall, where a huge fruity display was put together by our ever talented staff.  Chilled carrot juice was poured along with a truly delicious juice made up of watermelon, cucumber, kiwi & apple.    Also on offer was a sumptuous banana, oat & honey smoothie.   The home made granola bars went down a treat but they competed neck & neck with the platter of freshly baked fat-free Tuscan Grape Cake!  Detoxing has never looked so scrumptious! As always the chefs were on hand to give students information on energy-boosting foods while they sampled the healthy snacks.

Our dedicated chefs are not only passionate about producing the freshest, healthiest food, but they also delight in conjuring up delicious treats, so today’s  Detox day was a brilliant opportunity for them to produce treats that were not only healthy, but tasted wonderful too.

Detoxing has never tasted so good!

Carrie Zeiler
KH