Badminton School

The four Bruneian girls at Badminton School would like to clarify a common misconception. Badminton School is not named after the sport, however awesome that sport is. Badminton School is named after Badminton House. Badminton House could have been named after the sport but who’s to say? Yes, we do, however, play badminton at Badminton.

Badminton School is an independent all-girls boarding and day school in Bristol. The school is situated in a quiet area of Bristol, right next to an old people’s home. Sometimes people mistake our school for the old people’s home. Which is a bit sad, but that’s neither here nor there.

Badminton School in a nutshell. Apologies for the profanities, which we have so conveniently blacked-out. You have to admit it is pretty funny, though.

For our blog post, we each wrote about our own individual experiences as Badmintonians (Badders, for short) so what you’ll have here are four different pieces from four different perspectives, but first, a little bit about the City of Bristol.

The Clifton Suspension Bridge. The bridge has a reputation as a suicide bridge. Fun fact: In 1885, a 22-year-old woman named Sarah Ann Henley survived a fall from the bridge when her billowing skirts acted as a parachute; she subsequently lived into her eighties.

Cabot Circus, a shopping centre in Bristol.

Graffiti decorate the city center and Bristol is home to many of Banksy’s works, like the famous graffiti of the Naked Man.

Tampopo and 4500 Miles from Delhi, two restaurants which we frequent the most because they have the only thing that matters in this world: Halal chicken.

DURRAH (Chemistry, Economics, Further Maths) 

Studying abroad might be new to all of us, but only a few have experienced boarding school. I was one of them who was anxious and a tad bit frightened to live in a whole new environment, let alone be in another country :/

I remember the first time I stepped into my boarding house with Syasya. We were literally so excited cos we finally arrived at school and we um..sort of left Cikgu Kamaliah and ran up to see how our dorm looks like.  And surprise, surprise! We were welcomed and I personally feel that it was lucky that we were given the room with the most scenic view of the school.

Here’s a shot of how the school looked like from my window (during my first term in Badminton School)

So how does boarding school work in Badminton? J There are 3 boarding houses located around Badminton – Bartlett, Sanderson and the Sixth Form Boarding House. And you guessed it—all the sixth form boarders (and day girls) will have their respective bedrooms and study rooms in the building.

A room is shared between 2 boarders when they are in the lower 6^th, and it is mandatory for us to change rooms every term. So in Badminton, you start a new term with a new room and (possibly) a new roommate too. I was quite lucky to have Syasya as my roommate for the whole year (yippee :p) so yeah it was quite new to me when we had to be in our own single bedrooms once we came back from Summer to start our upper 6^th year.

The boarding house has a staff of 5 house mistresses, who are always ready to help us with anything we need regarding boarding life. The boarding house is has 2 floors (excluding ground floor :p), a laundry room, a common room, two computer rooms and two brew rooms- which are basically small kitchens- located on every floor. I personally think that we are provided with everything we need to make our boarding life as enjoyable and comfortable as possible. The headmistress would call for weekly house meetings for both the upper and the lower sixth to discuss and raise issues that we might be concerned about and also update us on the events that are going to happen in and out of the boarding house. The boarding staff have always offered us a variety of trips and activities to make the boarding life more exciting, Among the trips that were held last year include trips to the Harry Potter studio set, the Russian Circus near our school and day trips to Cardiff, Bath and various shopping outlets. In house activities include weekly film night on Saturday evening, baking and special themed cuisines during our meal times.

When we are in need of getting to the nearest pharmacy or supermarket, Henleaze- which is a town 5 minutes away from our school- would be a one stop place to get all of that. However, boarders are only allowed to leave school three times a day; during break, lunch and tea. Those times only apply during the weekdays whereas, during the weekends we are allowed to go out anytime we want as long as we sign out during the times at which we choose to leave school.

We also have the privilege of having weekend outs (or better known as exeats) twice per term. Those two weekends can be further divided into four if we choose to leave school on a Saturday morning instead of Friday evening.

After being in Badminton for a year, I’ve finally adapted to living as an international boarder.  I hope that now that I’ve finally settled, I can focus 100% on my Alevels and make my remaining months in Badminton as memorable as possible.

MIZAH (Politics, Economics, Maths, Geography)

My early days in Badminton were pretty hectic since I came three days late than the school reopens and missed the induction session.

To keep things short and ignoring the fact that I countlessly got lost around the school (and its not that big), the school compound was absolutely beautiful! Buildings were a mixture of classic and modern, which unexpectedly blends together with the greeneries and the multicoloured roses.

Boarding life in badminton is very convenient with the house located within the school campus that we can go back and forth in between classes to get our ‘intentionally forgotten’ stuffs or easier to sprint if we are late (umm not intentional)

The house staffs were absolutely darlings (cough x2); they can remember everyone’s names (absolutely admirable cause I can’t) and are eager to help every boarder with issues.  They are ALWAYS there if you just want to have a chat so that every boarders can feel happy and at ease.

Their hospitality make me feel home instantly. I was quite happy with my room that I share with my cheerful roommate mostly due to it being very spacious WAHAHA. Ah and I LOVE my bed (So bouncy and fluffy! <3)

The lower sixth formers’ boarders have their weekly meeting on every Tuesday where we discussed every complaint about the house so they can be fixed and solved. We also have to register every night at 8 p.m. to make sure no one is missing and again the staff will come to our rooms at 10.30 p.m. every day to wish goodnight and asks if everyone is okay.

What else?

Ah food! We are only served with halal meat every Tuesday night. It’s a pity that we can’t eat meat everyday (Oh my carnivorous desire, suppress yourself!) but it makes us really grateful and especially excited for our special dinner night and most of the time, it was worth it to wait! (Mouth watering………)

In conclusion, Badminton is a very welcoming school that offers extensive cares both academically and emotionally for their students. Their belief that students learns best if they are happy is very true (at least for me) and it is just nice to be here!

SYIDAH (Maths, Biology, Economics, Chemistry)

September 2nd 2013.

The day when I first came to Badminton School, Bristol. 

It’s my first year in lower sixth and this is the first time I would ever become a boarder. It took me about two hours from London to reach Bristol.

I came in the afternoon when the students had already unpacked their clothes and stuffs. We were even invited for the 6Bs’ Parents and Tutor Tea just to get to know each other in our tutor group and spent our time bonding in the whole afternoon.

September 3rd 2013

It was my second day and it was a bit rough since I was the only Bruneian that had arrived first. Anyway, for the second day we, the new 6B students, together with our respective tutor group were doing charity work. Well, mine had to clear up the Trooper’s Hill. We were also told some fascinating industrial history of Bristol.

September 4th 2013

The day when new international boarders were brought to Henleaze (a very convenient place for boarders to buy their essentials.) 

It was also the day when we sorted out our lesson timetable. Lesson started on September 5th. I’m taking Economics, Chemistry, Biology, and Math.

Economics students are encouraged to join the Prince’s Trust 500 Charity Challenge. I came up with a small company called “Buzinezz Beez” and we’re still working on things to raise 500 pounds for youth charity.

September 7th 2013

New international boarders were brought to the “Open Top Bus tour of Bristol”  and form the name itself, “tour of Bristol”, we were brought around Bristol. We even spotted Gromit, a dog character in the cartoon movie “Wallace and Gromit”. There were about 80 painted Gromit statues but we managed to spot only 8 of them that day. The aim for these Gromit statues is to raise money for children’s hospital in Bristol.

This “Wallace and Gromit” movie was originated in Bristol that is why it is quite famous in Bristol. It has been a great experience that I have been given the opportunity to study in Badminton School and I wish this would lead to the road of success in my life. 

SYASYA (Maths, English Literature, French, Economics (AS))

Cards on the table, Badminton School and I have a love-hate relationship. There are moments when I think ‘What am I doing here?? I’m so moving schools. I’m done with this’ and there are also moments when I’m so fiercely proud of my school, I feel like stopping every single car that passes my school, knocking on the window and saying ‘My school’s great! Send your daughter to my school!’ (Hyperbole, but you get the idea.) I’ve have some of my best and worst experiences at this school and in all honesty, I believe that it has made me change for the better and helped me grow up.

My first term at this school was akin to a rollercoaster ride. (Not that I’ve been on a rollercoaster because those things kill people. It’s true. You can’t pay me enough to get me on a rollercoaster.) It was scary, it was intimidating and I felt that everything was moving too fast. I remember the first lessons I had for each of my subjects. It was quite unnerving because I immediately assumed that everyone was way smarter than me (which they probably are). Also, having attended the same school for about six years, I knew the teachers and the teachers knew me so it was less daunting. Here, I had no idea what the teachers were like.

My first lessons went something like this.

Maths teacher: For C1, we’ll be going through *insert some easy C1 topic*

Me: Shucks, I can do this blindfolded.

And this.

French teacher: Bonjour asiajhdoiefindohfdcvkjl?

Me: ………………….Oui?

Or this.

Economics teacher: Ok that’s microeconomics and macroeconomics now I’m going to give you a really difficult test about those two topics even though I only taught you for five minutes.

And this.

English teacher: So we will be setting you essays every week minimum two sides with references to every quote you use or every critic you quote and then we want you to write a book and publish it that will be your prep

Again, hyperbole but you get the gist.

For me, it was a bit like being tossed into the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim. I had to do more work than everyone else in my class (except for Maths pfft) because all the other subjects were completely different than what I was taught back in Brunei. Economics was the worst. To me, it was even more foreign than French as it was my first time taking such a subject. Of course, I wasn’t expecting it to be the same but I was definitely not prepared for how different and how challenging it was going to be. Eventually, I began to make progress, not just in my studies but also in adapting to my new life. So for any of the Lower 6s who are despairing because of any difficulties you’re facing right now, DON’T! Things do get better, somewhere along the line.

So far, life as an upper sixth former looks great. I have my own room. (Funny story, though. When I first arrived in school after summer break, I walked into my new room and discovered that I had no closet. Yes, no closet. How anyone could forget a whole CLOSET is beyond me.) Granted, university and college applications aren’t making things look any rosier and trying to juggle school work with applications is a tough feat but I have more free periods as I dropped Economics after AS Levels. I have more time now to be more involved in other things, such as helping run the school’s Law Club, attending the school’s Greek Tragedies Club and participating in the French Language Debating Competition, which we won against Redland. FYI, Badminton won almost all of the Modern Languages Debate that day and the Upper Six French Debaters (c’est moi) won both of our debates. Conclusion: Badminton School is awesome.

One of the most memorable experiences that I had while at Badminton was my very brief stint as a circus performer. The school had organized a trip to the Moscow State Circus, which was set up a mere walking distance away from my school. At the circus, we scored the ringside seats and in the middle of the performance, one of the performers walked off the stage to choose someone from the member of the audience. He chose some random guy at the back and unfortunately, when he was handing the chosen guy to the other performer on stage, I MADE EYE CONTACT WITH HIM. In that moment, I knew.

It wasn’t all that horrible really. On the stage, I could barely see the audience because the lights were so bright that everything else was dark so that made me less nervous. All I had to do was play this weird looking musical instrument and when I finished, the performer told me I did great. Guess I know what I can turn to if education doesn’t work out.