Bankole’s Story

Year 11

Nigerian

My first impression of Ratcliffe was really positive, I liked the boarding houses and the fact that everyone bonded with each other. In my first few weeks the lessons felt free-flowing and there was no pressure on me settling in as a new student. The borders also had the opportunity to do loads of activities and go on many trips including my personal favourite, the trip to Alton towers.

I chose Ratcliffe College as my first choice school because I believed that it would help me improve and become a better person, I think this has definitely happened and I feel I have matured a lot since I joined in Year 9.

Now I am a 15-year-old boy who has grown into realising what life holds for me in the future.

Life as a boarder is really good, everyone feels happy to be around the boarding house and there is never a lack of things to do. We have the fantastic gym available and the sports on a night-time. We also get to watch football and use the PlayStation. We have kitchenettes around if anyone ever feels like cooking and we go to ASDA every weekend if we ever want to do some grocery shopping.

The best thing for me about boarding at Ratcliffe is going to the gym on a night-time, which has some amazing facilities available for us to use. I also like the fact that I am able to be around my friends most of the time and we can socialise anytime we please.

I like it when our Housemaster Mr Gilchrist orders us Chinese food or pizza as a special treat, and when we go go-karting.

My advice for people thinking about boarding at Ratcliffe is that it is the best way to work hard and have a lot of fun at the same time. I do miss my family, but it is worth the experience as it allows you to mature and grow better connections and relationships with new people. I guess I just like the atmosphere around boarding, we feel like one big community, nobody is ever down or feeling left out.

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