A boarder's day
"It's 7:30am and the alarm goes off - time to drag myself out of bed to start a new day. A quick shower, a stretch and a yawn later and it's down to the dining hall for breakfast, stopping off at the laundry to hand in the previous day's clothes.
Having had my fill - perhaps some bacon and eggs, cereal and always plenty of tea - it's back upstairs to prepare for the rest of the day. Schoolbooks are bundled into bags and shirts hastily tucked in. Having turned half the room upside down in search of that elusive physics book it's time (8:50am) for registration which, for Sixth Formers, is in the Sixth Form Common Room (fortunately just a short walk from my own room!).
School assembly is next, and after that lessons begin: today it's Physics and Maths followed by Chemistry to start things off with a bang. After the third period at 11:05am it's break time: maybe back up to the boarding house kitchen for something to eat and drink with the rest of the boarders or perhaps the traditional game of football - unless Prefect duties dictate otherwise!
After a few more lessons it's time for lunch, and then more lessons until the formal school day ends at 4:20pm. After school we have half an hour or so to ourselves to get changed out of uniform before grabbing some food and drink in the house kitchen. Then we have an hour of prep in which to do our homework and prepare for the next day's lessons. After this, tea in the dining rooms downstairs; and once all the dishes are cleared away we collect our fresh clothes from the laundry, head back up to the boarding house and - maybe after a quick visit to the tuck shop! - settle down to late prep: more time dedicated to homework and revision, to make sure we get everything out of the way.
From now on we can do whatever we want with our time; I usually go outside with the lads and we play football, hockey or just run around like bunch of idiots - we can always go down to the sports hall if the weather is poor. Or maybe someone will put a film on in the common room upstairs. The younger ones start going to bed from around 9:00pm, and then I can relax with the older boarders with a cup of hot chocolate and a good chat.
Tomorrow is the weekend - sports on Saturday alongside the rest of the school, and possibly a boarders outing on the Sunday: perhaps down to the local sports centre in Berwick, possibly to a show at the local Maltings Theatre, or maybe up to Edinburgh for any number of things - the cinema, an extended shopping trip, a visit to the zoo, or even go-karting and paintballing.
Bed is welcome after a long week and a busy weekend, and sleeping easy in the quiet of the School's own parkland. Until another week begins!"