Last night New Portena girls invited friends from other houses for enjoying karaoke together… 🎤🎶 and why not anticipating the warmest atmosphere of the year, which is close, by also singing Christmas songs?! 😊

We’re thrilled to kick off the second pillar of our Wellbeing program at New Portena: “Protecting Against Bullying and Respecting Diversity.” Yesterday’s house meeting marked the beginning of our ethnicity and diversity challenge, a meaningful initiative to foster connections and understanding.

In a heartwarming exercise, roommates in each room came together to discover what they share in common. From shared interests to cultural connections, the process was a celebration of diversity and unity within our boarding house.

Here’s to the journey of embracing diversity and building stronger bonds at New Portena! 🌐🏡✨ #NewPortenaJourney

Happy birthday, dear Jane. We wish you the best! It is so nice to have you in New Portena 🧡🏡

Bon anniversaire Jane!! 🥰🥳

Hello !

My name is Sofiia and I’ve been living in New Portena for three years now. I’d like to share with you the reasons why I think New Portena is the best home.

First of all, there’s the location, it’s not far from the school.

I also appreciate the rich diversity in our house, with students of various nationalities. This diversity has expanded our social circles and deepened our connections, enabling us to welcome and connect with new students as they join our community at the beginning of the year. Being in a big house for a long time has also allowed me to build meaningful relationships with my friends and the house parent team.

Thank you New Portena, I love you!

Sofiia

The first weekend of November greeted us with a gentle rain and the unmistakable feel of autumn in the air. Our New Portena girls, undeterred by the weather, seized the opportunity to whip up some warmth and sweetness.

On Saturday morning, Adela, Ashley, Lily, Vladi, and Yufri went over to their cooking activity to create a delightful cooking experience. The result? Delicious, homemade éclairs.

🌧️🍂🍮 #AutumnDelights #NewPortenaMoments

We introduce you to Nippy, the owl pumpkin that New Portena girls had fun to carve last Monday 😀

Yesterday evening New Portena house and its living room decorated with fake spider webs, bats, cockroaches as well as a table full of candies, marshmallows dipped in chocolate, scaring Oreo biscuits and much more hosted students from other houses who had a lot of fun playing board games and baking ghost, bat, pumpkin, brain-shaped sweets with New Portena girls! 🍭🧁

The whole house is decorated and everything is ready for the evening of Halloween.

We made every effort to complete the decorations before the arrival of the girls from holidays and we are very happy that they enjoyed this surprise.

During the October break Melissa joined an amazing trip in Vietnam and Cambodia with other students of the school. The two weeks were filled with exciting activities and places to visit. Trips like this can be incredibly enriching and provide a wealth of experiences and memories.

Vietnam 
After being in Hanoi, students went to Sapa which is one of the most interesting towns in North Vietnam and where there are beautiful mountain-spaces, diversity of minority people, and rice terrace fields, especially Fansipan Mountain well-known as Indochina Top. Students had the opportunity to interact with the locals during a visit to a Primary boarding school in the area and they did a boat tour in Tràng An. They also did a one-day cruise where they could do some kayaking in a lagoon and visit Sung Sot Cave. They visited the Vietnam Military Museum to learn about their history and enjoyed a rickshaw tour of the city and shop for souvenirs.

Cambodia
Memories of Cambodia will also always be unforgettable for the students. In Siem Reap they embarked on a culinary adventure with a cooking lesson, where everyone learned how to cook traditional Cambodian dishes and received certificates for their culinary achievements! 

It was a great luck also to have the opportunity to visit an orphanage: the time spent with children was truly heartwarming.
The 15 students who went on this trip generously donated school materials to 65 local students in need, a seemingly small gesture which meant so much to these children. We are so proud of Melissa and all the students for taking time to do such a beautiful thing.

Students were delighted to have a traditional dinner while enjoying a lovely Apsara Dance show.

The visit to the Angkor Wat and the Tomb Raider temple captivated them and after that they journeyed to the capital, Phnom Penh.

On their last day they had the privilege to interact with the local students, an enriching experience that touched their hearts.