Another calm night in the common area with our young Grade 8s, each reading their chosen books. It’s wonderful to see their vocabulary progressing as we go over and log in their reading diaries key words they may have misinterpreted or not understood. 

Adrian is deep in another world and Firdavs is distracted by the camera.

Javi and Sam doing great and Jerry too – but needs to work on that posture.

Jiarui and Fanbo find it more comfy on the beanbags.

Our boys ceremonially make sure to visit Olympus Gym every evening. They usually practice their hooping skills and tonight wasn’t any different. Check out these epic pics of the Concha Team balling together!

Which way is he going?

This way? – That way?

It’s a Fanbo Fade-away!!

Another great Saturday morning at the climbing gym filled with great energy. After a gentle warm-up, our boys were eager to climb and get on the wall.

Quique is showing that he can keep up with the others as he moves up to another grade of climbing difficulty. Firdavs had fun swinging from the top when he completed his climbs. João was once again relentless and his determination is admirable, his arms will most definitely be sore later on today. Rodrigo’s cool and calm style of climbing is a joy to watch, he’s a natural and his flow is something special.

We hope to see these boys more often in the Climbing Club because, separately they are all good climbers but seeing them work together today as team can only lead to greater success. Awesome stuff lads!

Quique battling with the top of this boulder problem.

Fist bump for Firdavs

A face-off between João and his nemisis!

Rodrigo’s posing while climbing – too easy!

Climbing Club is always a hit with our young boarders. This weekend many of our Concha boys joined the club. After the warm up, we worked on basic techniques like keeping arms straight, body positioning and footwork.

This sport really drives the boys determiation, problem solving skills, strength and resilience. Every time they complete a boulder problem it’s giving them necessary life skills that young ones need. Today it was finding the way to push through and do a difficult climb that took many attempts, however, in day to day life they may need to study harder for a subject they are struggling with or prepare for a challenging test. If they can apply the motivation and mental strength they used in the climbing gym to these everyday experiences, they are destined for success!

Firdavs made it to the TOP!

João, focused and in the zone.

Sharing techniques about how to solve the boulder problem.

Fanbo’s turn to show us how it’s done.

Let’s see what we can learn from João’s skills.

Tim’s going to give it his best try now!

Smooth moves from Rodrigo, almost dancing on the wall!

Double success and double victory hang from Firdavs and Rodrigo – Well Done!

A great day of climbing for Rodrigo, he really pushed himself to the next level!

The kitchen in Concha is getting lots of use lately and while at the beginning of the year our boys were not very experienced chefs, they are now making delicious meals for themselves and their friends. Fanyang made perfect egg noodles with pork, vegetables and a spicy sauce.

We have quite a few good cooks in the house and it might be time to put together our own Master Chef cooking competion, I’m sure the judges would be impressed.

Chef Fanyang and two lucky customers

Winding down after a very eventfull weekend and getting back into the weekly routine. The boys have a few important tests coming up and are studying hard together at the desk.

Today, Ms Manuella from the Marketing Department paid our Concha boys an unexpected visit. All together with Mr Víctor, they organised a filming session for the school’s social media.

Today’s challenge was simply to translate some words from a list into their languages, so as to promote internationalism in our school and prove how enriching being surrounded by people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds can be for the kids. They are really lucky!

Three outstanding students decided to join the video, Adrian (Switzerland), Fanyang (China) and Firdavs (Uzbekistan). Mr Víctor (Spain) joined as well representing the staff and adding a fourth language to the video.

If you want to see the final result, stay tuned to the school’s social media. Don’t miss out!

Tim has discovered the thrilling sport of climbing. He has joined this club for the past few weekends. Despite not having any prior experience he has now taken his climbing to a new level. He manages to climb some of the more tricky routes and is even starting to lead climb with a rope on the 15 metre wall!

After dinner is always a great time to shoot some hoops. We are lucky enough to have such a great space right outside our front door.

The first week of school has ended up being pretty memorable for everyone! Our Concha boys seem to get along well with one another. Our first-time boarders are enjoying this brand-new experience while making friends belonging to this international community. There is something that unites them all: sport passion! – concretely football.

No matter where they come from, a good football match at the Concha Boarding House is the best way for them to make good connections and become lifelong friends.