In our previous Spotlight, our young boarders talked about the ‘Gappies’, our assistants in the boarding team. You might be wondering what Gap Assistants are? In boarding schools, it is common for the staff to include Gap Assistants, who are young people on a gap year, either straight from finishing school or after university. The Gap Assistant program is attractive as it allows students to work overseas, to travel in the country, learn news skills and gain independence.  Gap Assistants support the boarding team with a range of duties. During the day they may provide support in the classroom, in PE and assist with sports coaching. After school hours, the Gappies will help with more general boarding duties such as dining supervision, study hall and overseeing activities. As well as providing support, the Gappies provide perspective from their countries, adding to the cultural diversity of the school as a whole.

In this Spotlight, we spoke with our current Gappies to find out about their experience at Campbell and what they hoped to achieve in their time with us. Gap Assistants normally spend one year at school however, due to the pandemic Connor and Reese have been with us for almost three years. They are from South Africa and came to Campbell after graduating from university. Greta is from Germany and joined Campbell after finishing High School. She will be finishing up at the end of the school year in June. Damon and Nathan joined us in January from their school in Auckland and will be with us until the end of Christmas Term. Interestingly, the school Damon and Nathan attended was founded by an Ulsterman and the houses are names after places in Northern Ireland!

We hope you enjoy hearing from our Gap Assistants about their involvement in the school.

Many thanks to Connor, Reece, Greta, Damon and Nathan for sharing their expereriences with us. We also wish Greta good luck as she heads off to university this year!