{"id":81821,"date":"2023-11-17T09:52:43","date_gmt":"2023-11-17T09:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/?p=81821"},"modified":"2023-11-17T10:02:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-17T10:02:43","slug":"an-interview-with-nick-maynard-boarding-house-assistant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/blog\/an-interview-with-nick-maynard-boarding-house-assistant\/","title":{"rendered":"An interview with Nick Maynard, Boarding House Assistant…"},"content":{"rendered":"

One question we get asked a lot is: what is it like to LIVE<\/em> at school?! <\/p>\n

Nick Maynard is House Assistant and Deputy for Millgate House, one of our boarding houses, since 2021. We spoke to Nick about his unique job, what the challenges are as well as the best bits, and we asked him what his advice is for new students coming to board at school. <\/p>\n


\nWhat is regular working day like for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gosh \u2013 it\u2019s full on! We wake the students at 7am \u2013 register at breakfast \u2013 dorm checks \u2013 post run \u2013 input registers \u2013 deal with requests and questions from academic and musical staff \u2013 more registers \u2013 follow up on any issues or concerns – more registering \u2013 activities in the evening with clubs and events \u2013 more registering \u2013 supervised prep \u2013 supper tray supervision \u2013 heads on beds \u2013 lights out\u2026 17 hours flies by! People don\u2019t realise how full on this job is, but it\u2019s incredibly rewarding.<\/p>\n

What is it about the job that you love?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At first it was difficult making the transition from being a teacher to house staff [that was about seven years ago] because the students respond to you in a totally different way, but I absolutely love the spontaneity of it. I used to develop PSHE for Sixth Form and was a Mentor and Life Coach, and it\u2019s those aspect that make this job. One day you\u2019re dealing with a student who misses home 3,000 miles away and the next you\u2019re dealing with someone who has decided it\u2019s a good idea to eat glue or cut his hair off with a spoon\u2026 that last one is made up \u2013 but at a previous school three boys decided to cut their own hair in a toilet and the Headmaster went nuts! They looked like The Three Stooges [Curly, Larry and Mo]\u2026 It keeps you on your toes. Chetham\u2019s is unique. I\u2019ve worked at some of the biggest educational establishments in the UK and this is the most chaotic in the best possibly way and the most beautiful. I love it and my team is amazing. Coming into work is a joy. I\u2019m just living my best life at the moment.
\n
\nDo you have any highlights or stories you could share with us from your time here?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every day the students surprise me. Each student is a story – and you watch them develop and grow in complexity and narrative. Each one a protagonist in their own epic adventure. I\u2019m blessed to be witnessing 108 soap operas every day \u2013 and some of these storylines are wonderfully heartwarming. <\/p>\n

Why do you recommend students come to Chetham’s School of Music?<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is such a gentle school and it looks after gentle people really well. There is nowhere like this anywhere else. People talk about boarding school as being a bubble. <\/p>\n

This is more than a bubble, it\u2019s a safe haven in a massive city. These kids are very lucky. This city is very lucky.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m very lucky to have found it. And anyone who comes here is very lucky to be part of the journey. Whether its students, staff or parents. <\/p>\n

Some young people might be a little nervous about boarding – what advice would you give to them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be the start of a big adventure and a really special fellowship that you will have with you for the rest of your life. In Millgate House, the team has over 100 years of collective experience working with young people in various settings and establishments [and I\u2019ve even written a book on child development] so you\u2019ll be in super safe hands. Everyone here, staff and students, always begin a new year feeling like it\u2019s there first time away from home. So, we\u2019re all in the same boat. But you get into a routine, you make friends, and you get involved. And if you have a bad day \u2013 talk to your friends or staff \u2013 we\u2019re all here for one another. House is a place that\u2019s a home away from home, in more ways than one. People here care and want to help. 100 years of experience means we\u2019ve seen it all and dealt with everything before. No issue here is too small or too weird for our expertise. We love weird. We love talking and finding out about you, and how you\u2019re feeling – and if that\u2019s \u2018not too good\u2019 then we can change that. <\/p>\n

We always leave students happier than when they arrived. Boarding houses at Chetham\u2019s are happy chilled out places and everyone here matters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And for those thinking about boarding \u2013 talk to students, talk to staff, come and visit. Ask those silly questions. Ask about Sunday Brunch [legendary]. Ask when the holidays are. Find out what the dorms look like and what\u2019s in our Reading Room. The more you know before you get here, the less of a surprise it will be when you arrive! It\u2019s those surprises that make people wobble. That\u2019s my advice. Ask the questions about the things that are worrying you and then there\u2019ll be nothing left to be worried about!<\/p>\n

Find out more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One question we get asked a lot is: what is it like to LIVE at school?! Nick Maynard is House Assistant and Deputy for Millgate House, one of our boarding houses, since 2021. We spoke to Nick about his unique job, what the challenges are as well as the best bits, and we asked him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3152,"featured_media":81823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81821"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81831,"href":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81821\/revisions\/81831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chethamsschoolofmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}