COVENANT CHOOSING A SCHOOL S
ending your child to boarding school can be a hard decision to make. Patricia Woodhouse is Headmistress of one of the
top 20 Independent schools in the UK and shares some common, yet crucial pointers, to help parents make informed choices.
What is striking about the UK education sector is the number and diversity of schools available to choose from, and whilst this delivers choice, it can feel overwhelming when you start the process of selecting a school for your child. So where to begin?
If your child is to be a boarder, the best place to start is to look at the balance of boarding in any given school. What percentage of students are boarders, and what percentage of those are full boarders? If the majority of pupils are day students, or even weekly boarders, it may mean that children who full-board are bored and lonely at the weekend. Then look at what activities – social, sporting and academic – are on offer in the evenings and at weekends. Is there enough overall that interests your child and will keep them stimulated? Will this be like a ‘home from home’?
Location is another important consideration. Will the place offer
opportunities as children grow up and is it safe for them to venture out in smaller groups or alone when they are older? Do you want your child to grow up in a city or in the country? Be careful not to be seduced by the rural idyll without thinking of the disadvantages – being in the countryside with little or no public transport may not be some teenagers’ idea of happiness.
Next you will need to consider both pastoral and academic aspects of a School. For the former, a good school needs to demonstrate that they take their role in loco parentis seriously. Children need to be happy, secure and confident if they are to be fully ready to learn.
On the academic front, you will need to look at the curriculum, and the school’s achievements. Look at individual schools’ grades at GCSE and ‘A’ Level, and look at the universities and degree courses that pupils are moving on to. When you are looking around a school, ask Sixth Formers whether they feel well prepared for University – this will be very telling.
Some parents may prefer an integrated prep-to-senior school. This may be key for parents with more than one child who wish them to be at the same school. We have one RAF family with three girls,
and one of their deciding reasons for choosing Malvern St James was that all three could be together.
If you are looking ahead to external examinations, find out about what subjects are available to all students, and what options are available for GCSE and ‘A’ Level. Also consider IB versus ‘A’ Level, and ask about Higher Education preparation and careers advice, for example is the school offering the SAT necessary for entry to American universities?
When a child goes off to boarding school, it is often harder for the parent than it is for their offspring. Research what technical facilities they have in place to support communications – for example parent portals, skype, wifi.
Do plenty of research using school’s admission literature, and talk to other parents for recommendations. And definitely make time to do personal visits. Finally, don’t lose heart. The process can be daunting, it can be exhausting, but as Heads we understand that you are entrusting us with what is most precious to you, and we are here to make the educational journey as rewarding, as interesting, and as valuable as it can be.
www.malvernstjames.co.uk Tel: 01684 892288
30 Envoy Winter 2014
www.raf-ff.org.uk
Pic from
www.malvernstjames.co.uk
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