Fettes College ...Choosing a boarding school in the UK


Culford School is an independent day and boarding school for boys and girls aged 2¾–18 years. It offers flexi-boarding for prep-school students, who can board for two or three nights per week or take advantage of occasional boarding, which is designed for parents who travel on business. Senior-school pupils can choose to board for up to ten nights each term, or stay as part-time boarders for three nights per week.


BOARDING HOUSES


It is within the schools’ boarding houses that students really get the chance to integrate with other students and make friends while spending time away from family. But not all boarding houses are the same, and it is worth checking how your chosen school organises and structures the way in which students live, study and spend their extracurricular time together.


“Boarding-house structures are very different one from


another,” says Stonyhurst’s Ruth Hughes. “Some schools have vertical houses like those in Harry Potter, which foster leadership of the younger students by the older ones. At others, like Stonyhurst, students board horizontally, which means that every child from the same year group is in the same boarding house. “We feel horizontal boarding works particularly well for overseas boarders,” says Ms Hughes, “because not only does this system foster close friendship bonds and a great sense of community within the peer group, but it means there are always at least 50 others from your child’s boarding year group to hang around with at weekends.” Sevenoaks School, in Kent, a coeducational day and boarding school for students aged 11–18, was rated ‘exceptional’ in its latest inspection report. With a 600-year history and around 1,040 pupils, including international students from


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40 countries around the world, the school has a total of 350 boarders, the vast majority of whom are sixth-formers. “Sevenoaks School has seven boarding houses, two of which – the International Centre and the Girls’ International House (GIH) – are dedicated specifically to sixth-form IB students,” says head of boarding Nichola Haworth.


A GLOBAL APPEAL But it is Sevenoaks School’s international reputation that often attracts globally mobile families. “The global appeal isn’t just the huge variation of


nationalities at the school, it’s also the willingness of parents to move internationally to further careers,” says Nichola Haworth. “Many of our parents are expatriate; they work in a vibrant global mix and recognise a similar mix in the make-up of our international boarding houses. Their children are here because they believe the connections that they make will open up a whole world of opportunity in the future.” Mark London, of ACS International Schools, echoes this assertion and believes that, in an international boarding school, the experience for students who find a home from home can be truly unique. “The diverse mix of cultures that make up the dormitory means that our students integrate and engage with peers in a way that others may not,” he says. “This is not only invaluable experience for a world that is becoming ever more globalised, but also creates a welcoming environment for each and every student, no matter where they come from.” But regardless of its international flavour, Ruth Hughes believes that life in a boarding school can be character building in a variety of ways. “I am passionate about the many benefits of boarding-school life,” she says, “especially developing the characteristics of empathy, tolerance and independence in our young people.”


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