UK INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS
Vinehall School
...Choosing a boarding school in the UK
includes trips to the zoo, laser quest and cinema visits, to name a few,” explains a member of boarding staff at the school. “Activities for boarders take place every evening, ranging from sports such as swimming and football to ‘learn to DJ’ lessons!” Full boarding provides residential education for pupils
during the week and over the weekend for the whole term. This type of boarding usually appeals to overseas families and those who would ordinarily have a long journey to the school. It is worth noting that there are fewer and fewer boarding schools that predominantly offer full boarding. And if it is an option that you are considering, it is important to find out from the school the proportion of students that board full time, as it will be a lonely existence if your child is one of only a handful left to board at the weekend.
The majority of students at Merchiston Castle School, a boys-only boarding school in Edinburgh, opt for full boarding. “With around 70 per cent of boys boarding full-time, there is always a varied programme of evening and weekend activities ensuring that there is something for everyone,” explains Tracey Gray, Merchiston’s external relations manager. “I believe that boarding provides boys with a wide variety of interests, a more diverse social life and helps them to develop
closer relationships with friends.” Weekly boarding and flexi-boarding can offer a more tailored boarding experience to suit the needs of individual families. While weekly boarders can opt to travel home at the weekends, flexi-boarders can take advantage of boarding for part of the week, perhaps to break up a week of long journeys to and from the school.
“Families often choose weekly boarding for the GCSE and sixth-form years,” says a spokesperson for the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC), a professional association of heads of leading independent schools. “This is usually to enable their children to concentrate better on their studies by reducing the time spent travelling to and from school, and by giving them full access to extensive academic and co-curricular facilities throughout the extended boarding day.”
SETTLING IN
Most schools will offer a wide range of activities to help boarders settle in and get to know each other. John Attewell, head of boarding at Box Hill School in Surrey recognises the nerves involved in boarding for the first time and explains how
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