Dominic Moon says that there are some signs that may help a parent to ascertain how “boarding” a boarding school actually is. “If you look for a school that teaches on Saturdays,” he says, “then this creates a more active weekend environment and effectively guarantees you more pupils for the weekend.”
My daughter does Saturday school but it isn’t always enough. There’s still Sunday, which can feel very long when you’re on your own. He continues: “Parents can ask the school how many pupils are around all weekend so that they get an idea of what to expect, and if you have a tour of the school by pupils, they tend to be quite honest about the atmosphere at weekends. Even if these pupils have been told what to say, they still give an honest account of the school.”
Many schools that were once predominantly full boarding – or simply boarding and day (as Oundle still is: 860 full boarders and 250 day pupils) without any of the in-betweeners – have morphed over the years into something that is less clear and compromised (if it’s a full boarding environment you’re after) by weekly and flexi arrangements.
Sue Hird, at Giggleswick in Yorkshire, explains that this is largely the result of demands by the UK boarding market. “Until September [2011], we offered either full boarding or day. Full boarding meant that boarders were expected to be in school all weekend, every weekend, except for the two exeat weekends either side of half-term and half-term itself.
“However, we have found that, increasingly, UK parents are not buying into the idea of full boarding and although happy for children to board during the week, want them home at the weekends. We have resisted this for quite a while, but have found that, in the end, our policy is affecting recruitment.”
Schools must, of course, be mindful of numbers – it’s how they survive – but as my daughter miserably observed a few months ago: “Not if it means I’m unhappy.”
How, then, does a school accommodate the demands of all sorts of parents, the needs of myriad children? As Janette Wallis of The Good Schools Guide reminds me: “Schools have an unenviable tightrope to walk between local parents, who generally want to see as much of their children as possible, and overseas or more distant parents, who want their children well looked after on the weekends and engaged in a full programme of activities.” Or just want their kids to be part of a big gang in-residence on a Sunday morning rather than kicking about on their own…
Sue Hird details Giggleswick’s solution to the different parent-body demands: 'This year we have introduced closed and open weekends. We hope that this will help to maintain the boarding ethos of the school, while giving parents the opportunity to have their boarding children home a bit more.” During the Christmas term there will be four closed weekends to coincide with major school events.
Harrow – all boys – is one of very few schools in Britain that has resisted the urge – or the need – to resort to offering day, weekly and flexi boarding. “We are one of a very small number of full boarding schools that do not take day pupils or weekly boarders,” says the school’s communications manager, Kirsty Shanahan, “which means that we avoid the tensions that arise when some pupils go home at the end of the day while others do not.
“Furthermore, at the weekends we can lay on a full programme of activities in the knowledge that all boys are able to participate – it is very hard to have a play practice or sports tournament if pupils are missing. There are more organised activities at Harrow on a Sunday than at any other similar school.”
That’s not to say there is no parental contact during term time. “Parents are encouraged to come to the school whenever they can to support matches, plays and concerts.”
Richard Harman, head of the co-educational Uppingham (778 full boarders, 18 day students – a sympathetic nod in the direction of staff children) says: “We feel that there is still, and will always be, a market for full boarding and, as a culture in our school, we are committed to it. Of course, you always have to listen to your customers, but actually, we find that the tremendous sense of belonging and range of opportunities that full boarding offers pay off in spades for those who commit to it.”
But in schools where the numbers dwindle at weekends, is there still the same emphasis on occupation? Ralph Lucas warns: “There has always been a lot of incentive for schools to fib about weekends.”
He suggests that parents develop a firm idea of the sort of thing they want to be going on at weekends. “Get numbers (of who does what at weekends, of which weekends, if any, are compulsory exeats) and see round the school when full boarders are there to chat to. If weekends are great, they should tell stories about them without being prompted,” he says.
Sheila Lambie, marketing manager at Gordonstoun (513 children on the senior school roll; 445 full boarders, just 68 day) suggests, when I ask her how to ascertain how “full boarding” a boarding school is, that “parents should ask to see the programme of activities at weekends, and how many students would be expected to take part in these. They should also ask to see the breakdown of full boarders and weekly boarders, and the ratio of international students to home students, and how many of the home students live locally. They should be firm in asking what the policy is on allowing local students to take other students home for the weekend as this in some schools causes an 'exodus’ at weekends.”
Gordonstoun has striven consistently to maintain a full boarding ethos and, interestingly, this year has its highest-ever intake. So there is a demand. Janette Wallis says: “Parents should not be afraid to ask the school directly how many children in their child’s prospective year group were in school last Sunday (and then ask if it would be possible to speak to a parent of one of those children so you can get to the nitty-gritty).”
Boarding doesn’t mean what I did when I was my daughter’s age. Today, it comes in different shapes and sizes: some kids go home on Fridays, some on Saturday; some come back on Sunday evening, some not until Monday morning; and day children can enjoy the adventure of a night at school as a “flexi boarder” when their parents are away from home.
Worst case, and thankfully rare, scenario, “boarding” might mean that a school is dipping an experimental toe into boarding waters and your child is the dummy-run.
Janette Wallis related a case where a British girl living in Bahrain arrived as a new pupil at her “boarding” school to find that she was the only boarder. That’s why you need to do your homework: to understand precisely what sort – and how many sorts – of boarding is on offer.
For further information, check out the UK Boarding Schools Guide or the The Good Schools Guide. Investing in a little detective work via a personalised school search may well prove to be a worthwhile outlay.
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