In June 2016 conductor Dominic Peckham led the BSA Big Boarding Sing Choir at Victoria Embankment Gardens in London to a delighted audience of parents, staff and the general public. Pupils from state and independent schools took part in the largest ever choir of boarding pupils. The celebrations were part of National Boarding Week organised by the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) to celebrate its Golden Jubilee. During the week-long celebrations over 100 schools took part burying time capsules, raising thousands of pounds for the sector charity Barnardo’s, three schools reached the finals of the BSA and Barnardo’s Store Wars challenge, the BSA Boarding Orchard grew to 101 trees and the week ended with the Big Boarding Sing. With just four hours of rehearsal, no prior knowledge of the music they would be singing or the pupils they would be singing with, the Big Boarding Sing choir perfected a set of four circlesongs to perform to their London audience. The choir performed ‘Wayfaring stranger’ an American spiritual song; ‘Azikatale’, a Zimbabwe wedding march; ‘Written in the Stars’ by Eric Turner; and a vocal mash-up of Pink Floyd’s ‘We don’t need no education’ and Adele’s ‘Rolling in the deep’. The choir drew a large crowd. At the end of their set Dominic brought parents and teachers of the choristers on stage – a true representation of the boarding community! National Boarding Week was an opportunity to celebrate why boarding is a great option for many pupils, increasing their confidence and independence, giving them the chance to explore and try new things and helping them to make deep friendships that will last a lifetime. The UK has the biggest boarding school market in the world with over 75,000 students and good, modern British boarding is deeply admired and widely imitated.