Boarding at an independent school

Deeply embedded in articles on what makes a good school you may find a short paragraph on its provision for the ordinary pupil, but that genus deserves further attention. Some of the hardest work a school has to undertake is to care for the pupils who are seen, or perceive themselves, as ‘nothing special’.

Sport as a key activity undertaken by all boarders outside the classroom has long been a tradition of boarding schools, certainly since the great Victorian reformers. Before that time boarders were at liberty to do as they pleased and were entirely under their own direction, doing anything from water fowling to playing rackets up against the school house wall.

An ability to adapt to change is something we all recognise as an important skill in the modern workplace. In an age when technology allows ‘trends’ the briefest of lives before extinguishing them, and where almost all teenagers seem to be in near constant contact with peers beyond their immediate presence, it has been argued that the connectivity of modern...

Independent schools have been connecting with their local communities and collaborating with state schools for many years, but it is only in recent years that we have begun to collect data which clearly demonstrates this. Thousands of mutually beneficial partnerships now exist between independent and state schools, unlocking new educational experiences for all involved. This work was reinforced in a...

The word ‘wellbeing’ is used a lot in today’s culture but what does it really mean? When the Office for National Statistics measure wellbeing they look at an ‘individual’s feelings of satisfaction with life, whether they feel the things they do in their life are worthwhile and their positive and negative emotions.’ [1]

For the first time as educationalists, we are attempting to prepare young people for a future we do not recognise. A pupil moving into Year 7 this year is likely to enter the world of work in around 2030 and continue to work until about 2080 or maybe even longer. 

In a world where artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly significant, you might ask: why learn languages when a device can simultaneously translate when required? Why bother when everyone seems to speak English?

When I was 17, I spent three weeks of my summer holiday planning and delivering a holiday to a group of children from a school in Cheshire who had severe learning difficulties. They travelled annually to my boarding school in North Wales where they experienced their first-ever holiday without their parents. It is one of the strongest memories I have of...

A level economics is growing in popularity, particularly in the independent schools sector.  Having studied the subject at A level, many students go on to follow the subject at degree level with some 70 per cent of those studying economics at university. Many of these graduates go on to roles in government and business, shaping the future of our economy.

A well-rounded education which develops children mentally, physically and socially relies heavily on the strength of a school’s co-curricular programmes. This is particularly important in a boarding environment where pupils have less time away from the school and enrichment activities provide an essential avenue for expression and personal development.