Boarding at an independent school

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...

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 enrichment activities provide an essential avenue for expression and personal development.

Education is transformative – it is the lens through which future opportunities are viewed and, hopefully, it provides the ability to enable them. A boarding education magnifies this further – being in a community where learning is a way of life develops understanding through practical engagement. 

Young people today need first-class tuition and the finest academic qualifications to succeed, but they also need strength of character and skills such as communication, teamwork and resilience, to build happy, fulfilling and worthwhile lives. A boarding education can provide the building blocks for character and success. 

Major developments in boarding education in the last 20 years include an increase in the number of co-educational schools and the global digital revolution. But the importance of keeping pupils and their development at the centre of learning has remained. A key part of this is keeping parents in touch with pupils’ academic and personal progress, achievement, successes and also...

Independent boarding schools have a long history of creating well-rounded pupils with excellent results. Most pupils beginning an A-level course or an International Foundation Programme are striving to gain the best possible grades and complete a challenging programme of academic study, and also yearning to exercise their independence. In many cases these two can act in competition with one another,...