Foreword

Mark Lauder, Headmaster, Strathallan School and BSA Interim Chair, 2022

Becoming a parent means you are faced with a bewildering number of choices. Choosing the right school for your child is one of the most important decisions of all since a child’s education has a major influence on their current and future wellbeing and their life journey. Thank you for taking the time to read this Guide.

The Guide contains a wealth of information that will enable you to narrow your search for a boarding school and help you find the right match for your child. I hope you are already aware of the benefits of a boarding education – this Guide will help you find out more about the opportunities of different boarding contexts.

At the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) we know that choosing a school can be as mystifying as it is exciting. There are so many good boarding schools offering an excellent education. You can choose from rural, town, city, boys, girls, mixed, junior, senior, all-through, sixth-form, all-around, specialist, flexi, weekly, full boarding, state or independent. Or you may want a combination of different schools at different ages. The choice is as broad and flexible as the boarding sector itself – rightly so as every child and every family have different needs.

As well as matching a school to your child’s needs, it is also important to consider whether logistically you can make the school you choose work with all the other constraints on your family life, as this will affect the dynamics and happiness of your household.

All boarding schools are united in a deep, shared belief in the value that a highquality modern boarding education can offer families. Boarding schools offer a unique richness of community. They are open, tolerant and vibrant places where education happens 24 hours a day and is deeply embedded. Learning is a way of life not limited to the classroom. A boarding education is predicated on relationships and the values that underpin them – respect, tolerance, inclusion, humility and kindness.

One of the unique benefits of a boarding education is that it enables pupils to develop many life skills through community living – getting along with people different from themselves, being at ease with others, taking up opportunities, dealing with setbacks, problem-solving and communicating effectively. Boarding schools welcome parents to be a part of their boarding community. Home–school communication is highly effective and there are many ways to be involved, from attending events to taking up roles on committees.

Boarding schools also take time to communicate with and support parents at each stage. In fact, parents often report that the quality of their relationship with their children develops through the boarding experience.

The BSA represents more than 600 boarding schools in the UK and overseas. It provides a wide range of services including professional development, government relations, communications, safeguarding, health education and immigration advice for schools, media, publications, conferences and events. We hope you find the Guide helpful in choosing the best boarding school for your child.

Mark Lauder began his teaching career at Shiplake College and has a wealth of boarding experience. He has held senior positions at Felsted School and Ashville College, where he was Head for seven years. Now in his sixth year as Headmaster of Strathallan School, he has also been an ISI team inspector and a school governor and he served as BSA Chair in 2020.

Contents

Foreword

Mark Lauder, Headmaster, Strathallan School and BSA Interim Chair, 2022

News

01

06

Choosing and assessing schools

What about boarding schools?

Barnaby Lenon, Headmaster, Harrow School, 1999–2011 and Chairman, Independent Schools Council (ISC) 14

What makes a good boarding school? 16

Barney Durrant, Head, St Lawrence College Inspections of accredited independent 20 boarding schools

Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) Ofsted inspection of boarding schools 24

Dale Wilkins, Senior Director, BSA Group The importance of good governance 28

Graham Able, Group Deputy Chairman, Alpha Plus Turning minimum standards into excellence 30

Dale Wilkins, Senior Director, BSA Group School visits: questions and answers 32

Adrian Underwood, Education Consultant Faith in our schools

Graham Able, Group Deputy Chairman, Alpha Plus 38

Specialist schools – arts, drama, music 41

Schools founded by the Military

Schools with a military history 42

State boarding schools

The benefits of state boarding

Will Chuter, Head, Cranbrook School Choosing state boarding

Jonathan Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, Sapientia Education Trust (SET) State boarding schools The benefits of sixth-form boarding

Emma Fielding, Principal, Richard Huish College Life at a state boarding school

Dr Chris Pyle, Head, Lancaster Royal Grammar School 44

46

49 50

52

Boarding at an independent school

Boarding lessons from COVID-19 54

Natalie Bone, Head, Sherborne Prep Charlie Jenkins, Head, Shebbear College John Browne, Head, Stonyhurst College Out of the ordinary: realising the potential of 60 every child

Dr Joe Spence, Master, Dulwich College Schools together in partnership 64

Julie Robinson, Chief Executive, Independent Schools Council (ISC) Supporting character development in a 66 boarding school

Paul Sanderson, Headmaster, Bloxham School Building resilience in boarding schools 68

Thomas Garnier, Headmaster, Pangbourne College Boarding schools and philanthropy: 70 engendering an ethos of kindness and compassion

Matthew Godfrey, Senior Deputy Head, Downe House School Looking after children and young people’s 74 mental health after COVID-19

David Walker, Deputy Head (Pastoral and Wellbeing), Wellington College The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award – making a difference to young people’s lives

Ruth Marvel, CEO, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award 77

Learning modern foreign languages at a boarding school 80

Rachel Rees, Deputy Head Pastoral, Monmouth School for Girls Twenty-first century learning – embracing 84 technology to drive a culture of learning

Louise Orton, Senior Deputy Head (Academic), Sherborne Girls The importance of creativity

Victoria Rose, Director of Art, Dauntsey’s 86

Teaching empathy 88

Damian Todres, Director of Drama and Head of the Creative Arts Faculty, Wells Cathedral School Recognising the physical and mental 90 value of sport

Rob Kift, Director of Sport, Hurst College The importance of pastoral care

Andrew Russell, Headmaster, St David’s College 92

Boarding in the North of England

Jeremy Walker, Head Master, St Peter’s School, York Boarding at sixth-form colleges

Dr Julian Davies, Principal, Abbey College, Cambridge 94

96

BSA Certified Agent and Guardian schemes 98

Caroline Nixon, International and Membership Director, Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) and Director, British Association of Independent Schools with International Students, and Ammy Davies-Potter, Director of Guardianship and Inclusion, BSA BSA certified guardians BSA certified agents 99 99

Preparatory schools

The advantages of starting boarding in a 100 prep school

Christopher King, Chief Executive, Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) The popularity of prep school boarding 102

Dr Trevor Richards, Head, All Hallows Preparatory School The benefits of prep school boarding

Robert Lankester, Headmaster, Maidwell Hall 104

Music – an important part of the boarding experience

Gareth Jones, Headmaster, Bilton Grange 106

Outdoor learning – ‘rewilding’ pupils 108

Will Frost, Head of Geography and Outdoor Learning, Salisbury Cathedral School Using robotics, 3D printing and computing in 110 a prep school

Olly Langton, Headmaster, Belhaven Hill School How boarding schools support children’s 112 mental and emotional development

Fred de Falbe, Headmaster, Beeston Hall Responsibility versus maturity – when to 114 introduce more freedom to prep school boarders

Paddy Moss, Headmaster, Dean Close Preparatory School Preparing pupils for the transition to 116 senior schools

Simone Mitchell, Deputy Head, Director of Teaching and Learning, Swanbourne House School Being a new prep school boarder

Jon Timmins, Acting Head, Wymondham College Prep School and Head of Underwood Hall 118

Senior schools

What does a bespoke education actually mean? 120

Jo Cameron, Principal, Queenswood School Girls and STEAM subjects

Olivera Raraty, Headmistress, Malvern St James Girls’ School 122

Boarding as preparation for twenty-first 126 century life

Lisa Kerr, Principal, Gordonstoun What do we mean by a boarder’s progress and 128 how do schools measure it?

Chris Hillman, Deputy Head Academic, Godolphin School

Special educational needs and disabilities

Educational provision for pupils with special 130 educational needs and disabilities

David Smellie, Partner, Farrer & Co Special educational needs provision in 132 boarding schools

Sally Moore, Head of Learning Support, Fulneck School What is CReSTeD and how does it help 134 boarding families?

Brendan Wignall, Headmaster, Ellesmere College and Chair, CReSTeD Provision in the independent sector for pupils 136 with special educational needs and disabilities

Curriculum choices

GCSEs and IGCSEs in a changed curricular landscape 137

Charlie Hammel, Deputy Head Academic, St Swithun’s School, Winchester Sixth form – future ready, set, go!

Rhiannon Wilkinson, Head, Ashville College Sixth-form programmes – the choice 138

140

Appendix

School fee planning

Andrew Ashton, Bursar, Radley College Useful contacts BSA member schools 141

143 144

Dear parent,

Hello and welcome to the ‘BSA Guide to Boarding Schools’. As a former boarder myself, I can tell you that boarding today is a very different world to the one I remember. It’s certainly nothing like the stereotypical images of boarding which wouldn’t be out of place on the pages of a Harry Potter novel, that may still be conjured up for some when the name ‘boarding school’ is uttered!

In fact, the reality couldn’t be more different. Modern boarding offers parents and pupils a broad range of options, providing tremendous flexibility to suit almost any young person and fit in with all types of busy lifestyle.

Full boarding, where students are based at school all day, every day, remains a popular choice. It’s widely recognised as a great way to develop independence, strong inter-personal skills, a sense of community and teamwork, and form long-lasting friendships. But there are other options too.

Weekly boarding, which sees students attending school during the week, typically going home on a Friday or Saturday and returning on Sunday evening or Monday morning, also offers excellent structure, support and facilities for an extended time. And then there’s flexi or occasional boarding; an excellent way to get a taste of boarding life by boarding part-time or semi-regularly. Students often enjoy this so much they decide to move to weekly or full boarding.

And no two boarding schools are the same. Some are based in cities, others in more rural locations. Some are single-sex, while others are co-educational. Or should you choose an academic school, or one which focuses specifically on the arts or sport? So there’s no shortage of options, and this Guide aims to give you a comprehensive overview of the choices that are open to you and your child when it comes to selecting a school. We also hope it will help you to identify what you need to look for when visiting a school, and the right questions to ask speaking to staff.

There’s also advice on the help that’s out there in terms of selecting the right school in the form of education agents, and support for pupils living away from home from education guardians. BSA operates certification schemes for both agents and guardians to assure parents of quality, and you can find out more about those schemes in this Guide.

Making that definitive choice of the right boarding school for your child can be a lengthy process, but taking all the time you need to get your decision absolutely right is crucial. Boarding will not suit every child or family – but for the right child, in the right school, it can offer an enriching life experience like no other. We hope this Guide will give you everything you need to make that choice a lot easier.

Best wishes,

Robin Fletcher

CEO, BSA and BSA Group The BSA Guide to Boarding Schools is a trade mark owned by BSA Group.

Published by: BSA Group Bluett House Unit 11-12 Manor Farm Cliddesden Basingstoke RG25 2JB

+44 (0)207 798 1580 bsa@boarding.org.uk

www.ukbsa.com

Chief Executive: Robin Fletcher

Editor: Sheila White

Head of Commercial: Neil Rust

Some of the articles in this Guide have not been updated since March 2020. Photographs for many articles were taken before the COVID-19 pandemic. For the latest information on COVID-19 and boarding go to www.boarding.org.uk. The information and views in this Guide were correct to the best of the Editor’s and Publisher’s belief at the time of going to press and no responsibility can be accepted for outof-date information, errors or omissions. While every effort has been made, it may not always have been possible to trace all copyright holders. If any omissions are brought to our attention, we will be happy to include appropriate acknowledgements in the next edition of the Guide. The BSA Guide to Boarding Schools is published twice a year by BSA Group, a company registered in England and Wales. Registered number: 4676107. All rights reserved. No part of this Guide may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without written permission from the Publisher.

Front cover photo with kind permission of Sherborne Preparatory School taken by Katharine Davies