Building resilience in boarding

WHAT IS RESILIENCE?

In a report by Public Health England, Building children and young people’s resilience in schools (2014), resilience is described as ‘the capacity to “bounce back” from adverse experiences, and succeed despite adversity.’

The COVID-19 pandemic has most certainly been an adverse experience for children and young people. Elements which promote resilience, such as regular routines and sleep, physical exercise, access to entertainment, positive family relationships and social support were all affected for a long period of time, so we now have a lot of work to do to build resilience up again.

The Significance For Boarders

The report states: ‘While the role of teachers and other school staff is rarely, if ever, as central to resilience-building as that of parents and family, it is still an important element.’

In a boarding school environment, teachers and other staff are permanently acting in loco parentis, so their role in building resilience in boarders under their care is even more significant.

Arguably, pupils who board have to immediately call on their reserves of resilience; they are away from their parents and close family, as well as the comforts and familiarity of home, and that’s not easy, especially when you are a young child.

This is where experienced, empathetic and resourceful boarding staff are of the utmost importance. Their role is to ensure that boarders are comfortable physically, but also mentally, with the ability to voice their feelings and concerns and know they will be listened to. It takes a team of people to provide this foundation for resilience, which includes houseparents, assistant houseparents, matrons, visiting tutors, plus a range of other staff such as teachers and healthcare professionals.