Bronte Boarding House is for girls in Years 7 and 8. It is the start of the boarding journey and the girls live in the original 1885 Main School building. Whilst we are a school with a long history, beautiful buildings and many traditions, the boarding accommodation for the girls on the second floor is bright, contemporary and well appointed.
This guide has been designed to share with you a look inside Bronte House and boarding life at St Catherine’s. We hope it provides you with many insights and encourages you to come and visit in person, to meet me and the residential staff, explore the benefits of boarding and chat with current Bronte boarders about their experience. You’ll find all our contact details at the end of this guide.
Mrs Harrison Housemistress of Bronte
Mrs Eringa Residential Staff Principal of the Dance School
We have an experienced residential staff team to look after your daughter in Bronte. Our breadth of backgrounds, experience, subject-specialities and ages mean that your daughter has many people to support her, who have experience of their own children growing up and the current social media landscape. We are in touch with the issues the girls are facing and able to identify with, and support them. Our focus in Bronte, as the girls adapt to Boarding life, is the utmost care and concern for the individual child, and each staff member builds a relationship with your daughter so that collectively we have a broader knowledge and a greater ability to offer support.
We believe in being actively present with the girls when we are on duty. You will find us in the Common Room chatting with the girls about the next orchestral concert or lacrosse match. We will visit the girls’ dorms checking in with them before bedtime. We may not reply to your email immediately as we
won’t be behind our desks while the girls are ‘offtimetable’ – we will be with them – doing jigsaws, eating with them, joining in weekend activities, and swapping stories of the day. Every girl will be individually welcomed back after School, asked about her day – a time when successes are celebrated or any niggles or worries are teased out and resolved - and every girl receives a personal goodnight before lights out. We are, of course, present in the House long after lights out and overnight should we be needed.
Our boarding community is built on kindness, tolerance and compassion for others. These are non-negotiables in Bronte! With patience and guidance, we help the girls to live by these values and relate to each other with respect and courtesy always. The strength of this community is reliant on this philosophy and it is evident in the girls’ support of one another, their deep friendships and their enjoyment of boarding life.
Bronte offers a homely and secure environment where girls learn to be independent and resourceful and to organise their academic, social and personal time. The routines of House life – from the timetable of after-School activities, to supper, prep and lights out - provide a structure which gives the girls a solid foundation as they grow from children into their teenage years.
Naturally there are anxieties about joining a new school and a boarding community. All our residential staff at their varying life stages, are available to support your daughter. We offer one-to-one personal care, checking in with your daughter every day, offering support as she builds friendships; keeping an eye on her academic progress in consultation with her School Housemistress and Tutor; and encouraging her to take advantage of the extra-curricular opportunities on offer. The Bronte residential team focuses on helping the girls develop positive emotions and relationships, working through any tensions and managing their own feelings. The girls themselves encourage and support each other. We are also cared for by a superb in-school medical team who are on-hand to help your daughter should she be unwell.
Girls in boarding have access to all our wonderful facilities before and after school. This enables them to enjoy dance, music, drama and the arts in purposebuilt spaces, giving them the chance to indulge their passions and develop their extra-curricular hobbies.
Bronte boarding also offers your daughter the opportunity to be part of a community of at least six different nationalities. When joining with our other Boarding Houses for the older age groups – Symes, Keller and The 6 - there are 18 nationalities! This global mix of experiences and perspectives offers your daughter the chance to learn how to live with others as she shares a dorm with one or four others. Girls are rotated between dorms to ensure that they have the opportunity to mix with as many of
their contemporaries as possible. Your daughter will become open-minded, learn how to empathise and understand and appreciate other cultures and their respective practices. Interestingly, this brings with it a reduced self-consciousness and an acceptance and appreciation of ‘difference’. At a time when girls are often very conscious of ‘fitting in’, the boarding community celebrates individual identities, characters and interests.
The boarding community celebrates individual identities, characters and interests.
We like to think of Bronte as a very honest community and aim to develop the emotional intelligence of the girls. If a girl’s behaviour isn’t tolerant, caring,
respectful or kind, we address this immediately. We identify the problem and work with the girls towards a resolution, supporting the girls to understand their emotions and work through an appropriate response. Children do make mistakes sometimes but we are there to help the girls navigate this natural part of growing up.
We celebrate the girls’ achievements in school and in boarding. The girls are rewarded with merit marks and commendations for their behaviour and attitude as well as for specific contributions to Bronte House. We recognise the myriad accomplishments and strengths of each boarder. This is both motivating for the girls and models expected behaviour, ensuring Bronte House is a friendly, positive and comfortable environment for all the girls and a community in which they thrive.
“The Bronte Boarding House Handbook that I received in advance told us what to expect, what to pack, all about nametags and so much more. It was invaluable for my wife and me and for my daughter!”
Current Parent
“In advance of joining we had a meeting where current and new boarding families got together and my daughter had the opportunity to meet St Catherine’s girls and ask lots of questions about school life. We also felt very reassured to speak with current parents of boarders and immediately connected to the school community”
Current Parent
“My boarding buddy was brilliant – she wrote to me before I arrived and told me about sports activities with the Gappies, the Nurses who help if you are poorly, how many girls are in a dorm and how they store tuck/snacks. She’s been there for me ever since.”
“When we came for our entrance exam we had an overnight stay in boarding – so we could feel what it would be like to join Bronte House. We played tabletennis, had supper and met the Housemistresses and Resident Tutor.”
“Our first weekend was amazing – we didn’t stop. It was so full of activities that by Sunday I knew everyone and felt as if I’d been at St Cat’s for ages.”
“I receive a weekly e-newsletter from Mrs Harrison updating me on Bronte’s activities – this is invaluable as my daughter is having far too much fun to ever phone me and share what she has been up to!”
“Our rooms are our private space, just for the girls in that dorm so we can have quiet time when we need it. If we want to meet our other friends, we go to the Common Room – that’s where the socialising happens!”
“Every weekend we have an ‘at home’ day and an ‘explore’ day. ‘At home’ often means sports, cakebaking, treasure hunts, crafts, jigsaws or Monopoly. We’ve explored the South Downs, been to see the modern art in the TATE and even tried lazer clay pigeon shooting!”
“We have a Bronte Boarding Scrapbook and in it we record what we have done – last week I added pictures from our trip to the Escape Rooms. We often go and look through it together – we love looking back at our day trips to Brighton, Harry Potter World and Legoland.”
“I shared the apple crumble I’d made in Food and Nutrition with my friend. Flo shared a Moon Cake –we were both trying a new food for the first time!”
“Mrs Harrison has created a Book Club for those of us who love reading. We bring our current novel and share what it is about, why we like the author and recommend it to others. The great thing about being in boarding is that the Library is just downstairs – an endless supply of books!”
“‘Gappie Games’ are led by the GAP students who join the staff team – their games are brilliant; you never know if you will be playing dodgeball or creating a tower or trying out cricket!”
“I was worried about how to manage my academic studies and my after-school dance classes and dance exams. Mrs Eringa, our Dance School Principal is a Bronte Resident Tutor so we sat down and worked out a plan together.”
“I am a bit disorganised; I’d really struggle sorting my sports kit and school bag but eventually Mrs Harrison gave me a Commendation for being ready the night before five days in a row! She announced it at Roll Call. She was super-patient!”
“At home we always have Sunday lunches together – it’s a rule! At St Cat’s we share all our meals and there is lots of chat between us and our Housemistress and the Bronte Resident staff.”
“We don’t have a tuck shop but we do have our own ‘treat boxes’ that we keep in our Common Room. We bring our favourite snacks from home, buy treats at the weekends and raid our treat boxes in the evenings and at weekends! We certainly never go hungry and we always share!”
“After a term in Bronte, I’ve got used to the routine of the school day then homework in the evening. I feel pretty organised and if I am ever stuck, I have the Bronte residential staff to help guide me – either with a tricky prep or with organising my studies and school bag.”
“I’ve learnt three brilliant tricks from my friends to get my duvet in its duvet cover! Every day we sort our own laundry and put it out for washing and we change our beds weekly. I love making my space my own with my favourite duvet cover. Everything always smells so fresh!”
“It is our job to keep our own spaces tidy – we make our beds, hang up our clothes and tidy our bedside table before School every day. When we get ‘home’ after School our dorms are welcoming and feel more spacious without clothes on the floor!”
“I helped Mrs Harrison and Miss McAlister to redesign one of our Bronte House noticeboards – we picked the themes, searched for favourite pictures and together with my friends we made posters and decorations. I feel really proud of it every time I walk past.”
“I think it speaks to the high quality of care provided by the school and our daughter’s increased maturity that she has taken this decision to board, especially whilst looking ahead to Sixth Form.”
Mr & Mrs T, 2021
“I’d encourage you to consider St Catherine’s Boarding. The school is incredibly caring and the staff know the girls really well, so I know she is well looked after and has a shorter day than she would if she had to commute in each day. She is now more organised and independent, and her confidence has increased. Her day-girl friends can visit the boarding house so she is able to have a wider group of friends and more of a social life than she would have at home!”
Mr & Mrs P, 2021
“Boarding works really well for us as a family. It allows my daughter to do all the activities she wants to without us having to juggle diaries to ensure she can make the most of opportunities. It has meant I can be far more flexible in my working hours, which, as someone who is self-employed, is incredibly helpful. It has made life less stressful, as we can manage work commitments and then have quality family time at the weekend, knowing the homework (and laundry!) has been taken care of.”
Mr & Mrs Z, 2021
“We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude towards St Catherine’s for providing such invaluable, rewarding and unforgettable opportunity and experience to our two girls as full boarders. We are so pleased about their good academic results as well as them both being very proactive in pursuing their interests in gymnastics and dance.”
Mr & Mrs M, 2021
Bronte Boarding Housemistress
Mrs Harrison
Catherine’s
Admission process
Testimonials from girls, parents and alumnae
Catherine’s
Boarding Tour?
St Catherine’s School Station Road, Bramley, Guildford,