Boarding Prospectus

Welcome to Boarding

Why board with us? Because we are a 24-hour-a-day international community created with our students’ growth and development at its core.

Our campus offers academic challenge, abundant arts and sport for all.

We champion independence within a safe and structured setting and our happy boarders thrive.

Mrs Danielle Clarke Principal

St Joseph’s Boarding is designed with the needs of modern family life in mind

With two boarding houses situated on a 60-acre campus, students can join the St Jo’s boarding community from age 10. Full, weekly, flexi and short-term options are available, Boarding at St Jo’s has a wide remit and appeal. While many, and particularly our international boarders, take the traditional full boarding route, just as many choose to go home at weekends or to stay now and then to fit in with their family’s schedule.

Boarding life encourages a strong sense of community and creates friendships and connections that will last well beyond the College.

Full boarding

Seven days a week, St Jo’s provides an exciting and varied programme of social experiences around and beyond the formal curriculum. The boarding houses aren’t simply accommodation blocks any more than the students’ own homes are. They are their home for a term at a time, a week or an occasional night. They are a place of security, relaxation and recreation. Like any good home, they have rules and routines, ensuring every student is able to make the most of their time, whether studying hard for an exam or kicking off their shoes and relaxing. Leisure time focuses on ‘joining and doing’ rather than idleness, but ‘me time’ and reflection are also valued.

The benefits

• Students forge warm and constructive relationships with each other, irrespective of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Friendships are often made for life

• Adults are always on hand to help and guide; while the Housemaster/mistress is principally responsible for the welfare and well-being of our boarders, matrons and graduate assistants support the practical and pastoral running of the houses

• Boarding fosters the tolerance, resilience and independence, successful young people need as they move on to university and employment

• No two days are the same for our full-time boarders, with a comprehensive schedule of activities during the week and at the weekends. Boredom is not an option

• Freedom from a daily commute adds hours of productive time for study, artistic endeavour, sports training and fun

Weekly boarding is an increasingly popular option for busy parents and their equally busy children. Many young people find weekly boarding a richly rewarding experience, and it works especially well for ambitious and open-minded students.

Weekly boarding offers the best of both worlds: while students stay at school during the week, working hard and spending plenty of time with their friends in activities and socialising, they return to their families at weekends for downtime and catching up with home routines. Like flexi boarding, weekly boarding can be a stepping stone to greater independence.

The benefits

• Weekly boarders learn to live with people from many cultures and countries, making great friendships along the way.

• Boarding from Monday to Friday gives children an academic boost, with access to the excellent facilities at St Joseph’s, including its dedicated work spaces. Plus, qualified teaching staff are at hand to assist with homework

• Caring staff and a long list of activities mean they need never feel lost or lonely

• The freedom to enjoy time with friends and make the most of the well-equipped parkland campus

• For younger children, a week is a manageable chunk of time before next seeing their parents

Flexi

Flexi boarding is a great option for children who want to stay at the College for regular nights over the course of a term. It is also a good opportunity to give boarding a try to see if it’s right for your family.

With flexi boarding, families choose which fixed recurrent nights of the week they would like children to board. This option works well for busy parents with schedules that sometimes take them away from home for a night or two.

The benefits

• Flexible boarding is a regular arrangement over one term, which puts putting families in the driving seat

• Flexibility is key when a student’s academic, sporting or creative arts schedule becomes heavier and harder to manage around daily travel

• A safe haven for their child gives parents the green light to travel for business or work unsociable hours when the need arises

Short-term

We like to think short-term boarding is a mutually beneficial option for both the boarders and for St Joseph’s College. The students gain an appreciation of life at a traditional English school and have long enough to become immersed and truly part of the community. St Joseph’s is enriched by an influx of welcome newcomers, bringing personal and cultural strengths with them. Many of our short-term boarders come in groups from Europe and beyond, but this is an option open for discussion.

The benefits

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Short-term boarding is that next stepcommitment for a set period but with an end date in sight

• An excellent option when parents need to be away from home for weeks at a time

• A time to build independence

Home from home

We want our boarders to make themselves at home. Goldrood House or The Mews is their home for the duration and should become as cosy and comfortable as an old pair of slippers. Our boarding staff are kind and dependable, just as you would expect from anyone standing in place of a child’s parents. They are always on hand - to deal with that tummy ache in the evening or those lost trainers in the morning.

That said, one of the key advantages of boarding is that it builds students’ independence and resilience. The reassuring routines of life as a boarder empowers them to track down that lost property for themselves whenever they can.

Boarders can leap straight into productive days, with time before school begins to fit in some reading or games practice. There’s a short leafy walk to the dining hall, Refs, for breakfast before joining their tutor groups and reuniting with friends among the day students. An Assembly might follow, with the whole student population. Lessons run until 3.45 pm - with break and lunch of course! - and the Development Hour gives scope to try out new things, follow interests or boost academic learning.  After supper the boarders return to their houses for structured study, chilling out and bedtime - 10.15 pm for lights out at 10.30 (depending on age). Sleep, repeat. But no two days are the same - that’s the beauty of boarding.

‘For me Boarding creates community cohesion and develops rules for life, like being on time, being polite and avoiding loneliness!’ Pierre (17-years-old) – French full boarder

‘Boarding for me is where I make the best memories and meet new people who become my best friends.’

Lucca (16-years-old) – South African short-term full boarder

Pastoral care

Nothing is more important to us than pastoral care. We are passionate about our students feeling happy, safe, valued and known.

The Independent Schools Inspectorate recognises pastoral care at St Jo’s as excellent. The whole College has a family feel and that is magnified in boarding where it is our pleasure and honour to stand in for families during their child’s residence.

We provide the consistent care and support our boarders need to thrive as individuals, and we believe young people learn most effectively when they feel emotionally secure, with the backing of trusted adults.

The personal skills young people learn in adolescence, in terms of sustaining good mental health and taking appropriate action when things go wrong, will carry through into adult life.

(12-years-old)

‘For my first time living away from home it is a great experience.’

Amber

– British MOD full boarder

Academic support

Responding to the individual needs of our boarding pupils is an essential part of the College’s pastoral care structure and encompasses academic support along with physical and emotional care. Boarders spend school days working alongside the day students who make up the majority of our student body and, like them, are assigned a Form Tutor. Each boarder’s Form Tutor is their first point of academic monitoring, mentoring and advice. Additionally, boarders are allocated a Boarding Tutor, who will monitor academic endeavours, behaviour for learning and wellbeing from a home perspective. They will also encourage them to contribute to the life of their house through social and cocurricular activities. Boarding Tutors will be around for the formal check-ins and those more informal moments around the house, acting as a sounding board, mediator and confidant whilst reinforcing the standards and values of the College.

Weekend fun

Boarders look forward to weekends just like we all do, with breakfast giving way to brunch, uniforms left on the hanger and opportunities to sample the cultural and recreational highlights the region has to offer. Birthdays are celebrated and we make sure boarders don’t miss out on the big events either – whether it’s Christmas, Chinese New Year or the World Cup. We’re on it!

• Punting in Cambridge • Ice skating • A day at the seaside (with fish & chips and ice cream) • Horse riding  • Annual College musical, as performer, or audience member • Seasonal arts and crafts • Golf driving range and crazy golf • Exploring historic sites such as Colchester Castle • Theme park thrills • And we take in a Christmas pantomime –oh yes, we do!

‘Boarding is not only a place to make friends but also a place to learn English. And there’s a lot of biscuits!’

Ruby (11-years-old) –Chinese full boarder

Relishing every moment

From the 7.00 am wake up call to lights out at 10.15 pm, our boarders lead busy lives, with academic studies just the beginning of the story. Add in sport – both organised and recreational – clubs and music & drama rehearsals. Then there’s structured ‘prep’ (our word for homework), of course. Things can seem a little hectic, but rest assured, meals with friends are freshly cooked, delicious and plentiful, and downtime is factored in. We know everyone needs space to chill if they’re going to achieve their best.

*at time of publication

St Joseph’s College, Belstead Road, Ipswich, IP2 9DR, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 1473 690281 Email: admissions@stjos.co.uk stjos.co.uk stjos.co.uk