Re:locate magazine, summer 2006

The benefits of boarding

Many relocating parents may be new to the idea of boarding school for their children but – with the right children matched to the right school – the benefits for all concerned can be wide-ranging. Anna Lambert reports.

The prospect of relocating abroad may lead UK employees with children to consider boarding school as an option. Many of these parents will have had no experience of boarding schools themselves, and may thus regard them with suspicion. After all, this isn’t just about how a child is going to be educated, it’s about where they’ll be living and who will be acting in loco parentis. It’s crucial, then, to match the right child with the right school, and for parents to be totally happy with their choice.

Former headmaster Adrian Underwood is outgoing National Director of the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA). His first advice to anyone looking for a school for their children is to choose one that’s a member of the BSA. “By the terms of our membership, these schools are also members of constituent associations of the Independent Schools Council or are members of the State Boarding Schools Association. All are subject to regular inspections by the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate (ISI), OFSTED and The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), which together give parents the assurance of quality.”

Beyond academia

Mr Underwood councils against choosing a boarding school solely on the grounds of academic achievement – instead, it’s about matching the school to the child: “If your child is very bright, look at the school’s exam results: has the school gained A-grades in most subjects over the years? If your child is less academically able, what can the school tell you about how they can help him or her to achieve good results for their ability?”

There may be a difference, though, in what most impresses parents and what most impresses pupils. A recent survey by educational consultants Gabbitas asked 140 students from all over the world, aged 11-19 and at school in the UK, about their impressions of boarding life. The results saw teachers win praise for their friendliness and their willingness to give time to students individually, listen to their opinions and acknowledge their achievements. Most students say they have also enjoyed taking up the wider opportunities offered by boarding schools by getting involved in at least one new sport or activity.

Surely, though, for the majority of parents, the key issue is that of pastoral care - what can that school do to ensure that the child settles in quickly and is happy? Says Ray Brandse, head of boarding at ACS Cobham International School, “I always tell families that they will know whether a boarding school is right for their son or daughter within minutes of entering the facility. But it’s also important to develop a check list against which the facilities and overall experience can be measured: what are the facilities? Will the child get plenty of support from understanding and caring adults, and of course, what is the school like in academic terms? Additional factors – such as how high the standard of catering is – can also play a big part in ensuring a good quality of life for students.”

Relationship-building

Says Carmen Armistead, Head of the Upper School at TASIS, the American School in England, an international school that mainly serves the American expatriate community, “A school will never be ‘just like home’; but a boarding-school environment can – and most often does – become a place where students come to think of school as more than just a “school.” Boarding schools have the advantage of building relationships among students and faculty in a way that is unlike any other. Students and faculty literally live with one another, fostering a natural relationship beyond the classroom; they become family to one another. They know when each is celebrating a success, a birthday — or even a new boyfriend/girlfriend. They know when one another is mourning a failing grade, a lost parent or grand-parent, and myriad other adolescent heartbreaks. A boarding environment encourages a gradual move toward independence laced with new responsibilities. A boarding environment teaches young people how to live with others – raised in different families with different family values and traditions. Much like home, a boarding environment allows young people to face the world in a safe place, guided by men and women who choose to live their lives nurturing young people to adulthood. And, like all good parents and teachers, boarding parents in a high school stand on the periphery of a young person’s adulthood, watching, disciplining, letting go, and always teaching — more by example than by paper and pen.”

What if parents still remain unconvinced? One mother, whose husband was at boarding school, reflected on her own reluctance to see her son share the experience: “certainly, my husband and those of my friends who attended boarding school seem to be emotionally closed off in some respects. It’s almost as if they’re carrying on some kind of maxim they must have picked up in their youth: that the only place in which you could be sure of some privacy is in your own head, so you keep your thoughts and feelings to yourself.” Says Carmen Armistead again, “A boarding school is an experience of community. Seldom are there private rooms. Seldom are there private moments. It is communal living. Having said that, I have found that young people actually do find ways to be alone — and find the skills to share that need with roommates and dorm mates. Boarding students develop a sensitivity to the needs of others — as well as to their own needs. I think today’s boarding school environment encourages young people to share feelings and thoughts with one another, and with those nurturing and caring adults who are there in loco parentis to listen, advise, and guide. The role of dormitory prefect has also evolved in today’s boarding environment. At one time in the history of boarding schools, the prefect was there to supervise and perhaps even discipline other students in the dorm. Today’s prefect is given a broader definition of positive leadership, with peer mentoring being at the forefront of a prefect’s role.”

At Culford School near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, a boarding school for boys and girls aged from eight to 18 years, pastoral care is at the hub of school life. Says Headmaster Julian Johnson-Munday, “We actively promote the integration of day and boarding pupils in all areas of school life.” The school says its House system plays a key role in helping this happen: “The Houses aim to create a family atmosphere in which students are encouraged to become independent, taking on more responsibility in readiness for life at university and beyond.”

The Royal Alexandra & Albert School in Reigate can take up to 450 boarding pupils, and prides itself on its facilities. Says Headmaster Paul Spencer Ellis: “All but one of our boarding houses is purpose-built, with a maximum of only 48 beds. Staffing levels are high, with an average of six staff in each of the larger houses. Study Bedrooms for two, three or four pupils provide a comfortable, modern home-from-home atmosphere for our older pupils, while private bathrooms and modern power showers add to the quality of the environment that students can enjoy.” Interestingly, Royal Alexandra & Albert is a State boarding school, meaning fees are comparatively low. Parents pay only for boarding while tuition costs are met by the UK government. Places at this school are open only to children from EU member states or others who have a right of residency in the UK.

US revival

In the US, the popularity of boarding school education appears to be enjoying a new lease of life. A survey released by The Association of Boarding Schools (TABs), a non-profit organisation of independent college preparatory schools, supports the new image of boarding school as the home of bright, well-adjusted students looking for success in their academic lives and beyond. The survey involved interviews with 1,000 students and alumni from boarding schools, 1,100 from public (state) schools and 600 from private day schools. “The study helps us better understand how the opportunities for interaction and learning beyond the classroom found at boarding school impact on a student’s life at school and into adulthood,” explains Steve Ruzicka, TABS executive director.

The TABs study found that the primary motivation for both applicants and their parents when applying to boarding school is the promise of a better education. Current students indicated significantly higher levels of satisfaction with their academic experience at boarding schools than their peers at public and private day schools (54 percent of boarding students versus 42 percent of private day students and 40 percent of public school students). As in the UK, however, it seems that the boarding environment is valued just as much for the opportunities it affords for interaction and learning beyond the classroom. The survey suggests that the 24/7 life at boarding school also gives students a significant leg up when they attend college. Some 87 percent of boarding school graduates said they were very well prepared academically for college, with only 71 percent of private day and just 39 percent of public (state) school alumni saying the same. 78 percent of boarders reported that their schools also helped prepare them to face the non-academic aspects of college life, such as independence, social life and time management.

Perhaps the survey’s most compelling statistic, however, is the extremely high percentage of boarding school alumni – some 90% – who say they would, if given the opportunity, repeat their boarding school experience.

Ideal preparation