Figure 1.--The boys at this school had comfortable quarters and plenty of teddies. The younger children in particular like having their teddies with them in bed. There were, however, no posters allowed on the wall. |
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The dormitories different in facilities from school to school. Decoration varied quite substantially. Most were brightly painted. Some had posters, but some schools discouraged this and the walls looked rather stark. Then there are teddies, often called mascots. The children in virtually all schools had teddies. Thus the dormitories have become more inviting living spaces for the children. This varies quite a bit, however, from school to school. Most beds were covered with duvets and populated with cherished teddies and stuffed animals. The physical appearances of the dorms is of more than passing significance. There are a variety of reasons for these diffeences. Both the age and gender of the children are factors. The school's basic attitude toward the children is often a major factor. Thus the appearance of the dormitories offers prospective parents a good indicator as to the child-friendliness of a school. Of course there are no perfect indicators, but dorms that are brightly decorated and adorned with posters tend to indicate a school that is making a real effort at creating a homey environment. This is particulsarly important for the younger prep-school child.
The dormitories different in facilities from school to school. There are huge variation in the degree children decorate or or allowed to decorate their personal space. Decoration varied quite substantially. Most were brightly painted. Some had posters, but some schools discouraged this and the walls looked rather stark. We saw some very stark, unwelcoming and poorly maintained dormitories would not have been far removed from how boarders of 20 or 30 years back would have remembered, but most of the prep schools we visitited realised that standards must be much higher.
Most were small rooms with groups of usally no more than 10 boys, often less. Many had interesting posters. We understand that that nearly all schools encourage boys to decorate their
dorms/personal space with posters and pictures but the level to which this
is done is highly variable with some not bothering and others taking great
pride and satisfaction from doing so. They were normally pinted in bright colors with windows and an airy appearances. The beds had colorful duvets which were almost ubiqutous at the schools.
Then there are teddies, often called mascots. The children in virtually all schools had teddies. This was not the case in earlier times. Even very young boys bringing their teddies to school with them would be teased. We are not entirely sure when attitudes toward the teddies began to change. We suspect in the 1970s at the same time that boarding arrangements began to change. Thus the dormitories have become more inviting living spaces for the children. This varies quite a bit, however, from school to school. Most beds were covered with duvets and populated with cherished teddies. We say teddies, but actual teddies were relatively rare. Rather we saw an array of animals that would do a zoological park proud. It was very common for boys to have one or two small teddy bears or similar up to about 10 years old. It was also common for boys right through to leaving the sixth-form to have "mascots" (ie teddy bears etc) with no comment being made. These were normally teddies that the boys had as younger boys and held on to them. The fact that they felt safe in doing this speaks volumes about the atmosphere at the schools.
We noticed very few children with photographs of their their family by their beds. This also varied from school to school; partly through policy of encouragement and the rest by copying what
others do.
There seem to be substantial diffrences between boys and girls as to decorating their dorms.
Girls tend to take a lot of interest in the appearance of their dorms, personal space and the boarding house in general. Boys can be highly variable. It is not always apparent why boys at different schools have different attitudes. During our usually brief visits we could note the differences, but not readily identify why the differences existed. We suspect that school rules and staff attitudes were major contributing factors. It can be extremely hard work for house staff to create a genuine feeling of 'home from home'. The nature of the beast is that boys are less inclined to be interested in refinements so long as they have a reasonably comfortable place to sleep. Just the basics is enough for many boys. Their intersts and thoughts are often on other matters. The Head of Boarding at one school told us that they ran a contest with prizes for the best dorms and bed areas. The girls had responded to this, but many of the boys did not exhibit any real interest. This dies vary. Other boarding staff indicated to us that both boys and girls did take an interest in decoration. A factor here we believe is coeducation. Often boys who see the comfortable, decorated dorms of the girls decide that their dorms could use a little fixing up.
Many boarding staff do not really address the issue of decoration. Many are quite occupied with bandaging scrapped lnees, making sure teeth are brushed, and keeping the socks sorted out. They commonly have rules about decoration and just make sure the children do not violate the rules. Some schools that are especially interested in creating a homey environment my take some proactive steps. One matron told us that she decorated the rooms with a few posters before the boarders arrive. They then either leave things in place or replace them with their own. This seemed particularly effective with the younger boys as it indicated the possisibilities. A head of boarding told us that he instrucs the staff to positively praise or comment upon how the children look after their areas and rooms or sorted out.
The schools have taken decidedly different approaches to the appearance of the dormitories over time. We note dormitories in the 1950s that were large communal sleeping quarters. In some instances there were long rows of beds without any attempt at decoration or any opportunity forthe boys to humanize their dorms. Situations like this no longer exist. There are still some schools about with rather stark dorms. We are not entirely sure when changes in the dormitories began. We think that substantial changes began in the 1970s, in part because of economic conditions. Quite a number of schools cloesd own at this time. Schools began assessing their operations and realised that parental attitude toward boarding was changing. Parents were less inclined to board younger children and those that did decide to board were more interested in schools with basic amenities and a more humane approsach to education. Thus changes in the boarding arrangements and appearances began to occur. Another factor was coeducation. This was often an economic decession. Accepting girls in effect doubled the potential number of applicants. And the coming of girls meant a range of changes in the school far beyond installing extra bathrooms and changing rooms. Mothers of girls and the girls themselves we re even more interest in comfortable dorms than the mothers of boys. And of course the schools could not very well have different approaches as to the appointments and decorations of the boys' and girls' dorms. Another factor is that the regular independent inspections have the decoration and appearance of the dorms as one of the areas they look. The result has been that even schools schools not particularly interested in this have been more or less forced to at least attempt to address it. We noticed changes in progress at many schools in the 1980s.
The physical appearances of the dorms is of more than passing significance. There are a variety of reasons for these diffences. Both the age and gender of the children are factors. The school's basic attitude toward the children is often a major factor. Thus the appearance of the dormitories offers prospective parents a good indicator as to the child-friendliness of a school. Of course there are no perfect indicators, but dorms that are brightly decorated and adorned with posters tend to indicate a school that is making a real effort at creating a homey environment. This is particularly important for the younger prep-school child. Of course outward appearnces can be misleading, but they are important clues to note. There is certainly a very wide variation between schools. What prospective parents have to realise is that the outwards appearance is not everything. We recall visiting a VERY well appointed school, but the regime and the staffing were atrocious. A very unhappy school and one we were very pleased to leave. Equally we have visited schools where the boys' accommodation were spartan to say the very least but everyone there was
really enjoying themselves and having a great time. Providing a nice comfortable environment leads to better care taken of it and happier people. It is the people and leadership within schools which really set them apart from one another rather than the physical niceties; having enough
cash to have nice grounds and facilities does open up more options and I'd
never turn that away, especially if I can afford to have extra staff sharing
the load, but the real ethos and feel of the place is more important. Of course these can be very difficult aspects of a school for parents to assess during a short visit.
