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The traditional preparatory school was a boarding school. This was because the purpose of a prep school was to prepare the younger boys for public school life and the public schools were boarding schools. It was widely seen as beneficial to board younger boys. Generally this began atr 7 or 8 years of age, although younger boys might board, depending on family circumstances. An older brother was also a factor. A lot goes on at boarding schools in the afternoon and evening after the day children go home. There are also weekend activities. Here the program varies greatly from school to school. It also varies seasonally. Generally the children are allowed to stay up longer during the summer term with longer days. Of course thed schools vary considerably as to the facilities availavle for freetime activities. There can be free time, supervised activities like a free swim, tea (evening meal), perhaps some television (usually the news), prep, and finally bed time. Some schools give more attention to free time while others place greater emphasis on prep. The children's bed-times are staggered by age so the younger children go to bed a little earlier. The amount of time in the evening depends on the child's age. Most boarding schools have Saturday classes, but this is not common at day schools. Saturday classes are held in the morning. The afternoon is devoted to games, activities, and free time. Often a video is shown in the evening. Sunday is devoted to church in the morning and activities and freetime in the afternoon. Occassionally trips are organized in the afternoon.
One important feature of private education in Britain has been boarding. The traditional preparatory school was a boarding school. This was because the purpose of a prep school was to prepare the younger boys for public school life and the public schools were boarding schools. As a result, many prep schools were founded in remote rural locations. Here properties could be built inexpesively to set up boarding schools for the younger children.Boarding composed an important feature of the classic prep and public school experience. It was widely seen as beneficial to board even younger boys. We have no information on boarding schools in clasical times. Some information is available on boarding school durng the Christian era. Boys wee educated at the monastaries which appeared throughout Britain. The purpose was to train choristers and future priests. The Pope instructed Benedictine monasteries (such as Westminster) to open charity schools. As towns grew in the late medieval era, grammar schools were established. Many of these schools were founded by royal charter and the bequests of weklthy benefactors. Many of the children lived in the towns, but children attended from the surrounding area. Ar first there were no boarding facilities, but schools gradually added such facilities to regularize the conduct of the boys. Many grammar schools evolved into fee paying public schools. This was a natural evolution because the schools had to finance their operation. There were no state financing for schools at the time. And eventually many public schools turned over the cre of the younger boys to preparatory schools. Britain has some of the best known boarding schools in the world. Boarding has probably played a greater role in Britih education than that of any other country. There are, however, many other countries which also have boarding schools.
The United Kingdom is composed of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ulster. England is by far the largest country in terms of population. Most of the boarding schools we visited were in England, but we also visited several Scottish schools. There was very little difference in the English and Scottish schools that we could see. The most obvious difference was that the Scottish schools included kilts as part of the school uniform. They used to be worn more commonly, but by the 1980s were worn as the dress uniform. The climate variation also makes for some differences. There are also boarding schools in Wales and Ulster. The Welsh schools are thecsame as the English schools in virtually all regards. There are only a few schools in Ulster. We also visited boarding schools in Australia and New Zealand. Both countries have education system very largely modeled on the British system. Since World War II they have shown more individuality, but the private schools still show a string British influence. that are essentially run as British schools, although again climate makes for some differences.
The classic British boarding school are public schools, some of which have histories dating back centuries. Unlike schools omn the continent, boarding becme an important aspect of British education. An important part of public school boarding became houses which were the residential living facilities for the boys. Pupils generally need permission to go outside defined school bounds. The age range for these schools was loosely defined, only in the 19th century did age conventions begin to tke the modern range. As schools began to focus on about age 13 years to enter the schools, the prep schools began to develop to care for the needs of the younger children. There were several major differences between boarding at public than preparatory schools. The prep schools were generally smaller and the bounds for the children more restrictive as younger children required more supervisuon. The prep schols schools adopted the house system, but not for residential purposes. The primary difference between public and prep school boarding conern the differing residentialmarrangements for the younger children and the different operation of the house system. Boarding at both the public and prep school level was not just a matter of residence. Bith schools maintain that boarding was an integral part of the school program with a range of benefits.
Not all private schools were boarding schools, but most of the best known were boarding facilities. At one time most preparatory schools were boarding establishments. And many did not accept day children. Boarding schools were a major part of the private school system. Parents attitudes have gradually changed and modern parents are less inclined to board younger children.
While boarding has declined suubstantially at prep schools, it still is a major feature at the public schools where most of the boys from prep schools continue their education. Parents believed that sending their boys off to boarding school was a character building experience. Many British parents now tend to think that 8 years of age is to early for children to board, but earlier it was a widely accepted convention. There are now more day schools and most boarding sdchools now accept day children. The proportion of boarding to day children varies from school to school. This of course affects the character of the school. While the proprtion varies, the general trend has been an increasing proportion of day children. Eata suggests that only about 15 percent of the private school children wete boarders in the early 21st century.
British students have gotten to boarding school in all kinds of different ways. We know from Tom Brown's School Days that the coach was still used in the mid-19th century. This generally limited attendance to schools in one region. Soon however the expanding railways took over and Britain was connected to an extent undreamed of earlier. This mean that boys could essentially attend schools anywhere in the country, even in the remote north. And boarders for nearly a century generally went to their schools by rail. The schools would meet the children at the stations and arrange for their trunks. This was almost always done by train rather than coach (bus), probably because the train network developed decades before bus service and is still seen as more efficent. After World war II, private automobiles gradually became common and thus the children began to increasingly arrive by private car. This meant that parents were less likely to choose a school located at any great distance. The family car had a lot of advantages as it made it much easier to handle the child's kit and other belongings. It was also safer for the younger children attending boarding school. Goodbyes used to be said at train stations. Now they are more likely to be said at the car as the parents get ready to leave. There are often some sniffles for the younger childrem especially as the parents get ready to leave, but it all becones rather matter of fact after that first year.
It is commonly thought that these schools are full of home sick children pining away for their parents. Now most children, expecially the younger children, do experience home sickness to one degree or another. And their are some children for which boarding is just not suitable. At one schoolwe visited, a little girl who just began school was unconsolable. She was crying and demanding to go home. Eventually her parents and to come and get here. This is, however, very rare. Almost all childern afrer a few sniffles readily adjust to boarding. Age is a factor here, Prepsratory schools generally want the children to be at least 8 yeatrs old to begin boarding. Notably this is the same age that that many American summer camps begin to accept children.
Homesickness is not unusual. Homesickness will affect most children to some degree. Once they settle in, home sickness usually passes very quickly. Many children today thoroughly enjoy the experience, although this was not always the case. We found that quite commonnly attitudes toward boarding changed as the childten spent more time at the schools. One boy told us, "I remember when I first arrived that I hated the school and being away from my parents. Everything was so different. I even cried a bit. But that quickly changed. I liked my teacher. She was very nice. And I made some good friends. I think it was the friends and fun we had playing together that made all the difference. I really enjoy boarding now." Quite a few children made similar comments to us.
There are now a wide range of appraoches to boarding. Schools vary as to the approaches offered because of the complexities involved and financial constraints such as the need to use facilities as fully as possible. Until recently the standard and most common apprach was full boarding. Here the children remain at school the entire school term including the weekends, with the exceotion of excheats. Flexi-boarding is a relatively new approach. Here the families work out arrangements with the school on an individual basis, depending on the family circumstances. Partial or weekly boarding involves the children going home each weekend. This provides more time with the family as well as friends at home. Parents and children see as a way to get the best out of boarding life without loosing out on home life with family and friends. Weekly boarding help to more efficently use time and reduce the daily complexity of journeys associated with day students. There are many other possible options associatd with flexi-boarding where children might just stay at schools for a few days each week. This helps parents who have a range of weekday commitments. It is a bit hard on the schools, however, as it increases the complexity of the boasrding operation and does not msake full use of the barding facilities. Occasional boarding involves full boarding on an occasional basis, such as an overseas business trip.
There are a range of benefits to boarding. Here this depends on the needs and abilities of the individual child. Many children findng that living and working apart from their parents can develop a greater degree of confidence and independence helping them to mature. Many children benefit academically by the structured environment of a boarding school. These are probably the two most important benefits. Of course different children benefit more than others and react differently to the experience. Other possible benefits include helping the children to develop: community spirit, social skills, cultural awareness, respect for others, and self motivation. There are also opportunities to persue a wide variety of interests and a more diverse social life. Some children point to a close relationships with friends as a particular appealing aspect of boarding. An important benefit is the opportunity to establish a closer relationship with teachers than is possible at day schools. Parents and experts have a range of opinions concerning the impact of boarding on children of this age. The value of important is difficult to assess. We know of no emperical study able to assess the impact of boarding on prep-school age children. Educators and parents often have firm convictions on the subject, bu they seem to be opinions formed on personal experiences and attitudes rather than any eperical evidence.
Most boarding schools make some provision for day children. This has evolved over time. This became increasingly important in the 1980s when many parents began to reassess boarding for younger children. Some schools shifted from all boarding to sizeable numbers of day children. Generally speaking, day children were only a small number of the children at most boarding schools. This of course was especially true of the small schools in rural areas. Here there were variations from school to school. Often the schools might accept the children of the masters or local farmers' children on a day basis. The school location was a major factor here. Schools in or closer to cities tended to have more day children. As the cities after World War II spelled over into the countryside, there has been more interest day children attending the schools. Changing parental attitudes toward younger children was another factor. While small numbers of day children did not not affect the character if the school, larger numbers can have a significant impact on the school.
The boarding school classroom is not fundamentally different than the prep school day school classroom. This is particularly true in modern schools where even at boarding schools there are often quite a number of day children. This varies from school to school. Many boarding schools restict day boy numbers, but the general trend has been for increasing numbers of day boys. While the classrooms are very similar, there are differences. The relationship between the children ans with the teacher tends to be different. This comes from familiarity and the time together. Unlike days, the relstionship is not just a classroom relatioinship. The children live together becoming more like brithers and sisters. And the teacher is an adult that the children encounter in many other activities outside the classroom. Thus the relationship is based on much more than academics. And the teachers get to know the children much more intimarely than just as an academic instructor. This is of course an important part of the prep school experience which has carry on benefits in the classroom.
One difference between day schools and boarding schools is the rest period. Day schools tend to have different policies. Some schools have a quiet time where the children are expected after lunch to quietyly read in the library or other location. More commonly rather than a rest period there is an extended lunch break. The children after lunch are allowed free time for outdoor sports or other activity they masy choose. Almost all prepararory-level boarding schools have the children return to their dorm rooms and quietly read or take a nap on their beds. Schools have varying rules. Some allow the children to play board games in their dorm rooms rather than read on their beds, if they can do so quietyly. At secondary schools, the more common pattern is an extended lunch break where the children can play sports or engage in other activities.
The first boarding schools were established for boys and for centuries only boys boarded. The education of girls was not gicen any real attention until the 19th century and even mostly in the late-19th century. Even when educating girls began to gain some attention, parents did not believe that boarding was appropriate for girls. Most parents wanted to keep their daughters safely at home. This attitude was still prevalnt in the 19th century when prep schools began to appear. The first prep schools were boys schools. Girl's prep schools followed in the late 19th century. All of the early prep schools were single gender schools. More girls prep schools were founded after the turn of the 20th century and coed schools also appeared. Many more boys were sent to these boarding prep and public schools than girls. This appears to have been a common phenomenon in other coutries around the world. More boys attend boarding schools and they tend to board for longer periods. Interestingly proprtionally more girls attend boarding schools in Britain than any other country. (Here there may be a few exceptions like Cuba.) A very substantial portion of the children attending public schools are now girls. The proportion of girl attending preparatory schools is not as high, primarily because many girls leave for their public schools at age 11 rather than 13 like the boys.
The general public commonly think that boarders have been "sent away" by uncaring parents. This probably was never the case, although some oparents did just this. Attitudes toward boarding have changed cosiderably in Britain. Boarding used to be seen as an essential part of public school education. Thus the preparatory schools were created to prepare younger boys for te public schools and this included boarding. As a matter of cours, boys were sent off to these schools at about age 8 years. Often there swas little consideration as to whether the child
was prepared or suited for boarding. It was just assumed it was good for him. Today there is a better recognition that boarding is not for everyone. Many parents now decided against boarding, especially for youngrer childern. Parents are more inclined to delay boarding until they are convinced a child is ready. And they are also more invclined to involve the child in the decessioinn process. If a child is unhappy or adamently against the idea, schools will encourage the parents to reconsider, perhaps delaying boarding or rethinking it altogether. Most modern boarders have been involved in the decesion to board. And changing attitudes have largely refassioned the boarding experience. More than half of boarders now go home over the weekends.
The facilities at a boarding school are much the same as at a day school. Thre classroom facilities are likely to be essentially the same. Sporting facilities are also likely to be similar, although boarding schools tnd to have somewhat more extensive facilities. This is somewhat affected by the location of the schools. There are, however, some important differences. Recreational facilities are much more important at a boarding school because the children spend so much more time there.
A major advantage of a boarding-school education is the greater amount of time available for extra-curricular activities and in particular sport. And facilities are needed for these activities.
Sports facilities are only one aspect here. Dining facilities also tend to be more extensive, obviously because the children eat all their meals at the schools. The form rooms and the commons rooms tend to be more extensive because boarding childrn use them so much more. Many boarding schools also have their own chapel for religious services. Thee most obvious difference between boarding schools and day schools is obviously the dormitory facilities where the children sleep. Many schools we visited had rather spartan facilities. There were only a few schools that had large dormitories with rows of beds. Almost all of the schools had small group dorms. Normally this meant romms with anout 5-10 bunks, bt usually little furniture. This in part reflected the use oif old mannor houses with many rooms of different sizes. Some schools used bunk beds. Normally the boys had a chair by their bunk to help dress and lay out clean clothes for the next day. Some schools had begun to upgrade these dorms adding furniture allowing the boys drawer space. This was much more common in the senior schools. Generally the girls had more elaborate dorm rooms and this is probaly one reason why the sgools were also upgrading the boys rooms with niceties like tugs.
Improvements in the boarding facilities are some of the major changes made at the schools during the 1990s. This of course makes the schools look better to boith prospective parents and their children. Assessing the quality of the boarding facilities can be misleading in making a jugement about the schools.
Prep schools had the same basic uniforms for both boarders and day children. We cover the subject of prep school uniforms in some detail (Vol. VI of our British eBooks). And we have information from school publications in Vol. III. Here we will not repeat that information, but discuss only the specific uniform topics associated specifically with boarding schools. While the uniforms were essentially the same, there were some differences between the two groups as pertaining to the uniforms. Most schools required the day children to come to school dressed in their blazers and ties. Some still required caps as well. After arriving at school they would put away their blazers and in some cases take off their ties. Boaeders on the other hand often did not commonly wear blazers at school, except for formal occassions, traveling for school teams, and on sunday for church. Also boarders brought to school items like pajamas and bathrobes. These were required items, but not uniform items as they were all different. All boys werev expected to have dressing gowns (few call them bath robes in
the UK). These are usually worn going to and from showers/baths, after getting ready for bed on an evening and during fire evacuation tests. There is no direction given as to style etc and a vast range of fabrics, patterns and colours are used. The boarding schools caried as to uniform regulatiins after the school day. Some schools allowed the children to change into casual clothes. The same was true on the weekends.
There are commonly exeats (leave weekends) when boarders go home for the weekend. This varies from school to school. Most schools rotate exeats. A few schools have a fixed exeats in which all the children go home. Normally exeats begin Saturday afternoon. A few schools have a fixed exeats beginning Friday afternoon once a term. The standard procedure, however, is to begin exeats Saturday afternoon. Almost all schools have Saturday morning classes. Exeats allow the parents to pick up their children for the weekend together. Usually the children are picked up about 1:00 pm after the morning classes. Many schools allow the children to put on their refular clothes for their exeats, but some schools insist the cgildren stay in their school uniform. Sometimes there are complications such as afternoon games with other schools which parents also often attend. Schools vary as to the numbers of exeats allowed. Some schools allow 2-3 exeats per term. A few schools allow the children to leave any weekend, which is essentialy "weekly boarding". Families vary on how much they take advantage of the exeats. Most parents who can pick up their children, often planning some kind of special activity together. Some parents are outside the country, so the children can not take advantage of their exceats. Sometimes grandparents or uncles and unts might pick them up. Normally the children asre expected to be returned by Sunday evening. The schools normally arrange a variety of activities on Saturday and Sunday for the children not leaving with exeats. These range from school to school and depending on the size of the school there may be alternatives. Ofren field trips are planned to museums, historical sights, sports events, festivals, and other interesting sites. There are also activities like orienteering, treasure hunts, and others organised and supervised by the teaching staff.in which the children may want to participate.
Most children do quite well indeed at boarding schools. Many in fact thrive. This of course varies from child to child. Some children do better academically in boarding school than in day schools because of the more structured environment. Others children develop important social skills and become more confident. Some may have done the same in day schools. Other benefit more than others from the experience. Boarding is not, however, suitable for all children. Some children do not react to being away from home. Most children may be a little teary at first, but quickly adjust to the program. Other children have more difficulty. Most prep schools take special care with the new children away from home for the first time. Here parents need to take their child's maturity and personality into account. Some are not ready for the extperience.
Preparatory schools, both day and boarding schools, are divided into houses. The children at some schools often wear house bades which may be colored pins or tabs. These houses are, however, different thsn the more famous boarding houses in public schools. the boarding houses in public schools include children from each form level, the older youth seen as a good influence and role models for the younger teenagers. Houses in prep schools do not have this boarding role. Rather prep school houses are more for organizing intra-school competitions as well as counceling. Boarding arrangements are normally by age group with a prefect or other older boy assigned to the younger boys' room to help supervise. There are some exceptions to this. A few prep schools do have a separate residential house for the older boys. This is seen as helping to prepare them for the transition to public school.
Another institution of boarding school life used at public schools and replicted in the prep schools is the system of monitors or prefects. This was a major institution at public schools in the 19th century. The schools gave the prefects great authority and it was largely the prefects who kept the younger students in good order. The public schools still have prefects, but they have far less uthority. And the prep schools as they are preparing the boys for public schools also have adopted the prefect system. The prefects are appointed by the hrad master who nirmally discusses the choices with the senior staff. The prefects tend to be much more important at boarding schools thn at day schools. This is because the children are at school all day long and spend a great deal of time outside the classroom and thus are not always in the immedidate vicinity of a teacher. Thus the prefects even with their limited authority provide a very vakuabke service. The experience is also very vakuable for the children cjosen to be prefects. An effective headmaster not inly uses the prefects to help supervide the younger children, but makes use of the prefects to learn what the children are thinking, but may be hesitant to confide in him personally.
Children enjoy equipment like Skate Boards, Roller Blades, and Scooters and want to bring them to school to play with. Here schools have arange of approaches. Some schools do not allow them. Other schools do. Now almost all scools that allow them require the children to wear helmets and pads for elbows and knees. Most schools do not allow bicycles.
Tuck is candy or other treats that the children can buy periodically during the week. This may seem like a minor aspect of boarding school life. Fr the children, however, it is a particulasrly important aspect. The schools of course insist that the children are well fed. But unlike many children at home, they are not able to snack like they would like. And of course all hildren love sweets! Thus tuck is organized, usually once or twice a week. There are various approaches to this. Sometimes matrin does it. At some school the headmaster's wife takes charge, a good way to develop good relatons with the children. Often they are assisted by the prefects. Most schools do not want the children to bring candy or other food and drink to school. Other schools allow tuck boxes. These are small locked boxes that the children brink to school with their trunks. The purpose of these boxes was originally tuck give rise to their name. Schools have varying rules about the content and access. Over time the purpose of these tuck boxes have changed, in part because the schools begun to exercise more control over the treats brought to school in them. At many schools the boxes have become more places that the children can store and lock up a variety of personal possessions.
A lot goes on at boarding schools in the afternoon and evening after the day children go home. We have covered the school day in otheer volumes of our eBooks. The school day is not to different at day schools and boarding schools. It is fter games that the day and boarding school experience becomes different. There are also weekend activities. Here the program varies greatly from school to school. The particular activity program at any school depends on facilities, school philosophy, staff skills and interests, children's interests and other factors. The range of different activities is quite long. Some activities we noted are: board games, carpentry, chess, choir, cooking, crafts (baskets, beads and much more), boating, dance, fencing, first aid, horseback riding, jigsaws, judo, music activities (many kinds), model making, model railroading, painting (different kinds), photography, stamp collecting, technology, and many other activities. There are also a variety of recreatinal sports beyond the major games, including: badminton, fencing, gymnastics, squash, and others. The activities also vary seasonally. Britain is located at a northern lattitude. Thus in winter it gets very dark early and stays light quite late in the evening. This is especially true in Scotland. Generally the children are allowed to stay up longer during the summer term with longer days. Of course the schools vary considerably as to the facilities availavle for freetime activities. There can be free time, supervised activities like a free swim, tea (evening meal), perhaps some television (usually the news), prep, and finally bed time. Some schools give more attention to free time while others place greater emphasis on prep.
The weekend is one of the major differences between day and boarding schools. Most boarding schools have Saturday classes, but this is not common at day schools. Day children have to attend the Saturday classes.
Saturday classes are held in the morning. The afternoon is devoted to games, activities, and free time. The day children commonly stay for games in the afternoon, especially the older boys who are team memnbers. Other day children may also stay if they are interested in the afternoon activities. There are also excheats which allow the boarders to go hime for the rest of the weekend. Schools vary as to how often the children are permitted to go hime. Often a video is shown in the evening. Sunday is devoted to church in the morning. Most schools have some religious affiliation. There are a range of activities and freetime in the afternoon. Occassionally trips are organized in the afternoon.
A major difference between day schools and boarding schools is of course the time that the children spend at school. The schools thus tend to provide for amuch wide ranges of activties and circumstances. This gives the different schools quite a different atmpsphere. Basically the modern boarding school tries to recreate a semplance of a home environment. This is particularly notable at prep schools which of course cater to the younger children. This effort atmodern schools is a major departure for modern prep schools. Schools have various ways of doing this. Unlike day schools, children at boarding schools are allowed to bring a range of personal possessions to school which includes toys, bikes, scates boards, and other items. Here school rules vary. Day schools more focuded on the academic and other program areas often discourage such items. Thus at boarding schools you see many of the popular trends conected with toys, games, and other childhhod pursuits. Children also being treasured companins such as teddies and other stuffed animals. We also see small pets such as hamsters, gerbils, and rabbits. Quite a few boarding schools had per sheds. This all goes to build a more homey environment for the children. There is also a move away from the spartan environment of earlier schools. We see a range of ammenities like carpers and curtains. Here the move toward coeducation has also been a factor. Annothr basic difference in the atmoshoere at boarding schools is a diiferent relationship between the children and staff. The fact that experiences are not limited to classroom interactions means that a more nuanced relationship develops.
The children's bed-times are staggered by age so the younger children go to bed a little earlier. The amount of free time in the evening thus depends on the child's age. The younger children need more time for sleep, but this also is a convenient way of organizing bed gtime so matron and the staff can supervise the hole process. Generally the younger boys are put to bed earlier than at home. Some of the children complained about this. After washing up and getting in bed, the children are allowed to leave the lights on for a while and read or chat quietly with friends. The children generally go to bed by class. The prefects are normally allowed a little more time before going to bed.
Most people have not attended boarding schools. Thus there image of what boarding schools are like is not very positive. This is primrily because what they have read or seen in the media. Virtually everyone has read boks or seen television programs or movies with depictions of boarding schools. In most cases the image depicted is not vey positive and not uncommonly strikingly negative. It may well be that there was in the past some justification for such images. We are not entirely sure why this is, but it is certainly true that the general image of boarding schools in the popular mind is largely negtive. Our impression is that those who have expeience with boarding schools, especially modern boarding schools, have a very different attitude toward the schools. This includes both parents and children. A variety of myths are current in the popular mind even though they appear to contradict the actual situation at the schools. Here we will discuss some of these images.
The children reacted differently to boarding. New children at the schools, usually at about 8 yerars of age find boarding at first a difficult undertaking. Few children at age 8 years would choose to go away to school. Most adjuct very quickly to boarding. Older children have more varied attitudes toward boarding. Some simply accepted boarding as the normal course of events. Some didn't like it. Other children eather enjoyed it, although they like the other children were always very happy when their parents arrived for exeats and end of terms. The children we spoke to expressed many varied as to their attitude toward boarding. Most of the children we spoke to were happy at their schools. Most older children would have liked to spend more time at home, but they also saw a range of beneits with boarding. Some like the idea of always having mates at hand for games and sports. They also liked the idea of not spending and hour or more each day traveling back and forth to and from school. Often the sports-minded boys like the opportunities that boarding provided to focus on favorite sports. Some children didn't like boarding at all. Here there was often an opinion mixed with their overall attitude toward their school.
