School News

State boarding is said to be one of the best kept secrets in education. I am happy to say it provides a viable, cost-effective and worthy alternative to boarding in the independent sector. At the moment there are 38 maintained or state-funded boarding schools which offer a diverse range of high quality educational experiences.  

Paying school fees is a major financial commitment for parents and is not to be undertaken lightly. Apart from a mortgage it is probably the largest expenditure parents can make. The opportunity to spread the payment load is limited as most schools require settlement of the previous term’s fees before allowing a pupil to return for the next term. Consequently, new cars and holidays often have to take a back seat and both parents may need to work to cover even the basic fee. Independent education is therefore, by any standards, a large financial commitment.

Any parent considering a boarding school for their child at 11+ or 13+ entry is certain to discover that changes to the main curriculum options at ages 14–16 (Years 10 and 11) – GCSEs and IGCSEs – will become relevant for their son or daughter in the coming years. 

Boarding schools are now almost invariably multicultural and multidimensional, flexibly trying to respond to the complexity of the modern world by providing a traditional breadth of opportunities but doing this with a real striving for quality. This change is fully reflected in sixth-form provision. 

Times have changed across society – very much for the better – when it comes to talking about mental health issues. No serious employer, the Services included, is without a programme to encourage employees to be open about their experiences.

Progress is one of those words we see a lot in education – you’ll read it in your son or daughter’s reports, on school websites and in inspection reports, and there are even league tables for some schools based on average academic progress.

State boarding schools are often described as ‘education’s best kept secret’. Certainly I meet many prospective parents who have found the sector almost by chance and who once introduced are impressed by the range of facilities, types of school and examination results across our schools. State boarding is available at the time of writing to all EU-qualified pupils and the education is provided free of charge, so parents only pay for the boarding element.

When asked what the aims are for the provision of sixth-form education, I am sure that most leaders of schools and colleges with sixth forms would have a very similar response – to help pupils achieve the best examination grades they can while at the same time prepare them for life after school, in the broadest sense of the word ‘life’ – from social skills to careers. By exposing pupils to as many experiences as possible we can help to develop their ‘soft’ skills and character, and broaden their minds. We want young people to be alive to the opportunities that exist in the global village they now live in, while at the same time being open and sensitive to, and appreciative of, other cultures. I would argue that boarding schools are in a unique position to be able to meet these aims.