Boarding: the vision thing

Rosalind McCarthy, Headmistress of Cobham Hall and Chairman of the Boarding Schools’ Association, explains how the reality of boarding is far from some popular misconceptions of it.

As Chairman of the Boarding Schools’ Association for the last year I have had the opportunity of observing at close quarters the surprisingly wide variety of schools which contribute to the world of boarding. Many people still have a stereotypical image of boarding schools in their minds, but the 450 schools in the BSA could not offer a broader educational choice. There are the large well-established house-based schools, coeducational and single-sex schools. There are schools for special talents and special needs, international schools and schools with or without a religious foundation. BSA is the umbrella organisation which serves all these schools whether they are from the independent or state sector. Its new training scheme provides qualifications for those working in residential education, and membership of BSA gives parents the assurance of quality. Those working in the world of boarding today provide enough variety to suit every child’s needs yet we work towards a common purpose, despite common misunderstandings about our schools, and despite some of the difficulties boarding has faced in recent years.

George Bush talked about “The Vision Thing” and today everyone is supposed to have both a vision statement and a mission statement. The Daily Telegraph’s weekend supplement recently reminded us that: “Once upon a time, someone who admitted to a vision was either an Old Testament prophet, a religious mystic or mad. Nowadays he’s likely to be a member of management!” However, whereas the vision statement is about values, the mission statement addresses harsh realities. So while your vision statement might declare “our aim is to achieve world peace” your mission statement would be forced to admit “we supply heavy artillery to the world’s emerging countries”. In boarding, our vision ideally may be of working in true partnership and harmony with students’ families in order to produce well-balanced, well-educated and responsible members of society. However, in these straitened times our mission is probably to attract as many customers as possible, and when we get them, to put right the ghastly things that may be happening at home!

Boarding Heads know that for any mission to be successful, the perception of boarding must be the right one. There is serious frustration that recognition of what we achieve is still often lacking. We are all concerned about the frontiers of misinformed perception which boarding has faced in recent years. It has been said that: “everything that you read in the newspapers is absolutely true except for the rare story of which you happen to have first hand knowledge!” Boarding Heads and their customers are able to read between the lies.

The art of persuasion has taken over from the pursuit of truth. The truth is that there are as many happy, well-adjusted children at boarding schools as at day schools and as many bad experiences to be had at day schools as there may be in boarding schools. Schools of any kind can be good or bad, so why the witch-hunt against boarding, and why only against schools? Residential education at university is considered not only socially acceptable but positively desirable, yet everyone knows that the standards of accommodation and pastoral care for boarders in university towns fall well below the standards students may have been enjoying a few months earlier at school. With regard to the stereotyped image of the boarding school bully, the worst case of bullying I ever encountered was at a coeducational state secondary day school where I had to pretend to be giving lunch-time detentions as protection for a teenage boy, terrorised, both verbally and physically, by a veritable virago of a middle school girl.

Clearly, Boarding has not only suffered in recent years from adverse media attention, but from other well-known factors such as the unhelpful economic climate, the reduction in the armed forces, in the diplomatic corps and in the sponsorship of pupils by business and industry. Esther Ranzten’s campaigns against bullying and child abuse have coloured public opinion unfairly against boarding as a whole, and parental attitudes have changed towards the upbringing of children. Any boarding school which has not recognised and addressed these factors will not survive, and sadly but predictably some have not. It is sad because, as schools disappear, with their very individual characters and strengths, parental choice becomes more limited, and the needs of the individual child are not so easily met.

It is obvious that, in many cases, a boarding education is absolutely vital. I was educated at what was then the Folkestone County School for Girls, which had a boarding house attached for the children of those who lived and worked abroad. For several years in the 60s, I taught in a boys’ boarding school in Zambia, far out in the bush near to a tiny village called Mungwi. We were the only school for miles around – the boarding houses were a necessity. Some Round Square projects in recent years have built simple residential accommodation for schools in third world countries because the same needs apply now. In the same way, State boarding schools in Scotland, for example, provide education for those whose homes are on remote islands too difficult to reach on a daily basis.

As with universities, so with schools, special talents and educational needs cannot all be catered for in every town. Musicians educated at Chethams, the Purcell School or the Yehudi Menuhin School come from all over the country and the world. It is just not possible to have a Royal Ballet School in every city, so students must board in Richmond for their education. Schools which cater for the physically handicapped, deaf or partially sighted are few and far between. Boarding is more than a convenience in these cases, it is a necessity. Schools renowned for their sporting, scientific or artistic tuition may not be suitably sited next door to those who want them, and not all schools have dyslexia centres or specialist tuition for English as a Foreign Language. Daily travel may be impossible to reach them. Business or personal circumstances sometimes make it necessary for parents to opt for boarding, either short or long term. My own school often has day students staying on a bed and breakfast basis for the odd day or two, or booked in for several weeks as circumstances dictate.

One preparatory school has recently achieved a great deal of success by introducing ‘sleep-overs’ for its students. None of its 70 converts lives more than half-an-hour’s drive away from the school, but the youngest children can book one ‘sleep-over’ a week, rising to three or five as they get older and their enthusiasm grows. Perhaps in this day and age we should adopt more user-friendly terms and become known as sleep-over schools! Children and parents understand this concept and find it very attractive.

I heard of one small boy looking at brochures of preparatory schools who asked his parents: “Is this a hotel for children?” For senior students with their single rooms, en suite showers, sports centres, tennis courts and swimming pools ‘Boarding’ is the wrong word. These are hotel facilities worthy of several stars. Pippa Pop-ins at the infant stage of the residential market does not hesitate to be known as a hotel for children. Hotel prices can be expensive, and boarding schools are constantly berated for their high fees, but having brought up two children myself, I know it does not come cheap to provide the food, light, heat and laundry facilities they need, not to mention the cost in time and money of transporting them to clubs, swimming pool, music lessons and libraries.

With regard to expense, it does seem a pity that more people are not aware of the state boarding schools. Hotel fees are payable of course, but tuition is free. It also seems a pity that Government assisted places for those who need a residential education have not been available for use in independent schools. There are opportunities for co-operation between the new Government and the boarding sector and it is encouraging that discussions are held regularly between the Boarding Schools’ Association and the DfEE.

Boarding, despite what the papers say, has moved with the times. Gone are the days when Cecil Reddie of Abbotsholme posted rules to regulate the proper position for sleeping in bed, and worse, the precise time at which boys and masters were allowed to use the earth closets! “Violin boys are to go after 8.30 so as not to lose their violin practice”! Even the self-styled members of the Boarding Survivor’s Group cannot indefinitely continue to judge boarding present on boarding past.

The boarding school pupils of today have access to an educational experience, not confined to classroom hours, which is more user-friendly than ever before and more widely available than people tend to think. It is well worth considering this educational choice for your child.

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