Blog

This year Charterhouse celebrates the 150th anniversary of its relocation from central London to Godalming in Surrey.

Westonbirt has always been a fantastic option for girls seeking a truly traditional British boarding school experience. Set within a stately home rumoured to be the most expensive built during Victorian times, the school is surrounded by 210 acres of beautiful gardens and landscaped parkland in the heart of the Cotswolds and has to be seen to be believed. Following its recent transition to coeducation, and with 40% of Key Stage 3 made up of boys, Westonbirt launched boys’ boarding in September 2021, so that same experience is now available to all children.

One of the many things to recommend education at boarding school in England is the sector’s provision for the Arts. As life in our British schools resembled something a bit more normal last term, it was great to receive some accounts of their return to live performance.

Some British boarding schools have closed already and the rest will this week, so we wish all their staff and students happy holidays.

At the end of a year that has felt more normal, more of the time, we’d still like to pay tribute to everyone in education for their heroic efforts during the ongoing pandemic; teachers and school leadership teams adapting all the time to support their students, and the students themselves doing their best despite the disruption to their schooling.

Recently, Ellesmere College was awarded High Performance Learning (HPL) World Class School Accreditation. Following two years of rigorous assessment, the award recognises its hard work and dedication in demonstrating a world class quality of education throughout the school.

We are all keenly aware how tough the pandemic period has been for children. Disruption to their education has impacted them both academically and in terms of their personal growth.

Recognising the effects of this upheaval, Christ College Brecon has adapted its weekly timetable to include more extra-curricular activity to help with pupils’ physical, spiritual, social and moral development.

Gina recently participated in a virtual version of BBSW, the British Boarding Schools Workshop. Traditionally a presential conference held each spring and autumn here in the UK, since the pandemic the event has moved online to keep important lines of communication open between educational agents, like Gina, and the boarding schools they recommend.

We were delighted to see plenty of the Welsh, Scottish and English boarding schools we recommend recognised across the categories in this year’s Independent Schools of the Year Awards. Covering both day and boarding schools, the latter sector is key to us and our clients, so particular congratulations go to Gordonstoun for being named 2021’s Independent Boarding School.

As the new academic year gets underway, we’d like to recognise the achievements of students who got their exam results over the summer. Always newsworthy, this past two years’ grades have generated even closer scrutiny due to disruption caused by the pandemic.

To close our little series of “Focus on…” blogs, this time we are showcasing the quality of art provision at British boarding schools.