Ethos

As we increasingly feel the pressure of being constantly connected, there is understandable concern about the effects on children. A recent Ofcom survey found that 97% of children aged 12 to 15 own a smartphone, and 66% feel pressure to respond to messages instantly. Aiming to improve mental health and online safety, more schools are exploring how to create healthier digital boundaries. 

Sedbergh School is about to start celebrating its quincentenary. As it approached this major milestone, it reviewed the school motto, Dura Virum Nutrix (a stern nurse of men), which was adopted way back in 1893 and no longer felt part of the identity of younger Sedberghians.

Having received a new video featuring international boarders talking about their experience of life at Worksop College, a small and nurturing co-educational British boarding school in Nottinghamshire in Northern England, we simply had to share it:

If you’ve ever wondered how British boarding schools start the new year, here is one stirring example, courtesy of this video produced by Glenalmond College.

In the second of our series asking what makes each British boarding school unique, we hear Dan Harrison, the headmaster of Sedbergh School, explain how his British boarding school is unique for, amongst other things, its stunning location in the Yorkshire Dales, close to the Lake District in northern England.

The private school system can come under fire for being too elitist or for sheltering its students from the real world outside. In fact, in many ways, British boarding school communities reflect our global community more accurately than state schools can, having a spread of nationalities throughout their student cohort, and by dedicating time and effort for those students to contribute to the world around them.

In the first of an occasional series asking what makes each British boarding school unique, we hear from Alastair Tighe, the headmaster of Wells Cathedral School, explain how his British boarding school is unique, amongst other things, for being one of just four specialist music schools in the UK.

Something Gina often finds herself discussing with families who have girls looking for a British boarding school is why to select one that is just for girls. While single sex education isn’t the preserve of boarding schools in England, Scotland and Wales, it is arguably rarer overseas, so its merits can take some explaining. 

The first of a series of blogs in which we feature schools’ responses to a topical question we pose, for this one we asked, “What makes British boarding schools so attractive to overseas pupils post-pandemic?”

Our first respondent is Simon Lockyer, Headmaster of the Royal Hospital School near Ipswich in the South East of England, who writes:

The Principal of Gordonstoun, Lisa Kerr, made headlines recently for speaking out about the Scottish boarding school’s decision to ban mobile phones. Here she shares with us her thinking behind the move.

“Our 200 acres of beautiful woodland, classrooms, playing fields and performance spaces are once again noisy with the sound of excited chatter and shared stories.