Dickinson School Consulting’s 2022

After two years of lockdowns, school closures and general disruption, finally this year has felt rather more normal. British boarding schools have been able to remain open, resume sporting fixtures, musical and theatrical performances, and the summer saw a return to traditional exams.

For us, it has been wonderful to get back to arranging school visits for the families we advise, rather than sending them a Teams or Zoom link. That said, it is good to recognise the positives in everything, even a pandemic, and the online alternatives to in-person visits that were developed over the course of 2020-21 are still available. While nothing beats being at a school to get a real feel for it, the option of an online interview or open day, or a virtual visit with a video tour can be useful for families who struggle to find time to travel.

Regarding travel, another pandemic development that some schools are retaining is the option for students to stay in school over half term holidays, instead of having to embark upon a long journey home for just one to two weeks. Please let us know if this is a consideration when starting your school search.

It was great for Gina to get back to visiting some of the schools we work with too. In the summer she visited Ashville College and Barnard Castle School, then more recently Rendcomb College and Harrogate Ladies’ College. At Rendcomb she was impressed by the fantastic new Performing Arts Centre with Theatre and Dance / Drama studio, and she loved the new Sixth Form Study Centre. The HLC visit was a chance to meet some students we helped place there and she has since been back to Ashville to do the same – meeting our students in their schools is one of the best things to resume this year!

Run twice each year, the British Boarding Schools Workshops are a great way to catch up with lots of schools without travelling all over the country. The first of these in March remained online but the November event went live again, and it was so great to be back in one place with our colleagues, really feeling their energy as they enthused about the super schools they represent. You can read about the updates on our LinkedIn page. At the event, Gina was encouraged to visit lots more schools to see new developments for herself and next spring’s road trip is already in development – watch this space!

Meanwhile, 2022 nears its end and some schools are closed already, while others close this week. We are available to assist with your search for the best school in England, Scotland or Wales right up until we finish on Friday 23rd December. Our office will then reopen on Tuesday 3rd January 2023.

We wish you fun festivities, a healthy and happy new year, and we hope to hear from you soon.