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In loco parentisJohn Baugh, Headmaster of the Dragon School
All good boarding schools work in partnership with parents to make the boarding experience a happy and successful one. Parents posted overseas know their children will need not only the best education they can provide but support, care and fun when they can’t be around. So what are the things that particularly mark out a good boarding school for families based overseas? As the head of one such school, I would suggest it is the elements of traditional boarding that continue to provide the answer. It attracts families in all kind of situations: our thriving boarding community includes children with parents based locally, nationally and internationally. Among these have always been Services families. Full but flexible
One of the chief things that supports families overseas is ‘full’ boarding. This means school does not empty out on a Friday night, and children are always surrounded by friends when in school at weekends; full boarding also means regular exeats, good half-term breaks and long holidays to enable families to be together. While there are obviously clear routines to boarding, there is also the ability to be flexible with family arrangements. At the Dragon, for example, when parents suddenly find they can be in the country outside the usual holiday and break times we naturally help them have time with their children. With this style of boarding at the heart of a school, the community operates 24/7 and there is a palpable sense of the engine running at all times. Staff are in school, boarding houses are lively and children are offered a great deal to do. At the Dragon we also have the advantage of being a sizeable school, which helps with every aspect of the care we can offer. A large staff can provide an extended curriculum and learning programmes tuned to the needs of small groups of pupils. It also facilitates an extensive programme of sport and music, as well as a huge programme of extra-curricular activities and clubs. So, although time is structured, there is a great choice of things to do and, through this stimulating shared programme, boys and girls form very strong friendships. The busy boarding life also provides lots of friendly adults around the place to look out for the needs of every child. Forces families in particular are familiar with structured routines, full agendas and community life – we find we understand each other and this helps children settle well into boarding from age eight. House families
The boarding house is the central support to children and families. Home to the child in term time, it is also the vital communication link with parents. At the Dragon we make a point of having teaching staff as house parents so that they are aware of all aspects of the children’s progress and welfare at school. While in ‘loco parentis’ they also remember that they are not the parents themselves but are part of the vital three-way link of child, parents and school. Parents living abroad find this both practical and reassuring. House parent couples provide the cosy surroundings of a family home at school, and work hard to keep everyone in touch. It is so much more than email and letters, important as these are – it is familiarisation and welcome sessions with new boarding families before boarders join us, regular family events, the frequent sending of photos and use of web communications, and of course easy and quick phone calls. House parents are very significant figures in the children’s lives, genuinely there for them and living with them in real homes. I should also mention that all this applies equally to boys and girls; when ready for it, well prepared and supported by their families and their school, boys and girls make happy young boarders. It is not unknown for them to ‘sell’ boarding to their friends. Indeed we at the Dragon have just opened a new girls’ boarding house, to add to our existing nine houses, especially for Year 6 girls, in response to demand. However, it is all very well for me to extol the virtues of this kind of school and indeed to say how much I, and all my colleagues, enjoy being at the centre of an extraordinary community. But perhaps I should leave it to one of our parents, a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army, to explain why full boarding at the Dragon is right for his family: ‘Boarding at such a young age gives the child a huge sense of perceived independence, while being carefully coaxed and allowed to run their own lives. We are constantly surprised by the autonomy and initiative shown by our children, who have learned the benefits of living in teams at an early age. It gives them excellent communications skills, a sense of responsibility and enormous confidence. Nothing fazes them any more. ‘It means long-term stability and parents always get to be the “good cop”. We and the children cannot wait for half-terms or exeats. Their day pupil friends resent their parents for pestering them through prep and badgering them to get up in the mornings!
‘But most importantly they learn how to get on with people – life’s greatest skill. Better friends are made from five months of boarding than five years of being a day pupil. They live life to the full, using the 60 minutes of commuting time for music, rugby or drama practice. They learn to cope on their own without ever being left on their own. The small house system, attention to detail over the evenings or weekends, and the amazing facilities make boarding at the Dragon a no-brainer. ‘Best of all are the exceptionally high-grade staff. Their careful selection and organisation into many levels of care and governance are combined with an atmosphere of true “Mission Command”. These consummate professionals hold responsibility and authority, exercised with intelligence and moral courage. It is little wonder that schools such as the Dragon breed the leaders of tomorrow.’  John Baugh has been Head of the Dragon School, a co-educational boarding and day preparatory school in Oxford, since 2002. He was educated in Uganda, and at Aldenham School and St Luke’s Exeter. He was Chairman of the Boarding Schools’ Association in 2006–07. |
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