Schools Guide

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Dear Parents,.

As someone who has carefully read recent editions of the splendid Guide Service parents, and marvelled at the crisp, eloquent and detailed advice given by various headmasters about choosing a boarding school for your son/daughter, I am not convinced that I have anything new to add, in spite of having been a boarder since the age of eight myself, worked in five boarding schools and recently had the honour of being Chairman of the Boarding Schools’ Association. Headmasters have written about moral values, space and time to explore and grow up in a secure boarding community, the benefits of co-education, choosing the right academic environment, and much more. All this is excellent advice and, of course, the incredible variety of boarding schools on offer should meet the geographical and specific requirements of every Service family, presuming they know what they want and where they are looking.

The key for me would appear to be a boarding school offering continuity. Surely the hope of every Service parent, who is likely to be moving regularly around the UK and the world, is to know that their son or daughter is happy, being well taught and enjoying every term at school. Relationships between pupils and staff are probably the key to this, and the triangle of family involvement has to support and complement this process. It may well be grandparents or an aunt or uncle who is the regular visitor, so they too need to have a relationship with the house staff, matron, tutor, chaplain and other teachers as much as the parents themselves. The quality of this relationship needs to be excellent in every way and to be ongoing, well beyond the initial impression and the first settling-in period. It has to be continuous year on year. Continuity is in my experience not always something parents can take for granted even in a school offering boarding from age 8 to 18. The ethos and pastoral provision may vary from junior, middle years to senior school, and it is worth finding out how transfers are accomplished as pupils move through a school, and how information is shared and passed on. A completely fresh start in a new form or year may be a good thing, but not if it causes a programme designed to support a particular educational need being broken; and information about sensitive pastoral issues or health is not always transferred as effectively as it needs to be.

Continuity should also contribute to a sense of security and well-being, and the building of self-confidence. Past successes and lessons learnt from mistakes should act as spurs for greater achievement in the future. Young people like their talents recognised and regularly appreciated – it is part of the process by which they prepare to face new challenges in the future on a bigger stage. A word from a teacher expressing how much they are looking forward to teaching or coaching your child next year can be of immeasurable worth. The small part in the nativity play, the first solo in the junior show, can lead to the title role in We Will Rock You! Knowing who is likely to teach you, coach you, tutor you as you move up the school is usually hugely exciting for young people. We all want our children dying to come home at the end of an exhausting term, but then hopefully champing at the bit to go back to school to see friends, to get into the sports team and to face the next exciting academic challenge. Change can be stressful and cause real worry and anxiety for many young people, especially if it already exists in home life. Continuity can be a key factor in happiness, which I do not believe comes from lessons on ‘well-being’, or simply being told how lucky you are to be part of a great school. Happiness comes from warmth, love, knowing you are valued just as you are; it never comes from being a number in a league table statistic. Happiness is a force that drives most young people to achieve, and to want to meet or even exceed expectations. The more opportunities a school can provide, it seems to me, the greater the chance for success and happiness. A few pupils enjoy everything at school: work, sport, music, drama, adventure training, the CCF, even long cross-country runs. Most find happiness in smaller areas such as the art department, the choir, the electronics club or the Christian union. They have a few special friends, a couple of teachers who know them best and who they can really trust. Most young people need a big enough school, which offers the range of opportunities, but one small enough to allow the individual to shine and be recognised for his or her achievements year after year.

What does this lead me to recommend? Of course, as you would expect, I suggest you need somewhere like Giggleswick. A blend of new and traditional buildings, Christian values and co-education, and with a senior school from age 11 to 18, but offering junior boarding in a warm, secure environment. A stunning geographical location on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, with a short walk into the safe, thriving market town of Settle and an hour from Manchester or Leeds airports. We offer an outstanding CCF, superb sports facilities and teams, modern classrooms and a young, dynamic teaching staff. If you find a better school near your own or your children’s grandparents’ or guardians’ homes then great news, but for many Service families we appear to be just the right place to offer continuity and a remarkable environment for young people to spend some of the most important years of their lives having an exciting, memorable and fun first-class education!