Deciding to send your child to a boarding school can be a daunting decision to make. While the move to a boarding house will be exciting and life-changing, it is only natural for parents to harbour doubts. So, lets cut through the stereotypes and instead look at the real advantages of attending a boarding school.
- INDEPENDENCE
Although closely followed by their boarding parents and tutors, attending a boarding school provides students with a new-found sense of independence. With experienced boarding staff ensuring a smooth transition from home, students continue to feel safe and confident enough to undertake more and more responsibility.
This supportive environment helps them to mature with guidance, becoming self-disciplined, responsible and full of initiative. Skills that will prepare them well for university and life after school in countries worldwide.
- LIVING IN A LEARNING COMMUNITY
Boarding students are immersed into a community of friends who live and learn together. This shared experience fosters a hugely motivating atmosphere in which to thrive academically and personally. It extends the depth of their learning, enabling them to develop all of their skills and talents.
- SOCIAL CONFIDENCE
Students develop a strong sense of self and social confidence through continued social interaction in their day-to-day life. By meeting individuals from all four corners of the world, students become socially prepared and ready to embrace the melting pot of cultures that awaits them in the wider world.
- STABILITY AND STRUCTURE
If you are a family which often relocates for career reasons, attending a boarding school can provide students with stability, structure and familiarity. Not needing to adapt to a new curriculum or new peers every couple of years is a load off their minds, which will ultimately enable them to focus better on their studies.
- STUDENT WELL-BEING AND CARE
Much like at school, student well-being remains an absolute priority for boarding house staff. House parents are, in fact, experienced comforters, guides, counsellors and even mediators for the young people in their care.
What’s more, they make maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle easier for the students by providing them with balanced meals and encouraging them to take up one or more of the extra-curricular activities available.
- A LIFE OF EXCITEMENT
One thing you will never be at boarding school is bored.
Boarding goes well beyond academia and enables students to grow and explore their interests through a wide range of extra-curricular activities. Boarders get more than just the usual after-school activities. They get to go on fun trips with their friends, whether this be to discover the local culture through city visits, or something more exciting like go-karting and skiing.
- LIFELONG FRIENDSHIPS
Ask any boarder what they like most about being a boarding student, and the answer is almost always – living with my friends!
Boarding students grow and support each other through some of the most formative experiences in a teen’s life. Through both the good and the bad, boarding school will create friendships that will stand the test of time.
To see how international students and athletes can benefit from all of the above with the Haut-Lac family, check out our boutique boarding home here.
Shauna Dubler
