Parents' Guide to Boarding

4 The boarding houses have a diverse range of accommodation Parental consent and activity costs Parents are asked to complete a Consent Form, allowing your son to take part in the varied activities programme. This needs to be done at the start of every academic year. Please complete and return this by the start of term in September. The School generally funds the majority of trips and events for boarders. However, with the rising costs and increasing number of such activities we may charge up to £150 a year to help subsidise some costs of the more expensive trips, such as meals out or visits to Theme Parks, Paint-balling etc. We will not seek additional permission for such charges so please advise if you do not wish your son to take part in these activities. The Houses – practical information The boarding houses have a diverse range of accommodation and we try very hard to ensure room allocations are carried out fairly and appropriately. Any concerns should be expressed to the relevant housemaster. In addition to normal bedroom furniture, boys also have a desk, an individual safe and a lockable cupboard/drawer. Rooms are central-heated. We expect boys to keep their rooms tidy to help the cleaners who come into the houses each morning. We hope that boys will personalise their room area and having suitable posters is a great way of doing this. They can be put up on the boards provided. Communal Areas and Facilities Each house has a kitchen for eating and preparing snacks. No take-aways are permitted between Monday and Thursday nights inclusive. Boarders are expected to go to all meals. Houses keep kitchens stocked with bread, butter, milk, jam and spreads. A snack tea is provided at 5.00pm. Boys are expected to wash up their own dishes and cutlery and duty ‘teams’ of boys do a final tidy up each evening. Games Rooms comprise a range of activities such as table tennis and pool tables and table football. TV rooms have large screen televisions and facilities for movie nights. Movies are aimed at the age range of the boys watching. Most boys now bring laptops with them and each house has Wifi throughout. Boys will be expected to sign the ‘Guidelines for Use’ and boys must not be on computers after lights out. The School has a number of check s and f i l ters in p lace to preven t bo ys f rom us ing the in terne t i r respons ib ly . Irresponsible or inappropriate usage will result in the facility being withdrawn. The houses all have sufficient showers, toilets and washbasins for the boarders. Property and Damage Boys should take care of their own property and show respect for the property of others and of the school at all times. Please make sure that your son’s belongings, including laptops and phones, are named and insured. Personal items are not covered by the school’s insurance. Boys should not ‘borrow’ items from others without asking. In the rare event of a suspected theft, it should be reported swiftly and will be investigated. Valuable items, passports and large quantities of money may be handed in to house matrons or housemasters for safekeeping, although we would strongly encourage boys to open their own bank accounts to keep money safe. Damage should be reported to the House Matron so that repairs can be made quickly. If damage is caused deliberately, the cost of repair to property belonging to either the School or another boy may be charged to a parents’ bill and parents will be informed.