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32 ROOKWOOD SCHOOL Co-educational day and boarding for children aged 3-16 OPEN MORNING: NURSERY/PRE-PREP Thursday 5th February, 9:45am-11:15am Come and discover Rookwood! 7+ SCHOLARSHIP: Thursday 12th March Telephone: 01264 325900 office@rookwood.hants.sch.uk Weyhill Road, Andover, Hampshire SP10 3AL www.rookwood.hants.sch.uk Leehurst Swan School Salisbury's only Independent Day School for Girls & Boys aged 2-16 First Class Education from Early Years to GCSE Recognised for its excellent practice in Early Years Education by Wiltshire Education Authority Pre-School Open Day Thursday 12 February 2009 9.00am-3.00pm One Community… One family. Bring your family and friends and meet the staff and children Campbell Road, Salisbury, SP1 3BQ Tel: 01722 333094 www.leehurstswan.org.uk Outstanding Results at every level Whole School Open Morning Friday 6 March 2009 9.00am-12 Noon
Getting the message schools v Read the right messages about boarding schools, says Clayesmore Headmaster Martin Cooke It is a clever trick of communications experts and advertisers to brand a product so successfully that the name becomes part of our everyday vocabulary – Sellotape, Hoover, Aspirin, even Photoshop all spring to mind. These products have acquired substantial market dominance and this generic branding must be the Holy Grail of those who are looking for market share. Being in business means communicating the benefits of one’s product or service to your key market. Professional organisations trained to dream up ever-more creative ways to achieve this are legion. Being in the boarding-school business, as Headmaster of Clayesmore, I cannot help wondering what image is conjured up when the words ‘boarding school’ are mentioned – Hogwarts or Tom Brown; Malory Towers or Goodbye, Mr Chips? It does, of course, depend on your experience, but what I and the other members of my senior team know is that survival, particularly in the current economic conditions, depends on making sure that the right messages reach the right audiences. The Boarding Schools’ Association has recognised this and appointed a public-relations consultancy to disseminate a more accurate media image of boarding schools. The idea that a ‘more accurate’ image needs to be communicated is, of course, a little depressing, especially among those whose whole working life is devoted to caring for young people, nurturing their talents, shaping their perspectives and helping to provide a secure foundation from which they will live the rest of their lives. Our Prep School’s house parent, Dan Browse, said only recently: ‘Overwhelmingly, boarding is such a positive experience for the children in our care. Every one of them, over the years they are with us, develops independence, responsibility and confidence. But, more than anything, they have fun – fun from engaging in activities and pursuits that we believe wouldn’t be available to them on a regular basis outside the world of boarding.’ Each time a negative stance on boarding appears in the press, I cannot help wondering when the author last explored a boarding school or spent any time talking to the modern boarding girls and boys or their parents. If they did so, they would quickly Clayesmore prep girls find boarding fun and cosy find thriving communities teeming with the happiest, most engaging, thoroughly rounded individuals who have been given every chance to reach further and achieve more. They would not have to dig very deep either to find parents who appreciate the qualities of tolerance, kindness, co-operation and traditional family values that are brought to bear in a boarding environment. And they would not be able to deny the wonderful value in the huge diversity of opportunity available. A parent from the armed forces said recently: ‘Sometimes your circumstances mean you have to entrust the care of your children to a boarding school. What you look for then is a place where there is comfort, real warmth and care, where there is an intrinsic understanding of your child’s needs as he or she grows up, and where those in charge are going to do their absolute best to look after them, egg them on, and cherish them in way that a loving parent would.’ This is no Photoshop image of modern boarding, it is reality. But the best of it is that in schools like Clayesmore, that offer day places, you don’t have to be a boarder to benefit. A school with boarders takes a much more rounded approach. Pastoral care for all of its pupils is a major priority and there is a 24/7 attitude from which day pupils benefit too. Staying on to do prep, have supper with friends and take part in activities afterwards are all options available to our day pupils. In order to understand the values and benefits of boarding school life it is important to listen to the people who really know best: the parents and pupils who have already chosen the boarding route and the staff who work with them and look after them. If that happens, then the boarding-school ‘business’ can only thrive. V Sailing is one of the many activities enjoyed by the seniors at Clayesmore 33 View
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