Surrey Homes | SH97 | February 2023 | Education Supplement inside

Education Supplement
Social Life
Two schools share how they build social skills in students
Richard Mills, Registrar at Bede’s tell us how they build their boarding community
Bede’s
For boarding pupils, building
relationships at school is even more
vital because their school peers are
more than just classmates — they are a
close–knit community, a family who rely
on each other for support, guidance and
friendship. Creating such a community is
about forming a home away from home
and our activity programme is an essential
part of boarding life as it helps create a
stronger sense of home and belonging.
Children can board from Year 5 at Bede’s
Prep School and from Year 9 at Bede’s Senior
School. Our boarding children come from
across the country and from 38 countries
around the world. Our aim is to quickly
establish children into boarding life to help
them to settle into their new surroundings
and make friends (and memories) for life.
Our activity programme and boarding house
routines are pivotal to this.
Each child, whether a full, flexi or weekly
boarder, is attached to a boarding house,
where they will find a strong sense of
community and camaraderie. The moment
a child joins a house they are matched with
a ‘boarding buddy’ and are encouraged to
engage in all the activities on offer to them.
Each house will nominate a charity that
they will fundraise for over the course of
the year, and pupils are encouraged to give
back to the local community and support
good causes with invaluable experiences such
as distributing supplies to the homeless or
raising vital funds – all of which teach pupils
skills beyond just the classroom.
“Mountain biking in the
South Downs National Park,
visiting the trampoline park,
outdoor activity centres, theatre
trips, beach days, paintballing,
kayaking, paddle boarding,
roller disco and cinema and
shopping trips, are all activities
on offer throughout the year.”
We aim to give children the opportunity to
make the most of their local surroundings
and culture. Both the Prep School and the
Senior School are idyllic. The Senior School
sits in the heart of the English countryside
in the pretty village of Upper Dicker, and
the Prep School is at the foot of the South
Downs National Park, overlooking the
stunning coastline in Eastbourne. Children
are fully immersed in their environment and
are given endless opportunities to explore
activities and discover new hobbies or
interests. Both schools run a varied activities
programme during the week where pupils
can try anything from sports to debating, art
to creative writing, dance to chess and more
– not only enriching their education but also
helping to form bonds with each other.
Weekends provide our pupils with both
fun and relaxation – there is just the right
balance between relaxation, structured
activities and schoolwork. Mountain
biking in the South Downs National Park,
visiting the trampoline park, outdoor
activity centres, theatre trips, beach days,
paintballing, kayaking, paddle boarding,
roller disco and cinema and shopping trips,
are all activities on offer throughout the year.
The activities are chosen by the boarders
in weekly boarding house meetings, with
cooked brunches and movie nights being
very popular amongst pupils.
During their spare time, when not in
lessons or enjoying activities, pupils have
time with their tutor and housemaster/
mistress to discuss their progress, workload
and phone home to stay connected with
their loved ones. Every evening there are
activities in-house including movie and
pizza nights, games, reading, and socials.
Our extracurricular timetable includes
many wellbeing and health-promoting
opportunities too, like yoga or even helping
care for the animals at our onsite Zoo!
Our ultimate aim is to create a supportive
environment where children can thrive. We
are dedicated to the mental and physical
wellbeing of our pupils, as well as their
academic success.
Join Bede’s for their Open Mornings on
4 March (Prep) or 11 March (Senior)
and see their boarding houses for
yourself, including the new state-ofthe-art
boarding house at Bede’s Senior
School which opened in Autumn 2022.
Sign up at bedes.org/open-morning
23 priceless-magazines.com