As a boarder in the UK, you’ll have world-class facilities at your disposal and a huge range of activities to choose from
One advantage you’ll get from boarding school is the opportunity to try different hobbies, some of which may involve travel and adventure. Schools put a huge amount of effort into making life fun outside timetabled lessons and arrange a variety of activities both on campus and at various locations off site.
Try things out
Is there something you’ve always fancied trying? Whether it’s botany, astronomy, windsurfing or embroidery, at boarding school you’ll probably be able to try it.
Sport is one of the high-profile activities at boarding school. You will do some sport as part of your physical education (PE) lessons, but you can choose to do a lot more. In boarding schools, there are teams of different ages for many sports including netball, hockey, cricket, football, rugby and lacrosse. You can play tennis, badminton, squash and golf, and take part in athletics, gymnastics and swimming. Some schools also arrange horse or cycle riding, fencing, archery and clay pigeon shooting.
Virtually all schools either have their own high-quality sports facilities or share them with another school or professional organisation. Many also have their own swimming pool, so you can swim and dive for fun or take part in competitions and water sports. In a typical UK boarding school there are over 30 different PE activities from which to choose.
Music, drama and dance also offer opportunities for enjoyment. You may already play a musical instrument and want to improve, or might like to learn a new one from scratch. Schools arrange for specialist music tutors to visit pupils each week. You could choose to learn anything from piano and piccolo to jazz saxophone and blues guitar. Individual singing lessons are often available and every school has a choir, sometimes more than one. You can develop as a composer, learn to conduct, or organise your own music group whether it be a quartet for playing chamber music, or a rock band.
All UK boarding schools stage drama and dance productions, and often there are several each year. Drama takes teamwork, boosts confidence and, if appearing before an audience is not for you, takes a huge amount of organisation backstage. Many schools have their own theatres with the same sort of lighting and equipment as in professional theatres. Some school productions even go on to be staged in local theatres to paying audiences.
Formal debates are akin to acting in that speakers develop arguments in front of an audience. Even if you prefer not to speak you can exercise your mind and opinion by judging the different sides of the argument. Many schools also organise a programme of visiting lecturers and you can listen to writers, explorers, judges, broadcasters and politicians, for example.
All sorts of school clubs exist from chess to tai chi, and from reading to rounders. You could take up Pilates, learn trampolining or develop your cooking skills. The wonder is that you will have time for lessons!
Further afield
Schools need to ensure that they know where you are and that you’re safe, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll never go out. Schools see visits to museums and art galleries as educational, but recognise that you can’t be expected to work all the time. Supervised outings are arranged to theatres, cinemas, local shops – sometimes to particular markets or specialist venues. Coach trips are arranged to historic houses, castles and stately homes or, for less intellectual pursuits, to adventure parks, zoos and marine centres.
Community service is also a major aspect of many leisure activities and can include charity fundraising, working with the young, old or disabled, and animal welfare. Schools will have links with local organisations and, for example, you could referee at a wheelchair basketball match, volunteer to tidy up a neglected garden or take blind children cycling on tandem bikes.
Most boarding schools offer the opportunity to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme (DoE). Founded by the Queen’s husband in the 1950s, the DoE is a formal award at bronze, silver or gold level and includes a range of outdoor and indoor activities. The DoE places a lot of emphasis on self-reliance and might include organising a walking weekend or arranging entertainment for an old people’s home, for example. Having a DoE Award demonstrates to universities and employers that you can lead others, solve problems and don’t give up easily.
Some boarding schools have their own branches of national organisations such as the Scouts or Guides or the Combined Cadet Force (CCF), which enrols you as a junior member of one of the Armed Forces.
Many schools are also registered to run the Young Enterprise Company Programme, which gives you first-hand experience of how business works. You may find yourself discussing subjects as wide ranging as understanding trade patterns or deciphering world finance. Advised by a local business person, groups of students work together to set up their own company. You appoint directors, sell shares to raise capital, decide on a company name and offer products or services to the public. Your group runs the company as a genuine small business for about six months. You present a half-yearly report, keep profit and loss accounts and, after the requisite time, wind up the business and liquidate the company. Young Enterprise is an excellent introduction to the business world and an impressive addition to your CV.
Meeting the challenge
Boarding schools believe that extracurricular activities balance the academic study in your education and are just as important. Most schools organise or take part in periodic outdoor events, which are more difficult, more challenging and consequently far more satisfying to complete. One of the most famous of these is the Ten Tors Expedition. Open to boys and girls in teams of six from schools and youth organisations, it involves hiking up to 55 miles (depending on the age of the entrants) over two days between ten tors (hills) on Dartmoor. Developed from an idea used to train military personnel, the event is still supported by contingents from British forces to ensure complete safety. It takes place on one weekend in May and several boarding schools enter teams.
The wild parts of the UK are particularly suitable for outdoor events. They are hugely varied, largely uninhabited and yet small enough to be monitored so that you can’t get lost – or at least not for long. Rua Fiola is a small Hebridean island off the coast of Scotland that offers facilities for walking, rocksports and seafishing. Several schools send students there for the experience. One of the most popular events is the Robinson Crusoe Survival Challenge, where you are trained in emergency first aid, rescue signalling and how to find food, before being left to fend for yourself for just under 24 hours.
Britain is an island, so it’s hardly surprising that sailing is a popular activity among boarding schools. Opportunities exist from learning to sail on small two- or three-person dinghies to becoming for a short time part of the 60 or so crew of a ‘tall ship’. There are several schools regattas, and sailing courses are organised at a number of venues, including the National Sailing Academy, which was the venue for the sailing competitions in the 2012 Olympic Games. Windsurfing, canoeing and rowing are also popular activities organised by many boarding schools.
If you don’t want to be on the water, how about being under it? Scuba diving in pools and deep-sea diving are both offered by various schools. Diving courses include tuition in safety, and guided dives to bring you into contact with marine life and the underwater world.
Events lasting several days usually occur only once or twice per year, but several schools organise one-day adventure activities. Schools regularly arrange for groups of students to go white-water rafting, climbing and abseiling, while some even organise gliding lessons and parachute jumps.
All equipment is supplied, although for water activities you’ll need to provide your own swimming costume and towel, while for land-based activities you’ll need warm clothing, stout footwear and probably waterproofs. Tuition is provided by professionals who have spent most of their life practising and teaching the specific activities. You’ll find that they’ll encourage you to do things you don’t even know you’re capable of. During the various activities, you’ll confront your own fears and limitations, and will find that they’re not so limiting after all. You’ll extend your own abilities and learn to respect those of others, and you’ll be astonished at the amount you learn from your experience.
Reassurance for parents
You may be quite happy dangling from a rope above a gorge, canoeing down rapids or building and flying a human-powered aeroplane, but your parents might worry about you! You will not see the huge amount of organisation that goes into the arrangements for any of the events in which you take part, but schools spend months – sometimes years – getting all the details right while organising fun things to do. Expert supervisors are recruited, health and safety issues checked, and emergency training and routines put in place. Very little goes wrong, but on the odd occasion it does – the British weather can be unpredictable – everyone knows exactly what to do. British boarding schools have one of the best safety records in the world. All you have to do is take part and enjoy the experience!
Glossary
- Combined Cadet Force (CCF): The CCF offers boys and girls the chance to experience some elements of Service life.
- Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme: A well-established scheme for students to acquire skills and gain new experiences through various challenges – for example, outward bound expeditions or community service.
- Young Enterprise Company Programme: A scheme that gives 16- to 25-year-olds first-hand experience of how business works.