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Original poster

Hockerill Weekly Boarding? How good is it?

29 replies

vghappy · 04/03/2014 10:41

My son has been offerred a weekly boarding place at Hockerill to start from Sep 2014. I am very nervous about this and already feel very depressed at the thought that i will not have enough time to spend with him. My husband is very keen to send him for boarding. My son is very happy and excited. He is quite Academic and is doing very well in his middle school now. Do they allow children to partly stay at home say (thur/Fri/Sat) instead of the whole week ? How good are the boarding facilities? Can you pls share your experiences? Can we accept the offer now and then move closer to the school and then just pay the fees and bring my DS home as often as we want?

OP posts:
ZeroSomeGameThingy · 04/03/2014 12:17

But you should have checked all these things before you entered him! You seem to have completely misunderstood the seriousness with which families approach boarding. Which is (forgive me) exactly why you think things are going to be "tough".

Before you enter a child for any school you need to have

visited that school with your child

met the teaching staff and discussed all aspects of the curriculum in relation to your son.

visited the boarding houses, met the boarding staff, discussed pastoral care...

I'm sure your child is perfectly well able to thrive but it is disappointing that you seem to have taken no care at all to check the things that were important to you before you applied for a place. Most parents have questions before a child starts boarding - but the basic things you are asking should have been covered long before this point.

Did you avoid checking the details because you were not keen on the idea? If you are serious about your DS taking up this place I suggest you urgently arrange to go back to the school - with him - and discuss all your concerns with the relevant staff.

Original poster
vghappy · 04/03/2014 11:59

My DS is 11 and we live in Stevenage with very few options for Secondary schools. Hence we applied for both Day/Weekly boarding at hockerill. We did apply for some local good secondary schools(like Knights templar in Baldock) and did not get in. We just have the weekly boarding option from Hockerill now. Also, i work in london and my husband travels a lot!! I think it is going to be tough for any parent initially to send their child for Boarding...How are the Boarding facilities in hockerill? How is the pastoral care? Do children really get help in the evening with their homework? How is the catering facilities? What happens if kids find it difficult to cope with more than one language? My son is great at maths(already on level 7 now). How is the maths dept at hockerill? Are they able to stretch boarders?

OP posts:
culprit · 04/03/2014 11:40

The kids tend to love boarding and don't want to go home. The children I know who do it, don't actually like having nights at home because it is disruptive and if they are ever going to feel home sick, its after they have been home during the week.

I don't think they will be as flexible as you are hoping. It wouldn't be fair on the children who can't go home, if the boarding house was empty, except for them.

Daily boarding is more flexible because it doesn't really effect anyone else if a child goes home at 5 instead of 7.

The boys I know who live very close now (but need boarding because the father is due to be posted abroad soon) do not go home in the week, even though they live 3 miles away.

ZeroSomeGameThingy · 04/03/2014 10:50

Why was your Ds entered for a boarding place if you did not want him to board? Are you saying you were railroaded into it by other members of your family?

Fwiw boarding is enormous fun for children who want to do it. But no child will be happy if they think a parent feels negative about it.

How old is your Ds and how did this situation arise? Particularly since, as I understand it, children have to meet certain "need" criteria to qualify for a place at Hockerill.