Schools that make prep boarding “worth it”

[8obbleHat]

We have two DC currently at a pre-prep in London, which we are happy with, but are beginning to feel the lack of outdoor space as they’re getting older.

Which is part of the reason we are considering relocating outside of London for some more green space. While we have a few areas in mind currently, a big factor for us is finding a good school for both DC (DS - 7 in year 2 and DD - 5 in reception currently).

I really like the idea of a “country prep” school with plenty of outdoor space and daily sport and realized a lot of these schools often offer boarding. While not interested in full boarding I think the DC would really enjoy getting to flexi board for a night or two during the week. However I’d want to find a school that makes boarding “worth it” where they can take advantage of a longer school day with sport and activities, and not just a school that is offering a bed for the night.

Hoping to cast a slightly larger net area wise to find a school that will be a good fit and hoping to hear some positive experiences with prep school flexi boarding.

I don’t know how far you’ll cast your net but Port Regis in Dorset is an absolutely excellent prep with fantastic grounds, facilities and a very active boarding life.

Co-Ed:

Dragon in Oxford.

Cheam, Elstree, Lambrook and Moulsford

Cothill near Oxford is transitioning to accept girls

Boys:

Caldicott

Papplewick

All will advertise boarding but when you speak to them it’s a minority who fully board. That may work for you if you live local and can have the kids home every weekend

the three full on boys boarding schools are Ludgrove, Sunningdale and Summerfields

of which Ludgrove is entirely boarding and the others have some day boys

hmm for co-ed maybe look at Lambrook, Hall Grove, Aldro, Feltonfleet, Highfield & Brookham. Further afield Windlesham House.
Cothill has just gone coed. Moulsford too I think. Not sure they offer flexi.

There are some great suggestions from others above - but they cover a huge area of the country. There are some fantastic country preps and a few still run the old-school boarding model - some with Saturday school, some with activities on a Saturday. You need to find a school with a good number of pupils staying in during the weeknights and these schools generally all put together a pretty good comprehensive programme of activities. It's definitely worth considering what your next steps might be though for year 7 or year 9 moves. A lot of girls peel off at year 7 and often years 7&8 in prep schools can leave one or two girls and mostly boys - so you need to look at this in conjunction with choosing your prep and when you think your two DC might move schools. As they are two years apart, both moving at the same time might be easier as a family, but might mean they head to different schools. I'd recommend, try to narrow down an area with a good selection of country preps, but also some great secondary options within an hour - unless you're thinking of boarding, either weekly or full for their next steps and don't mind a considerable drive. I'm happy to help your narrow down your search - do PM me!

You want two diametrically opposite things, @8obbleHat. A school that offers flexi-boarding is never going to provide the full on bells and whistles of a dedicated boarding school. Flexi boarding is by definition ‘a bed for the night’ on an ad hoc basis. It would be impossible to plan a full regime of after school activities if the school never knows more than a few days in advance how many pupils will be in school.

I can say that boys I’ve known at Summer Fields in the past decade have been exceptionally happy there.

Bilton grange preparatory school near Rugby Warwickshire is a boarding school with day students and book by the night boarding. I don't think you can board before year 4.

DS is going to Kings Taunton. Absolutely glorious grounds and offers boarding and flexi boarding in prep and senior as well as all manner of clubs after school. It’s also very possible to commute to London a few days a week from Taunton.

Not really true. The local preps near me generally have a set timetable of activities for boarders even though most of the kids board ad hoc for the most part. Schools know the approximate numbers of children for most nights of the week, even if they don't know precisely which children will be boarding.

As for the OP's request - simply go west from London and there are literally dozens of fantastic country preps that offer flexi boarding.

I second everything this poster has said

Saint Ronan's in Hawkhurst (Nr Tunbridge Wells). Co ed. Absolutely magical and they offer a wonderful flexi and weekly boarding provision. Has won a string of awards over the years inc Tatler Prep School of the Year and TES prep school of the year. Very strong musically, as well as sports and academics. Quirky , buckets of traditional charm and plenty of humour.
https://www.saintronans.co.uk/

Cothill if looking towards the high profile boarding secondaries e.g Eton, Winchester etc
Pinewood for a truly magical fully coed experience. Not so academic but super sporty and well rounded and still sends to excellent secondaries.

I agree - St Ronan’s School, Hawkhurst Kent is definitely magical. Best money I have ever spent 💫💫💫

I would decide on a short list of secondaries and work backwards from there.

Do you want the children together for secondary? Or are you looking at single sex? Do you want to avoid a lot of the stress around transitions? Or are you happy for the children to take more competitive exams?

I know you say you are flexible on location, but are you looking at Scotland or Cornwall? The north or home counties?

Some secondaries have feeder preps which will give your child a big
advantage when moving on. Eg Brighton College/Handcross, Rugby/Bilton Grange, Kings Canterbury/JKS.

Others feed to a wider range of destinations eg Dragon, Windlesham House, etc.

If you are looking at the very competitive schools (only Eton really these days) you will be better off at one of a handful of boys preps - Ludgrove, Sunningdale, Summerfields etc - but they tend to operate on a full (er) boarding model and the single sex will present you with logistical problems.

A friends children are at Holmwood house in Colchester and they sometimes board for a night or two

https://www.heathmount.org/boarding

Heath Mount?

Highly recommend Repton Prep and Repton School….prep is rural campus and 13+ Village location. Both are co-ed, prep offers flexi boarding - senior is full boarding with no flexi option.

I disagree with this. Barnard Castle School offers all degrees of flexibility boarding within the full boarding experience. And if you want countryside..

St. Hugh’s near Faringdon in Oxfordshire could fit the bill quite nicely. As soon as you get into anything that offers boarding you need to make sure you’re after confidence and not arrogance. Personally I would touch the Dragon or Cothill with a bargepole. All the the worst behaved beys at senior school have come from these two schools.

We have had several friends with dc at summerfields who have had a blast there.

For co-ed Walhampton in Lymington or girls Hanford in Dorset, I've known very happy children in both.

@MrsHLQ Summer Fields has a lot of day boys now (that live in central Oxford). I think it’s only really Ludgrove now that’s all-boarding but even that’s only fortnightly.

@8obbleHat We were also at a pre-prep in London and had same train of thought re outdoor space/sport. DS spent more time on minibuses commuting to parks than actually doing sport or enjoying break time. The prep we chose (stumbled across it in the Good Schools Guide and did not consult the pre-prep because they wanted to put people off leaving) was everything we hoped for.

My advice FWIW is, avoid anything that involves navigating heavy traffic on a regular basis, especially if you are doing flexi (for us this ruled out commuting into Dragon/Summer Fields b/c central Oxford traffic is horrific). At country preps there are matches twice a week and a lot of parents go - plus concerts and plays and parent social events.
My other tip is to check carefully what “flexi” really means at different schools. In some it means ad hoc - where you can vary how much you do from week to week with short notice, depending on availability. In others, it means a fixed commitment of certain days every week, which you commit to and pay for in advance. The former is usually more expensive than the latter. Also - at some schools, you get to keep your own bed in the same dorm when you are flexi. But at others (generally the ad hoc boarding kind) it’s more like a hotel where you are allocated whichever bed is available.

This would be casting your net very wide but Mount Kelly prep in Tavistock would be worth a look. Used to be Mount House until it merged with the neighbouring senior school Kelly College (which I wouldn't recommend).

https://www.mountkelly.com/prep/?_gl=11ikxwbq_upMQ.._gaODU4ODIzMzU2LjE3NjU0OTU1ODQ._ga_8T2QFVD5GQ*czE3NjU0OTU1ODMkbzEkZzEkdDE3NjU0OTU2MTgkajI1JGwwJGgw

Aldro near Godalming. Lots of weekly/flexi boarders. Co-ed with a balanced focus on academics and sport (sports everyday), school day ends at 5:30pm. Loads of extracurricular activities. Pastoral care has been fab. Best money we’ve spent on our DC.

Have a look at Beechwood Park in Hertfordshire. It’s an absolutely fabulous prep school that sends children to a wide range of next schools - grammars, local day schools and boarding.

They offer flexi boarding from Y5 onwards and they have a large contingent actually do it - usually in preparation for heading to boarding school. They have a separate boarding house for 60 something children and they offer a really decent boarding programme so it doesn’t just feel like a bed at school. It was one of the better provisions we saw when looking.

Just caught this thread - are you still looking? I would highly recommend Bilton Grange Prep school - prep school to Rugby School. 90 beautiful acres and specialise in outdoor education- two huge woods for forest school education and bushcraft, amazing broad curriculum, wonderful pastoral care and wellbeing focus. The boarding offering is one of the best in the country - a brand new boarding house opened this year - like a 5* hotel en suite bedrooms and a helter skelter slide for kids to slide to breakfast!! Full, weekly and flexible boarding and a boarding pathway to Rugby School. Happy to answer any questions.