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.

@Samethingtwice- completely agree with your comments about The Dragon. The children are rude, with no discipline driven through the school.

@Oxonian2 agreed - Bilton Grange is designed and run as a full ‘bells and whistles’ boarding prep school with busy evenings and weekend programme and welcomes full, weekly and flexi boarders. Lots of families joining that live in London and want a great boarding experience with acres of space and outdoor learning and the accompanied transport to and from London makes the whole thing easy!

Are you open to a Catholic school? If so you could consider Farleigh, which has all sorts of boarding and day options. We lived in the area and whilst we made a different choice for our DSs (Cothill), there was clearly a lot of love locally for Farleigh. It's in a beautiful spot, does pretty well academically as well as with sport, music etc. It's clearly very sociable also, which is probably the result of having lots of local families with day and flexi boarders. It's most definitely a Catholic school but most of the local families using it provably aren't. That said, I could see you might be made to feel a bit 'other' if you swam against the RC tide because it is pronounced.
The area is good for commuting to London. Lovely towns and villages plus beautiful countryside and architecture: it's £££ for a reason, and full of affluent young families escaping London for the rural idyll (without the inconveniences of real rural living).

@Chilbolton80 Didn’t know Farleigh was Catholic!

The Head is a priest @TheCricketers !

Cranleigh is pretty close to London and offers flexi boarding.

Ooh yes, very much so. They are happy to accept non-Catholic families and lots aren't- they use it because it is fashionable in the Test Valley (and a very good school, to be fair). But as a non-Catholic whose Catholic goddaughter was there, I used to find it a bit two-tiered. For instance when attending her first Holy Communion I wasn't allowed to sit with the family but in the 'CofE seats' at the back....

Whether prep boarding is genuinely worth the emotional cost isn't something the schools themselves can really answer honestly. What I'd say from being on the inside is that it depends almost entirely on how well the pastoral staff know individual children not how impressive the school looks overall. A smaller house with a housemaster who notices when a child goes quiet matters far more than facilities or reputation. If you're already questioning the emotional cost before signing anything, that instinct is worth taking seriously. I post more on the realities of boarding from the inside at @boardingschoolguide.

I accidentally added a new reply, sorry