Evening activities

[MrPickles73]

I'm brainstorming what activities boarders can do after prep and before bed . essentially between 8 and 9pm.
Junior boarding is years 7-9
Senior boarding is years 10+

What are your boarders doing at this time please?

And any restrictions on phone usage other than giving them in at bedtime?

Why not simply read the boarding sections of every boarding prep and public school website to see what’s arranged and provided for pupils?

(Or give a little more detail as to why you want this information from posters.)

My DC's school - boarders have "mandatory prep" between 7-30 and 8-30, and then have either an hour or 90 mins of free time after that depending on bedtime. Phones are handed in before prep so it's a tech free time. There are no formal activities in that hour so generally it's just a chill out time - they chat in the common room, shower, finish prep if an hour wasn't long enough, watch TV, play pool etc. The key to this is the phone ban - otherwise they'd all just be scrolling. They are not allowed to just wander the grounds after prep starts but in summer they go in the house gardens and hang out there. DS's house is by the Astros and they will go out there in all weathers and play social football/ hockey for an hour after prep- usually a bunch of years 9-11. But basically, that time is unstructured. Nothing gets organised.

Formal "extra curriculars" are between end of lessons at 4pm and dinner at 6pm and include the day kids who leave at 6pm. These are the usual things like sports practices for teams, orchestra, choir, debate, performing arts, one off projects like building a car or the GCHQ challenge etc. and are optional.

I find it's a good balance between structure and downtime. They really need that hour after prep to just chill.

Junior boarding is age 7-11, not year 7. So they'd be in bed and lights out by 8pm.

Thankyou alljoyandnofun that's helpful. Yes the problem at our school is they have their phones in this period so are all on their phones...

yesimmoaningaboutbenefits our school doesn't have children til year 7

misalignment there is marketing and there is reality hence asking parents..

Ah, ok. Your OP sounded more like you were doing research for a story or something.

Y7-11 all have pretty much the same routine at ours, but staggered with progressively later time for lights out.
4-5 would be extra curricular activities.
5-6:30 Tea. Staggered times by house - those at the boarding house would have free time. Access to phones during this time.
6:30 - 7:30 Prep
7:30 - A few evening extra curriculars run but mostly in house activities. Baking, crafts, FIFA tournaments on consoles, music practice, rehearsals/practice for all the various inter-house competitions etc. Most houses have a fuseball or pool table or something. Exam years would be encouraged to do extra revision but not compulsory (until Easter at least). At some point they have supper as well. Tuck shop 1 day a week. They are allowed to use the astro/sports courts as long as they're in at least half an hour before lights out. Most choose to shower in the evenings rather than mornings and there was always a lot of hair styling sessions in the dorms in the evenings - even the boys. And just hanging around dorms/common rooms chatting.

They are allowed phones until half an hour before lights out, but they aren't generally glued to them. I have 1 DC still there and I used to work there and too much screen time wasn't really an issue on the whole. A few kids were, but generally they interacted with each other in person.

@Yesimmoaningaboutbenefits Yes! what is it with the hair styling?? 😂. The girls at least make each other look good whereas the boys seem to just enjoy giving each other terrible clipper cuts.

my dgd boarding school does art's and crafts, games, occasionally movies.
phone is super strict family only calls from 5:30-6pm then supper.
prep after supper then some group kitchen activity; games, arts and craft or quick show. bedtime has 30 minutes of quiet reading prior to lights out 9 pm.
although each student has their own ipad and can access duolingo.

State boarding here so fewer extra curriculars after school, prep is 7- 8 for juniors then activity 8 - 8.45, compulsory for younger ones. Mondays are always sports, Tuesdays crafts, Wednesdays outdoors, Thursdays swimming plus the kids have access to all the clubs in the local town- dance, MT, cadets etc etc. Phones are handed in after 9ish, although most of them have burners 🥴