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Eton boarding house advice

11 replies

twinsmum2007 · 16/08/2018 11:12

My DS has a conditional offer to start at Eton in Sept 2020, which we are thrilled about. We are able to propose 1 boarding house to go into our house selection process (Eton selects the other two). Does any one have experience of Mustians House please? We like the sound of the current House Master but hearing from current parents, regarding any house (good and bad) would be hugely beneficial. Thank you.

OP posts:
Dapplegrey · 16/08/2018 18:04

Can't offer house advice as my ds left 5 years ago but just wanted to say many congrats to your ds - he'll have a wonderful time, get a superb education and make friends who will last for the rest of his life.
(They make it fun for parents too)

peteneras · 20/08/2018 00:54

Likewise, not a current parent - DS left in 2011 - but I see there are still quite a lot of old-timers there. For a start, all housemasters are old-timers, each having taught at the School for at least an average of a dozen years or more before they are appointed housemasters. Mustians boys don't dine inhouse, instead, they walk a hundred metres or so down the road to Bekynton, the school restaurant, for their meals together with boys from a few other nearby houses. The housemaster, AMM, is a Chemistry master and if your boy is a science student then he may 'click' very well with him. He may still do so even if he's not a science student. In reality, it doesn't really matter who the housemaster is or what subject he teaches. Your son's personal tutor would be more significant than the housemaster in that he has more contact with your son and indeed, it is the personal tutor who reports back to the housemaster each half (term) everything about your son - his progress or otherwise, other issues, etc - who in turn reports back to you, the parent.

Congratulations for getting a conditional offer. Nobody fails the CE at Eton so you may as well get ready for September 2020, e.g. saving up for the uniforms, informing friends and relatives DS is headed for Eton, etc.

Ridleyxf · 20/08/2018 08:52

I wouldn't agree that a boys tutor was a more significant figure than his housemaster. He will see his housemaster far more and his housemaster has a wider remit over the boys lives (pastoral, sporting etc in addition to academic) than his tutor (who is still important of course).

Best thing to do is to meet up with a number of housemasters and see who you and your son like. The actual building and it's location are pretty unimportant. However chances are whatever house he ends up in, he will think it was the best!

Ridleyxf · 20/08/2018 08:52

I wouldn't agree that a boys tutor was a more significant figure than his housemaster. He will see his housemaster far more and his housemaster has a wider remit over the boys lives (pastoral, sporting etc in addition to academic) than his tutor (who is still important of course).

Best thing to do is to meet up with a number of housemasters and see who you and your son like. The actual building and it's location are pretty unimportant. However chances are whatever house he ends up in, he will think it was the best!

twinsmum2007 · 20/08/2018 10:53

Thank you to all those who have offered advice, based on your own sons's experiences. All your comments and good wishes are very welcome. Thank you.

I was interested to hear from one post that 'nobody fails the common entrance at Eton'. I had heard that previously but is that still the case, do you know? I have emailed Admissions with a few queries and have added this one in!

OP posts:
peteneras · 20/08/2018 11:44

That may well be the case in all boarding schools (preps and seniors alike) in the land, Ridleyxf, but we are talking Eton here which have their unique ways of doing things. I understand, for example, at Winchester a boy is almost like being married to his housemaster right from the beginning when he has endless interviews over many days with him (like choosing a spouse) and throughout his entire career at WinColl, no doubt emerging at the end of the process five years later being heavily indoctrinated by the housemaster.

You don't find this nonsense at Eton. Interview at the application stage is a short half-an-hour or so process following a computer test. If offered a place, a house is quickly allocated like what the OP is undergoing now. Eton houses are huge, there are altogether 25 of them, with at least 50 or more boys at each house - 70 in the case of College - whose ages range from 13 to 18 with roughly the same number of boys in each 'block' (cohort). Each house is like a small school by itself with only the one housemaster at each house, including College. It is therefore, physically impossible to pay individual attention to each and every boy at a house. Most of the time boys at a house do things together as a whole group e.g. at meal times. Can you imagine e.g. the housemaster at College taking questions from 70 scholars at the same (often limited) time? Impossible!

Instead, each boy is assigned a personal tutor, usually a senior master or even another housemaster from elsewhere, with whom a boy meets twice or thrice a week in the evenings and/or weekends in a small group of between five and eight tutees at the tutor's private residence located anywhere in the campus of Eton. Both tutor and tutees oftentimes socialise together besides serious regular matters of academic and pastoral concerns, e.g. attending a show in London or simply a meal at Pizza Hut on a weekend, etc.

In fact, a personal tutor is such a significant figure in a boy's life at Eton so much so that a boy can request a new personal tutor in his final two years at Eton (Form 6) if he so desires. DS requested a change from a Maths expert tutor to a 'Medicine' expert tutor in his final two years because he was intent on going to medical school. The new personal tutor he requested happened to be the Master-in-charge of the school's Medical Society who gladly welcomed him as his new tutee. It was a very successful working relationship. BTW, DS's housemaster at College happened to be female (most fantastic and helpful woman in many respects) who holds a PhD in American History but had absolutely nothing in common with DS career wise. Like I said above, not a problem at all, DS had an absolutely fantastic 5 years at College with her at the helm.

Xiaoxiong · 20/08/2018 12:07

I agree with Ridley that the housemaster is more significant, certainly in F block - it's true that a boy will sit down once a week for an hour with his tutor, and may have a closer relationship with his specialist tutor, but the housemaster will affect the boy's day to day life and experience of the school as a whole a lot more. (The one exception is College, which is rather different for various reasons I can go into if you're considering going for a KS.)

That being said, all the housemasters are professionals, the dames are generally great, and your son will be fine wherever he ends up. Just meet a few and see what you think.

Main thing for you as a parent will be to trust the housemaster to do what they do best - obviously keep an eye on reports and talk to your son, but the problems I've seen have been when parents can't let go and trust the housemaster but expect constant and immediate communication from them at all times on the most trivial of matters (demanding to know why a boy has been moved from the Junior Colts C's to the D's for rugby, insisting that their son goes to a particular society, that kind of thing) often forgetting they have to deal with 50 other boys and 100 other parents as well as interviewing new boys, teaching, doing sport, and everything else. Some parents unfairly expect instant communication from their son as well, I know housemasters who have taken phones away from boys because the parents were texting and calling all the time and the boy couldn't get any sleep or any work done.

Anyway - your son will be fine in whichever house he ends up in. It's a great school. Congrats and welcome to Eton Smile

Xiaoxiong · 20/08/2018 12:14

Ah just seen your DS was in College peteneras. JLS is wonderful, I'm glad he had a great time Smile

TonTonMacoute · 20/08/2018 12:43

My son left a year ago, and I agree with Xiaoxiong. Parents spend hours agonising over house choice, but in reality it is the housemasters who choose. In some cases people meet 3 or 4 housemasters and aren’t offered a place by any of them, and then they have to go through a sort of clearing process. It all ends up OK though.

Just enjoy your visits to the houses, it is the first chance to see the real Eton.

Ridleyxf · 20/08/2018 13:32

Thanks for the info @peteneras. I was talking specifically about Eton. In my experience the housemaster is a daily figure. As others have said, the tutor just weekly or maybe twice weekly. Maybe it's just different for tugs though....

Wincollparent · 20/08/2018 14:21

at Winchester a boy is almost like being married to his housemaste
the end of the process five years later being heavily indoctrinated by the housemaster.
Interloper on this thread so apologies but there is some overegging here which is worth rebalancing with facts for any potential future Winchester parents.
True the Winchester admissions interview instead of a central admissions system is rather like Oxbridge interviews in that the housemaster like the Oxbridge College tutors decide selection.
However once at school the system sounds similar to Eton in that the housemaster obviously shapes the house personality and has the most influence for serious pastoral issues but there are several other house tutors. Every mealtime there are also a number of visiting teachers and other visitors who sit and chat with the boys.
Finally every year each boy has their Div Don who they see once a day for a lesson and who organises outings etc. The Div Don also provides extra general academic advice when needed.
The advantage of good boarding schools is that a DC benefits from the input of several adults with different strengths looking out for them.

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