Day pupils at boarding schools during covid 19 - does this make sense?

[Janevaljane]

Day boys are being kept completely separate from boarders. They must eat in a seperate room (next to the boarders so they can see their friends but not interact with them). They must enter classrooms after the boarders and sit at the front of the class. They can't do PE together. They muat wear a coloured lanyard to show they are day and not boarders. The boarders don't have to socially distance in their bubbles.

And yet the boarders are allowed home for the weekend and into town during the week, and obviously going home at half term.

Does this make sense from a virus point of view?

No it doesn’t seem logical to me and it’s definitely not happening at the boarding school I work in.

I'm really trying to support the school but I'm struggling. My son is really unhappy.

In our school, boarders are not allowed off campus during the week, when normally they would be for extra curriculars, appointments or to go to local shops or friends houses. And they are welcome to go home any weekend, but facilitated if they want to stay on - so far more are staying weekends, and boarding houses will be open over mid-terms etc which is not normal (there are a number of international students who don't have another base to go to in this country for that break), and may possibly be open over Christmas.

Each year in boarding is a pod, so 1st years study in 1 hall, 2nd years in another room etc. Junior boarding house has massively cut capacity - 2 girls in what's normally a 4 bed room, and no bunks in any room. Senior boarding house has been completely filled (single rooms) and occupants study in their rooms entirely this year. Previously all boarders could study in 1 hall, and seniors could choose hall or own room. And to make best use of senior house, the 3rd years (junior exam year) are also in there this year (normally you move junior to senior in 5th year, so 2 years early).

Boarders go back to boarding house for morning break when it used to be whole school in main hub in school. Lunch is now split to odd years (1st, 3rd and 5th years) early and even years (2nd, 4th and 6th) on later lunch, and boarders eat in boarding house. For evening supper (far fewer - boarders and those day girls who stay on for evening study), boarders have always ate before day girls so that is unchanged but stricter.

But boarders are in their normal classes, doing PE, and can mingle with their entire class/year bubble outdoors on breaks.

School started with just trying to make school and normal life work, with sports and evening study both starting week 2 (normal gap). But other groups have been slower to get going - Model UN and eco club started this week (4), music teacher had taken time to work on procedures and sent out invite on Friday last (2 weeks later than usual), no lego club (coding and robotics) as cannot SD, etc. But it has been with a positive attitude to trying to make it work and not overloading everyone at once that they've been starting back.

And Headmaster was very positive in email to all parents last week about how the girls have adapted to new systems, getting on with everything, and how quickly "normal" life (sports, academics etc) have all got going again - even class bonding trips can't happen as they normally would (school has a very strong sense of community and family and building relationships, not just strong academically) but DD's class have been on a long walk to the local town to walk the pier and have icecream cones so they have escaped the classroom (including the boarders) - all wearing their masks.

I should have said that boarders doing evening prep and day girls doing evening study have always been in separate halls - just there are more rooms being made available this year to keep individual groups apart by year within both boarders and day girls. (Last year, DD was almost the only 1 in her year doing evening study, so was with 6th years (the other 2nd year girl rarely actually stayed) and able to just work away quietly and listen to lots of gossip...this year, there are more 3rd years doing it as it is exam year, and they are a group of their own)

Thank you- sorry I can't see what the protocol is for day students? Are you talking about boarders or day or mixed?

ah ok. So it sounds as though your school kept boarders and day quite separate in normal times? Ours didn't, the day kids all mucked in with the boarders, so it's been really hard.

DD's boarding school have all day and boarders together in school in year group bubbles. They don't usually have day pupils assigned to boarding houses with boarders as some schools do so they haven't had to make any changes in that regard. Boarding houses have been split into bubbles so the only people she is around whilst in house is anyone in her year group who is boarding.

All schools seem to have different approaches. DD's school has chosen not to play any sport fixtures with other schools but another independent in the same town is playing loads of fixtures against other schools. They have tried to make the school as Covid secure as possible whilst still allowing boarders to go into town and on trips over the weekend whereas I know of other schools who aren't allowing boarders out at all. I suppose they are weighing up the risks in each area and prioritising wherever they see fit.

It just doesn't make sense to me to treat the day boys as a threat to the boarders and keep them completely separate, then let boarders into town/out for the weekend? There are very few day pupils as well, so that makes it extra miserable. He had to do his fitness test in PE with a member of staff rather than a friend, because he is the only day boy in that PE group. The others all did it together. It just seems really mean.

Could you email and ask what the reasoning is for it? Might parents of boarders been demanding this?

Day and boarders mixing here, in year group bubbles. But the boarding house also counts as a 'household', so if one of the boarders has symptoms then all the boarders in that house have to isolate (whereas the year group bubble would only have to isolate if there was a confirmed positive case).

I've emailed and been in to discuss. They say it's frequency of travel, despite the fact all day kids are picked up by parents and go home. I would understand it if boarders weren't allowed to go into town and out with their parents at the weekend.

Sorry, mine did get a bit muddled.

Last year:
Day pupils and boarders mixed freely during the day at school, during lunch break (just different counters but in the same canteen), and for afterschool sports.

But for evening supper (6pm), the boarders went in first and day girls who paid for supper because they were staying for evening study went in 15 minutes later. And the day girls had a different evening study hall (or really, group of classrooms) to the boarders doing evening prep (boarders hall was a LOT more strict!).

This year:
Girls mix freely within their class in school - but are all asked to stick to their year groups as much as possible.

There are 2 different lunchbreaks now - odd numbered years on early while even numbers are still in class, and they swop over. That affects the entire school by year group, not a day v boarders thing.

All meals are separate and boarders go back to boarding house for morning break and lunch. But evening supper is still in the canteen, just separate times as before. And canteen has been remodelled so only 1 counter to speed up service.

Girls still mix for sports and extra curriculars after school as before, but there is greater emphasis on doing these in year groups than before.

I hope that is less confusing and more helpful.
The biggest difference is within the boarding group, where there are very clear pods by year group which are being kept apart from the other pods, and previously they would have mixed all years together a lot. So instead of all boarders 1st to 4th year, and any 5th or 6th years that wanted to be in the hall (rather than their own single study-bedrooms) being in the 1 large hall, now 1st year boarders are in 1 room, 2nd year boarders in another, 4th years in another, and all 3rd, 5th and 6th years are to study in their individual rooms.

Evening study daygirls are in similar pods, in other classrooms, and also split into year groups (there had been some mixing last year but as they use smaller classrooms (while boarders use a large hall), they had always had some element of splits - so it's just more pronounced now).

(I should have added, each boarding year group pod also have their own social spaces in boarding house - not a communal sitting/tv room like before, but a 1st year, 2nd year and 4th year sitting rooms in junior house, and the 3 kitchenette/sitting room spaces on the 3 floors of senior house are for the 3 different years in that house - so the 4 girls in 3rd year get the 3rd floor kitchenette to themselves (there are some 5th year bedrooms on the 3rd floor but they must go downstairs to socialise), while 5th year have 2nd floor and 6th year have ground floor kitchenettes (there are about 15 in each of 5th and 6th years).

Thanks Biddy, that's very informative. It's quite a different set up to ds school, where the day boys could go in for breakfast, stay for supper and had a room in the boarding house. All that's gone, but I'm still paying the same fees!

Day students are a threat sorry, as school can't police what their parents allow them to do. My year 13 hasn't been out of school once since the start of term (had exeat in house).

I am hopefully to have her at home for the shortened half term. This is reliant on day students being kept separate though. Her school is majority boarding.

I think in a school with "day boarding" arrangements as you describe, the changes made are both beyond cruel, and also warrant a substantial discount on fees. My daughter's school has day houses so can separate boarders and day pupils a little more naturally.

I hope clarification and improvements can be worked out.

I am hopefully to have her at home for the shortened half term. This is reliant on day students being kept separate though

So why is it ok for you to have your daughter at home for half term, then go back into school with no quarantine, but not ok for day students to do the same?

What do you think day pupils are doing when they leave school? Going to raves?

i wonder if it is parents like you @GreyBow who have driven this ridiculous system.

@Janevaljane because they are in separate houses, they rejoin their house bubble after half term for the next six weeks of term with NO people coming or going. It's just not workable with daily coming and going. Surely you can see that? All staff live there, all teachers are in school accommodation, nobody is allowed out on a daily or weekly basis.

But seeing as you are being so rude, could I please point out that you clearly want all the advantages here of a boarding school while retaining day status.

You do have a legitimate cause for complaint if boarders are being allowed in to shops in town, etc. But you need to complain without expecting that parents can change rules to suit them. I certainly didn't have a hand in any of the rules made to keep the school Covid safe 🤷🏻‍♀️ Amused by the notion tbh! There's a very good slt and board of governors to do that.

At out school, as I said, boarders are most definitely allowed into town and to go wherever they want at exeat and half term. Staff don't all live on site either. So quite different to your situation.

I am intrigued as to why you think your daughter won't be a risk to her bubble when she returns after half term. On the day she returns, she'll be just as much of a risk as a day girl would be. In fact, technically you could have all day girls running around a boarding house and they'd be no more risk than the boarders are.

could I please point out that you clearly want all the advantages here of a boarding school while retaining day status

You are absolutely correct. Not only do I want this, the school actively offers this in normal times. Why would you even think day pupils DON'T want all the advantages of attending a boarding school? Unless you resent that, for some reason.

I am the parent of a day girl at a boarding school and am also finding the situation suddenly difficult. This is also a school where day and boarding pupils have freely mixed and day pupils have been encouraged to do everything that boarders do apart from sleep there. My DD has found it really hard to be expelled from the house, where last year she had her own space. However, although very recently rules have been relaxed to allow her back in,she is not allowed to go anywhere near the girls in her year group ( within the house) although bubbled with them for all lessons and able to mix in other spaces.New pupils have joined this year and she is not able to make relationships with them as they spend a lot of time in their rooms avoiding the communal areas. I do feel for her, although to the school’s great credit ( it’s a lovely school) they can all dine together in year group bubbles.
Exactly, as has been said on this thread before... the boarders went all over the place for exeat but were still bubbled away from the day pupils in the house,
despite levelling the viral threat level at that point. It certainly has created a schism and I also chose the school specifically for the ethos it previously had. I worry that if this goes on for a very long time it will really dent the day pupils confidence.

I think schools are in a really tricky position here and, like any restrictions, it's about lowering the risks, not eradicating them (even not going to school at all cant do that and, even if it could, I don't think anyone would want that). At our school day pupils are no longer allowed in the boarding house but are bubbled with their year groups in the day time so can see their friends. And yes, we allow boarders into town at weekends but they must be masked up, and only with people from their household (boarding house) or bubble. To not let them out at all feels rather draconian and unfair, especially as they are already away from home. I really do feel for the day pupils but if you do speak to the school please, be kind, speaking as a boarding staff member we are exhausted at the moment. Frustrating about your fees, yes, but objectively the school haven't saved any costs by the changes they have made, and they won't have wanted to make them. I can almost guarantee you that they are doing their best!

Sorry. Should have added. As a boarding "household" is anywhere between 30 and 60 people mily, it is really important that this is protected as much as possible. That is a lot of people to quarantine and very far from ideal!! We are being super strict in the two weeks following holidays, with our boarders, to mitigate the risk where we can....

@Janevaljane

At out school, as I said, boarders are most definitely allowed into town and to go wherever they want at exeat and half term. Staff don't all live on site either. So quite different to your situation.

I am intrigued as to why you think your daughter won't be a risk to her bubble when she returns after half term. On the day she returns, she'll be just as much of a risk as a day girl would be. In fact, technically you could have all day girls running around a boarding house and they'd be no more risk than the boarders are.

could I please point out that you clearly want all the advantages here of a boarding school while retaining day status

You are absolutely correct. Not only do I want this, the school actively offers this in normal times. Why would you even think day pupils DON'T want all the advantages of attending a boarding school? Unless you resent that, for some reason.

Because the risk of a boarder who is bubbling with other boarders goes down every single day they are back and safe and secure together. With day students that risk resets every single day.