Hockerill boarding

[364daysinaweek]

Hello,
My son has been offered a boarding place at Hockerill Y7. He's a joy to be with, and so we are feeling quite torn about the decision as he does seem young to away for so long. It feels unsettling to thInk of others raising him. He wants to go to the school (more form Harry Potter I believe!). He loves academics, languages, music and theatre. We applied for the school because his sister has health issues that require full time care and we felt it would be a wonderful experience and opportunity. I would really appreciate thoughtful, helpful feed back if you have children that attend the school, and how they feel about their life there. Thanks!

Hi, I have 2 at Hockerill but I'm afraid not much knowledge of boarding (which I think is your concern rather than the school itself)? It might be worth you checking out this thread and trying to pm Hertsandessex who appears to have DC boarding and who comments on here quite a lot?
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/2015248-Hockerill-Weekly-Boarding-How-good-is-it

good luck with your decision.

A friend of mine has children at Hockerill, they are thriving and have been there since year 7. As far as I'm aware they love it. Ironically we ( my friend and I) both went to Hockerill in the 80s and also loved it. The friendships we made have lasted 40 years and we are like family to each other still.

Her son boards as we did

Thanks so much! Truly appreciate your input.

Go for it, plenty of exeats in the first term to ease them in gently. Nice mix of kids - happy to answer any queries

May/may not be helpful, but I went to Hockerill almost 20 years ago for the sixth form years. Attended as both a day student and a boarder. I'm not sure how much things have changed, but I really enjoyed my experience there. It is the sort of school I would love to send my own children to, it was a lovely school and the boarding side was quite a fun experience for me personally.

Hello, l am also thinking of sending my girl to this school, any pointers to the sort of boarding questions they might ask, appreciate any help thanks

Bumping

The interview questions are on the web site, it is not a selection interview but a chat to decide the child motivation for boarding ie do they understand what is involved, really informal and they work hard to put the kids at ease. The actual selection is done on boarding need, working patterns international travel etc, flexi boarding is very over subscribed but I understand weekly boarding is much easier to get in to. Definitely worth a try, does not stop you from applying for a day spot at the same time (a lot do) but that will take up 2 slots on your CAF