2021 Boarding Parents thread

[soonishsoonish]

I don’t think There’s a thread yet and after following the thread for 2020 parents I thought it might be good to have one for 2021 boarding parent.
My eldest DS13 will full board in senior school from Sept. His school is full boarding, pretest in year 6 but we’ve only now received all final documentation and forms to fill etc, it all seems real now. Any one in a similar position? DS is very excited, not sure how I feel just yet though lol

Hope I haven't killed this thread!
So DS will be full boarding. We've just received confirmation of his House and what seems to be 101 forms to fill in. All very, very scary.

No no you haven’t killed the thread. I suspect it will really pick up during the summer holidays. We’re impatiently waiting for the parent handbook and full kit list. I think we will also get an invitation to go and meet the HM very soon. DS is just excited and every statement starts with when I go to XYZ lol

Great to have found this thread. My DS starts boarding in September (yr7). We have a year 7 induction weekend at the end of June. Don’t know if he should go with a duffel bag or cabin sized suitcase.

Have just spent yesterday wading through the vast amount of info and forms that need completing.
The school have been very clear about what needs to be packed - and are very insistent that less is more! One good point - it will mean that DS will need to ditch his horrible plastic football style t-shirts - def. not tumble dryable!

our list says “pencil case and contents”

trying to work out what “contents” means? & how much is provided by the school.

I would oversupply things like stationary! They don't take up much space and your DC will always need them. If you don't provide enough the school will purchase them and bill you for them and you know they will not be buying cheap stuff.

OK, so this is all starting to feel quite real and I think I need to start shopping. My greatest concern at the moment is that DS is growing very fast - about 7cm in height since Christmas and has gone up 3 shoe sizes in the last year. How do I factor this in when buying uniform in advance?

Hem trousers with cuffs and extra in the hem, which can be used to let down later. Buy shoes a size too large to allow for growth. Re-evaluate fit at half term. Good luck; he won’t grow like this forever.

So I’m curious... has anyone else had notice of their fee increase? It’s 3.5% for us (after a drop last year). Just wondered if this is typical?

Feel free to come and pick our brains on the 2020 thread.
I have three currently boarding so have some experience but even then I feel like I’m blagging it most of the time.

Has anyone received the full kit list from their school yet? I did a tally of the branded uniform (minus shoes, trainers etc) and it came up to £1.5k! I'm dreading the full cost of everything! I was lurking on our school's official uniform provider's website and I read that you can order everything and they will label it and deliver it to the boarding house at the start of the term. Maybe I'm too excitable but wouldn't you rather have it delivered home before hand to inspect everything before hard?

Thank you @TheWomanTheyCallJayne. There's not such thing as too my insight we'll surely be picking your brain.

@soonishsoonish the delivery to the boarding house would be particularly useful for international students. I imagine most new domestic students would order the uniform to their house to check quality and fit - though by year 10 or 11 might order replacement items to be delivered to the boarding house.

Any ideas about how Boris announcement on lifting of restrictions will affect visits?
We are due to go down to the school in a couple of weeks and it will be the first time we have been inside DS' new Boarding house. Will this be cancelled if restrictions are not lifted?

Well DS is due to attend an 'welcome event' at his school and they school haven't been in touch to cancel it so fingers crossed. I know the school has cancelled some of their other events but it appears this one might be going ago.

The emails and forms have been coming in thick and fast and it all seems all too real now. Still haven't done any proper shopping yet and we are hoping to get DS fitted and ordering his uniform next week.

How is everyone doing?

DS1 moves to a new prep in Sept which is 50/50 boarding/ day. All the new boys assessments / settling in days have gone ahead. I think they get away with it as they fall under educational activities. I expect the social events the parents have been invited to will be cancelled though, sadly.

DS is due to start in Sep, and his ‘welcome event’ has been cancelled 😞

It has really made me have second thoughts. I don’t know that I can send him to board with just a couple of short Zooms under his belt, particularly as he doesn’t like Zoom.

One ‘in person’ event wouldn’t have been a lot, but it would have been something, if that makes sense? I can’t wrap my head around the idea of him being so far away from home with people he has never met, to live in a place that he has never seen.

Moving school is a big transition for any child, but moving school and boarding is an even bigger transition. I know the school have got to do what they think is right, but I need to give DS the best chance to settle well, and to help him prepare. I honestly don’t think that I can do that for him under these circumstances.

I hate this situation

@Thingaling- Email school and ask what the pencil case contents should be. Sending with extra office supplies and stationary is good economy. Extra underwear and socks/tights never come amiss. Send extra labels, and teach you child how to apply them. LABEL EVERYTHING. It saves time and trouble.
If possible, send a snail letter to arrive for the first or second day reiterating how proud you are and reassuring your child. It’s less messy than a phone call, and can be reread again at hard moments, even if they will be home at the weekend.

Our welcome event is still going ahead - but limited to one parent. At least we will see the inside of the boarding house - for the first time - which will be a big relief.

@Beautifulfriend I can understand your concern. How does your DS feel about it? Is it their first time boarding?

@negrilbaby DS hasn’t said much about it one way or the other yet - his head is full of Y6 activities at the moment! It is his first time boarding, and although it’s something he wants to try, I do want him to feel prepared, not like he has suddenly been thrown in at the deep end.

@ericaequites thank you good tips.

Snail mail letter is a good idea although on usual form he won’t even notice I am not there, and when I do turn up to collect him whenever we are allowed to, he will look at me slightly quizzically as if to say “who are you and what are you doing here”?

Our induction weekend got cancelled too, however the school allowed us visit and managed to show us around the boarding house on Saturday as we had gone up to Simmonds to get fitted for his uniform.

Our fitting is two weeks time. Assuming he gets all the stuff he is supposed to, it looks like being about £1200 worth 😲

Anyone able to offer advice on where to find suits for DS starting in Y9? Too tall for children's but too slight for men's and with lots of growing still to do. School requires a suit but doesnt supply these in their own shop. They have other requirements for daily wear, do I don't think we are in machine washable suit territory..... any suggestions please?

@Darbishire27

Anyone able to offer advice on where to find suits for DS starting in Y9? Too tall for children's but too slight for men's and with lots of growing still to do. School requires a suit but doesnt supply these in their own shop. They have other requirements for daily wear, do I don't think we are in machine washable suit territory..... any suggestions please?

Best bet would be either M&S or Next. Slim fit or Skinny sizes fit the younger ones better.

Thank you, soonish