Boarding or London Day School?

[Confused1919]

Winchester College Boarding or City of London Day School? We need to decide (for Year 9) and the whole family is at stalemate. Both excellent schools… an input highly appreciated

never boarding unless the only option, or unless you are willing to accept that this is when your child leaves you. Home will never be home for them in the same way again.

CO Boys every time.

I'd choose a day school every time given the option.

Suggest you write a list of pros and cons.

I do feel that for boarding both parents and child need to be in agreement.

Did you have a child board?

I'd post in the Boarding forum as there are many parents who have made this decision in both directions.

As a parent of a boarder I would say that day should be the default choice for all children unless a) the child wants it, and b) the parents BOTH want it.

What you don't want is for one parent to resent the other for pressuring them into it, or the child trying to keep the parents happy doing something they don't really want, or the parents not supportive of the child while boarding. Recipe for disaster.

How engaged are you with your child?

My DD is in year 9 at an academic day school. She asks for help with her homework a couple of times a week. So we are part of her academic support. Realistically you don't get a 1:1 adult ratio in a boarding house.

She also needs down time away from her peers, and gets that at home.

No, but I boarded myself.

Day school. Boarding school definitely messed my husband up

As the parent of two who went to London Day Schools, I would ask why you think it would be a good idea for your son to board. I get the boarding argument if it's a very good school and having been pipped at the post for CoL/Westminster, etc or if parents are forces/diplomatic service or there is MH or addiction at home. I don't get why a child would be sent to board if CoL is in the bag.

I'd ask yourself what advantages you think your son will gain from boarding. A few of our nephews have boarded and it's not gone well for two of them...they still really need you and school will never be a good substitute for someone who loves them.

I work in a boarding school. I would say year 12/13 is a brilliant experience. I never considered boarding for my own children- but after seeing how amazing the experience is in would now!

For us, it came down to practical considerations such as commute time to the day school (in rush hours), start and finish times at school and how long prep is expected to be each day. Based on that, a school with weekly boarding (with the option to come home mid week if needed) seemed better than another one which is day only - as DD will have a couple of hours more each day to rest, do clubs, socialise or anything other than commute.
But she really wanted to board from Y3 - just one night per week at her prep school, as she could spend more time with her friends. So moving to a senior school from Y9 as a weekly boarder is more of a natural transition. Most of her year group are heading to boarding schools too. As an only child living in the countryside, boarding provides more freedom. But weekends at home are important to all three of us.